Per Frimann Hansen (born 4 June 1962) 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 a ...

former football player. He played 158 matches as a

midfielder 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 ...

for

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

club

RSC Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht (, , ) or RSCA (, , ), is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Division A and is the most successful ...

, with whom he won three Belgian championships, as well as the 1983

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. He played 17 matches and scored one goal for the Danish national team, and represented his country at the 1986 FIFA World Cup and 1988 European Championship.

Biography

Frimann started his career with Danish club

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (or AB) is a Danish professional football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The club was established on ...

(AB) under manager Christian Andersen. In 1980, Frimann made his senior debut for AB, who played in the top-flight Danish 1st Division. In 1981, Frimann moved to

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). At KB, he was noticed by Belgian club Anderlecht, and he went to play for the club a season later. Frimann immediately got a place in the Anderlecht starting line-up, and he made his debut for the Danish national team in October 1983. Frimann remained seven seasons in Anderlecht, where he won three Belgian championships and the 1983 UEFA Cup. In his time at the club, he played alongside a number of fellow Danish national team players, most notably national

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

Morten Olsen Morten Per Olsen (born 14 August 1949) is a Danish football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championshi ...

. In 1988, after many injury problems at Anderlecht, the 26-year-old Frimann decided to return to Denmark. He was bought by Brøndby IF, and loaned out to

Aarhus GF Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ), is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country and gymnastics and fencing are featured as its main sports. Howeve ...

(AGF) in the 1988 season, where he won the 1988

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 ...

. In 1989, he moved from AGF to Brøndby, where Morten Olsen was manager. In August 1990, Frimann ended his playing career, at 28 years of age, due to continued injury problems. He was the first player on Danish soil to have a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

to his benefit, as the Danish 1986 World Cup team beat Brøndby IF 6–4.

International career

Selected for the Danish squad at the 1986 World Cup, Frimann looked like becoming an important part of the Danish team.Jeppe Facius, "Drenget direktør", ''

Ekstra Bladet ''Ekstra Bladet'' is a Danish tabloid newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen.About
(in Danish) ''E ...

'', 18 September 1999 A complicated ankle injury, sustained during the last training camp before the tournament, kept Frimann from playing at the 1986 World Cup, and for the rest of his career he would struggle with injuries.Jens-Carl Kristensen, "Per Frimann stopper som fodboldinvalid", ''

Berlingske Tidende ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, ''Berling's Times''), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' ...

'', 15 August 1990 Frimann was a part of the Danish team which qualified for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, but the team never got to compete in the final tournament. It was discovered that Frimann was not eligible for the 2–0 win over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in which he played, and Denmark was penalised the points of the win. This cost the spot at the final tournament. He was a part of the Danish squad for the 1988 European Championship, where he took part in a single match.

Retirement

Following his retirement, he worked with

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

in the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

from 1992 to 1996. He was hired as an internal consulent in Danmarks Idrætsforbund in 1996. In April 1998, he became the sports director of former club AB. When AB manager Christian Andersen agreed a contract with league rivals

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 ...

in October 1998, eight months before his contract expiry in June 1999, Frimann initially refused to let Andersen go before time and suspended him. He soon changed his mind and let Andersen go, but the two would go on to have a strained relationship. In his time at AB, the club lost a great part of its

market liquidity In business, economics or investment, market liquidity is a market's feature whereby an individual or firm can quickly purchase or sell an asset without causing a drastic change in the asset's price. Liquidity involves the trade-off between the ...

, and he left the club in 2002. He then became a sportscaster at the ''Onside'' football show on the TV3 Denmark TV-channel. In his 2004 autobiography, Andersen questioned Frimann's involvement in AB's financial losses, and though Frimann aired the possibility of a lawsuit, the matter was resolved when Andersen made a public apology.Thomas Mikkel Mortensen, "Christian Andersen siger undskyld", ''

'', 20 November 2004

Honours

; RSC Anderlecht *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...

: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 * Belgian Supercup: 1985, 1987 *

: 1982–83 (

winners Winners Merchants International L.P is a chain of off-price Canadian department stores owned by TJX Companies. It offers brand name clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, fine jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. Products are at a 20-60 ...

), 1983-84 (

runners-up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

) *

Jules Pappaert Cup Trophy Jules Pappaert or Pappaert cup is a Belgian football trophy since 1953 and is awarded annually to a club in the first, second or third division of the Belgian Pro League with the longest uninterrupted series of unbeaten games. The award is ...

: 1983, 1985 *

Bruges Matins The Matins of Bruges ( nl, Brugse Metten) was the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges and their supporters, a political faction in favour of French rule, on 18 May 1302 by the members of the local Flemish militia. It has been ...

: 1985

Århus

: 1987-88

Brøndby IF

Danish Football Championship The Danish football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in Denmark. The title has been contested since 1913, in a varying form of competitions. Since 1991, the winners have been found through the Danish Superliga champions ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

* Danish Cup: 1988-89

References

External links

Danish national team profileViasat profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frimann, Per 1962 births Living people Danish men's footballers Denmark men's international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Belgian Pro League players Akademisk Boldklub players Kjøbenhavns Boldklub players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Brøndby IF players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players Danish television presenters Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium UEFA Cup winning players Men's association football midfielders People from Gladsaxe Municipality Footballers from the Capital Region of Denmark