Kristian Middelboe (24 March 1881 in Brunnby,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

– 20 May 1965) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

amateur

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and leader. Playing in the defender position, he won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

with the Danish national team in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

football tournament. He was head of the

Danish Football Association The Danish Football Union ( da, Dansk Boldspil-Union; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national t ...

1935-1940 and again 1948-1950. He was the brother of fellow international

Nils Middelboe Nils Middelboe (5 October 1887 – 21 September 1976) was a Danish amateur track and field athlete and football player as well as a football referee and leader. He represented the Denmark national football team at the 1908, 1912 and 1920 Su ...

. Kristian Middelboe played his club football with

Kjøbenhavns Boldklub Kjøbenhavns Boldklub or KB is a Danish sports club based in Copenhagen. The club was founded 26 April 1876 on the grassy fields in outer Copenhagen which later became Fælledparken. Tennis has been played since 1883. The club hosted, in 1921, on ...

(KB), making his debut in 1898. He made his debut in the first Danish national team ever, the 9-0 win against the French B-team at the 1908 Olympics. He played in the first four games of the Danish national team from 1908 to 1910. Kristian entered the KB board in 1910, was named KB chairman in 1919, and head of the Danish Football Association (DBU) in 1935. From 1940 to 1948, the DBU was chaired by Leo Frederiksen, but at his departure, Middelboe resumed the position until 1950. He chaired the Danish international team board until 1951, selecting the players for the national team. Here, he reluctantly oversaw the tactical change from his favorite Pyramid tactic to the modern

WM formation In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...

. He did not leave his last administrative position in Danish sports, until he met the official age restriction in 1964.

References

External links

Danish national team profile
1881 births 1965 deaths Danish men's footballers Kjøbenhavns Boldklub players Footballers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Denmark Olympic silver medalists for Denmark Denmark men's international footballers Naturalised citizens of Denmark Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Men's association football defenders Swedish emigrants to Denmark {{Denmark-footy-defender-stub