Niels Lodberg (born October 14, 1980) is 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 ...

former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, who is currently the assistant manager of

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 ...

club

FC Midtjylland FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Su ...

. Lodberg played as a

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 ...

and his height made him a formidable presence in aerial plays. He spent the entirety of his career in Denmark, playing for

Lyngby Boldklub 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 club ...

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the town's two football club ...

, AC Horsens and

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Danish sport corporation. They have a football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female based in Aabenraa) and an ice hockey team (S ...

Career

Lodberg started his senior playing career with amateur club Ringkøbing IF from 1998 to 2000. In 2000, he moved to play as an amateur for

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 club ...

. He made his debut in the top-flight

in April 2001,Career statistics
at danskfodbold.com before signing his first professional contract with Lyngby BK in May 2001. Having scored two goals in 19 Superliga games for Lyngby BK, Lodberg moved to

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

team

Farum BK Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,312 (1 January 2022).

in January 2002. He helped Farum BK win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

for the 2002-03 Superliga season. He played 29 Superliga games for Farum, which got renamed to

in 2003, before moving to 1st Division team AC Horsens in 2004. He scored 21 goals for Horsens in the 2004-05 1st Division season, helping AC Horsens win promotion for the Superliga. Lodberg scored four goals in AC Horsens' first two seasons in the Superliga. On July 18, 2007, Lodberg scored his first goal for AC Horsens in more than a year with a game-winning header against AGF in the 2007-08 Superliga season opener. AC Horsens played four seasons in the Superliga, in which Lodberg scored 11 goals in 109 Superliga games, before being

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the 1st Division in the summer 2009. In the summer of 2012 Lodberg moved to Superliga team

on a -year contract on a free transfer after 8 years at AC Horsens as the two parties failed to reach an agreement for a contract extension in January 2012. In the summer of 2015, Lodberg returned to AC Horsens on a 2-year contract.

Coaching career

Lodberg announced his retirement from active football in January 2016. He wanted to focus solely on his coaching duties, as he had been offered a job as an assistant manager at Horsens, which he accepted. In January 2017, it was confirmed that Lodberg would return to his former club

from the 2017–18 season, this time as an assistant manager to Claus Nørgaard. The club confirmed his departure in June 2021. However, he returned to SønderjyskE again on 16 December 2021, as he was announced together with newly hired manager Henrik Hansen.HENRIK HANSEN OG NIELS LODBERG SKAL STÅ I SPIDSEN FOR SØNDERJYSKE
soenderjyske.dk, 16 December 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lodberg, Niels 1980 births Living people Danish men's footballers Lyngby Boldklub players FC Nordsjælland players AC Horsens players Sønderjyske Fodbold players Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players Ringkøbing IF players Men's association football defenders People from Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality Footballers from the Central Denmark Region