Peter Graulund (born 20 September 1976) is a Danish former 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 le ...
who played as a striker. He played for Danish clubs
Vejle Boldklub
Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six t ...
,
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 ...
VfL Bochum
Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...
, and Swedish club
Helsingborgs IF
Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superet ...
. He played six games and scored two goals for the
Denmark national under-21 football team
The Denmark national under-21 football team has played since 1976 and is controlled by the Danish Football Association. Before 1976, the age limit was 23 years.
Tournament record
UEFA European U-21 Championship
*''*Draws include knockout match ...
.
Graulund was a fan favourite at AGF, not only because of his goal scoring abilities, but also due to his notorious fighting spirit. He was considered to be one of the best strikers 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 ...
and is seventh on the list of top goalscorers all-time in the league. On 29 August 2011, he scored his 100th goal in the league in a win over AC Horsens. Graulund announced his retirement due to injuries on 12 October 2012.
Club career
Domestic success (1995–2001)
Born in
Brørup
Brørup is a railway town, with a population of 4,516 (1 January 2022), Graulund played as a youth for Vejen SF and Kolding Boldklub before moving to
Vejle Boldklub
Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six t ...
where he made his professional debut on 19 March 1995, aged 18, in a 1–0 win over
Ikast FS
Ikast FC is an association football club based in the town of Ikast, Denmark, that competes in the Series 1, the sixth tier of the Danish football league system and the second tier of the regional DBU Jutland. Founded in 2018 as a superstructur ...
. Head coach Ole Fritsen had promoted him to the first team, and he helped the club reach promotion to 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 ...
in his first season at the club. Before that, he had been a key player on the club's youth teams. In the 1996–97 season, he was part of the Vejle team that finished as runners-up in the Superliga alongside players such as
Thomas Gravesen
Thomas Gravesen (; born 11 March 1976) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Gravesen played as a professional in Denmark, Germany, England, Spain and Scotland for Vejle Boldklub, Hamburger SV, Everton, Real M ...
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 ...
, where he initially struggled. However, in the 2000–01 season, he began playing more regularly under head coach
Ã…ge Hareide
Åge Fridtjof Hareide (born 23 September 1953) is a Norwegian football manager and player, currently managing Malmö FF as the interim manager. In his playing career, he played for Hødd and Molde in Norway as well as Manchester City and Norwich ...
and finished a great season as top goalscorer in the Superliga.
Years abroad (2001–2004)
After becoming top scorer, Graulund signed with recently promoted German
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
club
VfL Bochum
Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...
for DM 2.8 million, where he never got a breakthrough; after a long period as a reserve player, he was loaned out to AGF in February 2003. There, he had great success as a goal scorer, but when AGF due to a poor financial situation could not afford buy him out of his contract in Bochum, he instead continued his career with Swedish club
Helsingborgs IF
Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superet ...
, where he played for two seasons.
AGF (2004–2012)
In 2006, Graulund returned to AGF, where he captained the first team until 2008.
Steffen Rasmussen
Steffen Bjørnebo Rasmussen (born 30 September 1982), known as Steffen Rasmussen, is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, spending most of his career with AGF. He made two appearances for the Denmark U21 nationa ...
then took over the captains armband. A few weeks later, Graulund scored the winner against former club Brøndby, which he later described as "saving my career at AGF", after the disappointment of losing his role as captain.
His time at AGF was tumultuous, and the club suffered two relegations from the Superliga – in 2005–06 and 2009–10. The team bounced back in both seasons down in the second-tier 1st Division, with Graulund finishing as top goalscorer in both seasons.
On 29 August 2011, Graulund scored his 100th goal in the Danish Superliga in a match against AC Horsens. On 26 October 2011, he tore one of his
achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...
s, which expected to keep him sidelined for nine months. Many experts therefore did not predict Graulund a comeback, as he was already 35 years old. However, Graulund returned to the pitch for AGF after only five months. In his first two matches after returning, he was substituted on with 30 minutes remaining, but managed to score in both matches, which AGF lost.
On 12 October 2012, however, Graulund was forced to retire effective immediately. He could no longer keep playing after several serious injuries, including the torn achilles tendon the year before. He scored his last Superliga goal when AGF beat Silkeborg 4–0 on 1 September 2012.
Graulund finished his career with 290 Danish Superliga appearance. With his 107 goals, he is number seven on the list of the top goalscorers in the league, surpassed only by Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen, Søren Frederiksen,
Peter Møller
Peter Møller Nielsen (born 23 March 1972) is a Danish former professional football player who became a sports journalist after ending his football career in December 2005. In 2018 he became sporting director of Dansk Boldspil Union. He won fo ...
,
Heine Fernandez
Heine Fernandez (born Heine Lavrsen; 14 July 1966) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent the bulk of his career with Viborg FF and Silkeborg IF.
Club career
Fernandez was the top goal scorer in the 1999 Da ...
,
Steffen Højer
Steffen Højer (born 22 May 1973) is a Danish professional football coach and former player, who is the head coach of the Danish national under-21 football team.
Højer spent most of his career with Viborg FF, although he also played for a numb ...
and
Frank Kristensen
Frank Rosendahl Kristensen Michalski (born 10 March 1977) is a Danish football coach and former professional player who played as a forward.
He is nicknamed ''Farlige Frank'' ("Dangerous Frank").
References
External links
*
*
1977 birt ...
. Of all his appearances, 219 appearances and 100 goals were in the AGF jersey, 93 matches in the Vejle jersey, and 53 matches in the Brøndby jersey. He also made 45 and 21 appearances for Helsingborgs IF and VfL Bochum, respectively.
Besides his club career, Graulund gained six
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...