Martin Ørnskov Nielsen (; born 10 October 1985) is a Danish retired 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 ...

. Ørnskov began playing football at age 5 in the

Silkeborg IF Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...

academy and came through the ranks to make well over 100 appearances in all competitions for them. He moved to Norwegian side

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

in 2012, where he had a short spell before moving back to Denmark to join

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

in 2013. After three years in Brøndby, Ørnskov signed with

Lyngby BK Lyngby Boldklub () is a Danish professional football club founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion in Kongens Lyngby, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, a northern suburb of Copenhagen. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby FC. The clu ...

in 2016, experiencing both European football, relegation and promotion in three years. He became club captain for Lyngby in 2018. In 2020, Ørnskov announced his retirement after suffering a concussion the season before.

Club career

Silkeborg

Born in

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Silkeborg IF Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...

youth academy from age 5, and signed his first contract with the club in June 2004 after making his first-team debut a month earlier. In December 2004, he became a full-time professional in the club after playing more regularly during the fall of the 2004–05 season in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

. Ørnskov played for Silkeborg IF until 2012, making 207 total appearances for the club.

Viking

On 15 February 2012, Ørnskov joined Norwegian

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

club

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, having won 8 ...

on a three-year contract, six months before the expiration of his contract in Silkeborg. On 26 March 2012, he made his debut as a starter in an away match against

Sandnes Ulf Sandnes Ulf is a Norwegian association football club from Sandnes, Rogaland, currently playing in the 1. divisjon, the second highest division in the Norwegian football league system. The club play their home matches at Øster Hus Arena. The clu ...

that ended in a 2–2 draw. Ørnskov ended the 2012 season with 28 league appearances in which he scored four goals.

Brøndby

On 5 July 2013, Ørnskov transferred to Danish Superliga club

on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Brøndby-coach,

Thomas Frank Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

called the signing a "perfect fit" and lauded Ørnskov's potential as a leader. He made his debut for the club on 21 July 2013, assisting

Andrew Hjulsager Andrew Hjulsager (born 15 January 1995) is a Danish professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Gent as an attacking midfielder. Career Brøndby IF On 25 October 2012, Hjulsager signed a two-year extension to his contract which tying hi ...

's goal in a match that ended in a 1–1 draw against

FC Vestsjælland FC Vestsjælland, also known as FCV Vikings, was a professional Danish association football club that played in the Danish 1st Division until its closure in 2015. They played their home matches at Harboe Arena Slagelse in Slagelse, which has a cap ...

. After the game he praised the Brøndby-fans for their support. He made 31 appearances in his first season back in Denmark, scoring three goals and helping Brøndby to a fourth place which secured Europa League qualifiers. On 31 July 2014, Ørnskov made his European debut, playing 86 minutes of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

third-qualifying round fixture against Belgian club

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

which resulted in a 3–0 loss for Brøndby. In the league, he ended the season on 30 appearances as Brøndby finished in third place. The 2015–16 season saw less playing time for Ørnskov, as Christian Nørgaard emerged as a starter at his position on

defensive midfield A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He made 32 total appearances, most of them as a substitute. Ørnskov departed Brøndby as his contract with the club expired in June 2016.

Lyngby

On 20 June 2016, Ørnskov signed a two-year contract with

. He scored his first goal for Lyngby in his first return to Brøndby Stadion, securing a 2–0 win over his old club. That season he made 38 appearances in which he scored one goal as Lyngby surprisingly ended in third place and qualified for the Europa League. The following season, Lyngby were relegated from the Danish Superliga after losing in decisive play-off matches to

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 ...

after a terrible season where the club was on the verge of economic collapse. Ørnskov ended the 2017–18 season with 42 appearances and two goals. Ørnskov signed a one-year contract extension on 4 July 2018, keeping him a part of ''De Kongeblå'' at least until 2019. Later that month, coach

Mark Strudal Mark Agner Boecking Strudal (born 29 April 1968) is a Danish football coach and former player who played as a striker. Playing career Strudal was born in Glostrup. He got his national breakthrough while playing for Næstved IF in the Danis ...

appointed Ørnskov as new club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, replacing Mathias Tauber who had captained the side for more than six years. Tauber's contract with the club was terminated the same day. Despite the rocky start to the season, Ørnskov captained Lyngby to promotion to the Danish Superliga after only one season in the second tier. Following the promotion, Ørnskov signed another one-year contract extension on 4 June 2019. Ørnskov officially confirmed on 21 August 2020, that he had retired after suffering a concussion the previous season.

Coaching career

In March 2021, Ørnskov revealed that he had been appointed as an assistant coach to

's U-19 team.Martin Ørnskov tilknyttes Lyngbys U19-hold
bold.dk, 3 March 2021

References

External links

Martin Ørnskov
official

statistics at danskfodbold.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ornskov, Martin 1985 births Living people Danish men's footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Silkeborg IF players Viking FK players Brøndby IF players Lyngby Boldklub players Danish Superliga players Eliteserien players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Danish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Footballers from Silkeborg Men's association football midfielders