Søren Lerby (born 1 February 1958) is a Danish former
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, manager, and licensed
agent
Agent may refer to:
Espionage, investigation, and law
*, spies or intelligence officers
* Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another
** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...
. As a player, he spent most of his career in
Dutch football
Football is the most popular sport in the Netherlands. Football was introduced to the Netherlands by Pim Mulier in the 19th century when in 1879, at the age of 14, he founded Haarlemsche Football Club. Over the next 30 years, football gained ...
, winning five
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
championships with
Ajax Amsterdam and two with
PSV Eindhoven
Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...
. With the latter club, he also won the 1988
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
. He won two
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 ...
titles with
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
, and played one season for
AS Monaco
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...
in France. He played 67 matches for the
Denmark national football team
The Denmark men's national football team ( da, Danmarks herre-fodboldlandshold or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing bo ...
from 1978 to 1989, and represented Denmark at the
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...
and two
European Championship tournaments. Currently, he is the agent of
Galatasaray
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...
winger
Dries Mertens
Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team. .
Playing style
A left-footed
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 ...
, Lerby was a player who was always committed and a leader of the team. He once played two competitive matches in two countries on a single day on 13 November 1985: first in the afternoon a World Cup qualifier with Denmark against the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, being substituted having helped to secure a solid lead, and later in the evening a
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
match with Bayern Munich against
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 ...
, entering as a half-time replacement. Denmark qualified for the
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...
, and Bayern went on to lift the cup.
Lerby always played with his "socks down" – short socks or long socks rolled down but always without shin pads. This was quite uncommon and would be against the rules today.
Biography
Club career
Lerby was born in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, the son of former
Danish under-21 football international Kaj Lerby. Lerby played his youth football with local clubs
B 1903
Boldklubben 1903 or B 1903 is a football club founded on 2 June 1903, located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Seven times winner of the Danish championship (introduced 1913) in 1920, 1924, 1926, 1938, 1969, 1970 and 1976 and twice winner of the Dan ...
,
Taastrup IK and
Fremad Amager
Boldklubben Fremad Amager (meaning in English: The Ball Club Forward Amager ; abbreviated Fremad A) is a Danish professional football club based in the district of Amager Vest, Copenhagen. As of the 2020–21 season, the club's senior men's team ...
. He got his senior debut with Fremad Amager, playing 13 games and scoring three goals in the top-flight
1975 1st Division season. He and Fremad Amager teammate
Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director a ...
moved abroad to become professional footballers in November 1975.
They switched to the Dutch club
Ajax Amsterdam, when Lerby was only 17 years old. Lerby's first home game was a 4–1 against
Go Ahead Eagles
Go Ahead Eagles () are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in the 2020-21 season. The club's h ...
on 11 April 1976. He won three Dutch
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
league titles in his first six years at Ajax, in the 1976–77, 1978–79, and 1979–80 seasons. In the summer of 1981 he was named
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 ...
, succeeding newly departed Frank Arnesen. In the two seasons Lerby was captain, Ajax won a further two Dutch championships with high goal differences.
He moved to Germany in 1983, replacing midfielder
Paul Breitner
Paul Breitner (born 5 September 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and left-back. Considered one of the best players of his era, Breitner was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team, and was named by Pel ...
at
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
. He remained there for three years, winning two 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 ...
championships and two
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
cup trophies. His career continued for French team
AS Monaco
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...
from 1986 to 1987.
Lerby moved back to the Netherlands in 1987 and was reunited with Frank Arnesen at Ajax' rivals PSV Eindhoven. He was a part of the 1988 European Cup winning PSV squad, also including fellow Danes
Jan Heintze
Jan Heintze (born 17 August 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a left-sided defensive midfielder and defender. He ended his career in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven, where he was a part of the PSV team which won ...
and
Ivan Nielsen
Ivan Nielsen (born 9 October 1956) is a Danish former professional football player, who most prominently played professionally for Dutch clubs Feyenoord Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven, winning the European Cup with PSV. A central defender, he was ...
, though Frank Arnesen missed the final against
S.L. Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...
because of injury. Lerby ended his active career in 1990.
International career
While a youth player with Taastrup IK, Lerby was called up for the
Danish under-17 national team in October 1973. He debuted for the
Danish under-19 national team in April 1974, and represented the team at the 1974 and 1975
European Under-19 Football Championships. He also played three games for the
Danish under-21 national team.
While at Ajax, he made his senior Danish national team debut against the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
in May 1978, scoring one goal in the 3–3 draw. Lerby was selected for the Danish national team at the
1984 European Championship, where he played in all four of Denmark's matches, and scored a goal in the semi-final against
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, which saw Denmark eliminated on
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
. At the
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...
he played in Denmark's four games, scoring in Denmark's 6–1 win against
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
. He was a part of the Danish squad for the
1988 European Championship.
Non-playing career
Between 9 October 1991 and 11 March 1992, he spent some time as coach with
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
, as successor of
Jupp Heynckes. With a spell of undistinguished results, including a combined 6–3
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 Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
elimination by his former club B 1903, Lerby effectively ended his managerial career and became a
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
-licensed
sports agent (Essel Sports Managements).
Personal life
Lerby was married to Dutch singer and actress
Willeke Alberti
Willeke Alberti (born 3 February 1945) (real name: Willy Albertina Verbrugge) is a Dutch singer and actress, the daughter of entertainer and singer Willy Alberti (1926–1985) and Hendrika Geertruida Kuiper (1921–2011).
Biography
Willeke Albe ...
from 1981 to 1996. He was later married for a second time, with Arlette van der Meulen. He now lives in
Laren, Netherlands.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Ajax
*
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
:
1976–77,
1978–79,
1979–80,
1981–82,
1982–83
*
KNVB Cup
The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...
:
1978–79,
1982–83
Bayern Munich
*
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 ...
:
1984–85,
1985–86
*
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
:
1983–84,
1985–86
PSV
* Eredivisie:
1987–88,
1988–89
* KNVB Cup:
1987–88
*
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
:
1987–88
Individual
*
European Cup top scorer:
1979–80
References
External links
Danish national team profile
Ajax ''Hall of Fame''
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerby, Soren
1958 births
Living people
Danish men's footballers
Danish football managers
Taastrup FC players
AFC Ajax players
FC Bayern Munich footballers
AS Monaco FC players
PSV Eindhoven players
Eredivisie players
Bundesliga players
Ligue 1 players
Denmark international footballers
Denmark under-21 international footballers
Denmark youth international footballers
UEFA Euro 1984 players
1986 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1988 players
FC Bayern Munich managers
Bundesliga managers
Danish expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Expatriate footballers in Germany
Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Danish expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in France
Danish expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate football managers in Germany
Association football midfielders
Footballers from Copenhagen
Danish Superliga players
UEFA Champions League winning players
UEFA Champions League top scorers
Fremad Amager players