Mads Roerslev Rasmussen (born 24 June 1999) is a Danish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. He is a product of the

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

and was capped by

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

at youth level.

Club career

FC Copenhagen

, Roerslev progressed through the

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

and made his senior debut as a second-half substitute for Frederik Bay in a

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

third round match versus

Jammerbugt FC Jammerbugt Fodbold Club is a Danish association football club currently playing in the Danish 2nd Division. They play at Jetsmark Stadion in Pandrup, North Jutland, which has a capacity of 6,000. The club was former known as Jetsmark IF, which ...

on 26 October 2016. He capped a dream debut with a goal in the 6–1 victory. Roerslev made four further appearances during the 2016–17 season and signed a new four-year contract in May 2017. Down the pecking order at the

Parken Stadium Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable ...

, he later spent time away on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish Association football, football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved members ...

and

Vendsyssel FF Vendsyssel Forenede Fodboldklubber is a professional football club based in Hjørring, Denmark. The team competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of Danish football. The club plays home matches at Nord Energi Arena, which has a cap ...

, but made few appearances for either club. Roerslev departed FC Copenhagen in August 2019, after making 13 appearances and scoring one goal during three seasons as a senior player at the club.

Brentford

2019–2021

On 7 August 2019, Roerslev moved to England to join the

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

on a two-year contract, with the option of a further year, for an undisclosed nominal fee. Roerslev broke into the first team squad in October 2019 and by March 2020, after 10 appearances, his performances led to him signing a new four-year contract and being promoted into the first team squad. Roerslev finished the 2019–20 season with 14 appearances, but a

metatarsal The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus, are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the med ...

injury suffered on international duty saw him miss the first four months of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season. Roerslev returned to match play in early January 2021 and after a number of substitute cameos, an injury to his mentor,

Henrik Dalsgaard Henrik Dalsgaard (born 27 July 1989) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Danish Superliga club FC Midtjylland. Dalsgaard began his professional career in his homeland with AaB, with whom he won the Danish league an ...

, allowed him to break into the starting lineup in early April. He held onto his place until the end of the regular season and through the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, which culminated in promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

after victory in the 2021 Championship play-off Final, during which he assisted

Emiliano Marcondes Emiliano Marcondes Camargo Hansen (born 9 March 1995) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Hibernian, on loan from club AFC Bournemouth. He came to prominence at FC Nordsjællan ...

for one of the goals. Roerslev finished a breakthrough 2020–21 season with 22 appearances.

2021–present

Following the release of first-choice right back Henrik Dalsgaard, a change in formation to

3-5-2 In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a Association football pitch, pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the excepti ...

saw Roerslev begin the 2021–22 season behind stand-in right wing back

Sergi Canós Sergi Canós Tenés (born 2 February 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Brentford. Canós began his career in the Barcelona Academy and transferred to the Liverpool Academy in 2013. A fringe player a ...

in the pecking order and the pair traded the position through the season. Approaching the midway point of the season, mounting injuries in the central defensive positions saw Roerslev deployed in a right

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

role. He finished the 2021–22 season with 26 appearances and one goal, scored with the winner in a 2–1 Premier League victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

on 2 January 2022. After beginning the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

behind new signing

Aaron Hickey Aaron Buchanan Hickey (born 10 June 2002) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Premier League club Brentford and the Scotland national team. Hickey played youth football for Heart of Midlothian and Celtic, before ...

and right-sided central defender

Kristoffer Ajer Kristoffer Vassbakk Ajer (born 17 April 1998) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Brentford and the Norway national team. Ajer has previously played for Start in the Tippeligaen and Celtic in the Scottish ...

in the right back pecking order, injuries to both players led to Roerslev assuming the starting right back role in mid-October 2022. He signed a new three-year contract in February 2023.

International career

Roerslev was capped Denmark at every level between U17 and U21. He was a member of the Denmark squads at the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

UEFA European U17, U19 and U21 Championships respectively. In May 2022, Roerslev was called into the senior team's

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

prior to its 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A matches.

Style of play

A right-back, Roerslev "is very good offensively – he is a good crosser of the ball, very good one-on-one, quick and energetic to get up and down the pitch. He is also good defending one-on-one".

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford * EFL Championship play-offs:

References

External links

* *
Mads Roerslev
at brentfordfc.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roerslev, Mads 1999 births Living people Footballers from Copenhagen Danish men's footballers Denmark youth international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Association football defenders F.C. Copenhagen players Vendsyssel FF players Brentford F.C. players Danish Superliga players Allsvenskan players English Football League players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Sweden Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Premier League players