Hans Viggo Jensen (29 March 1921 – 30 November 2005), known simply as Viggo Jensen, was a Danish

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player in the

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 ...

position, who played professionally for English club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

from 1949 to 1956. He started his playing career with Danish amateur team

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Foun ...

. Jensen played 15 games and scored one goal 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 ...

and won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

for Denmark at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

.Danish national team profile
/ref>

Biography

Jensen was born in

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is ...

, but made his senior level break-through with Danish club

in the amateur-only

Danish football Association football is the most popular sport in Denmark, with 331,693 players and 1,647 clubs registered () under the Danish FA. The game was introduced into Denmark by British sailors. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub is the oldest club outside of the U ...

. He made his debut for Esbjerg in September 1939, and played at least 195 official games for the club until 1948, including 68 games in the Danish top-flight championship from 1941 to 1945. Viggo Jensen was a physically strong player with a great fitness and tackling ability, as well as flair and technique. Jensen got his international debut in June 1945, and was a part of the amateur-only Danish national team until October 1948. He was one of only a few players from outside the

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 ...

area able to force his way into the national team, and was most often the only provincial player in the starting line-up. Jensen's versatility saw him deployed in a number of positions for the national team, as injury or bad form among his teammates dictated, though usually as a wing half back. According to then-captain of the national team,

Knud Lundberg Knud Lundberg (14 May 1920 – 12 August 2002) was a Danish multi-talented sportsperson, who most notably won a bronze medal with the Denmark national football team at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He represented the Danish national team in footb ...

, Jensen's best position was as central half back, a position he was only allowed to play once for Denmark; leading the team to an 8-0 win against the

Poland national football team The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Associ ...

. Following the game, Jensen was criticized by the

Danish Football Association The Danish Football Union ( da, Dansk Boldspil-Union; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national t ...

for successfully dribbling and passing the ball to his teammates instead of doing as he had been instructed; to hoof the ball away whenever he came under pressure. Even though Esbjerg were demoted to the

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division ( da, Danmarksturneringens 2. division or Herre-DM 2. division) is a semi-professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Footb ...

in 1945, Jensen kept his place in the national team squad, and was the only player from a non-Copenhagen team selected to represent his country at the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Here he filled in for injured Poul Petersen as right full back, and played all four games as Denmark won bronze medals. After the London Olympics, Jensen moved to play for English 2nd Division team

from October 1948 to November 1956, appearing in 308 Football League matches and scoring 51 goals. Jensen played the two first years as an amateur, before signing a professional contract with the club. His early appearances were at

inside-right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, but he demonstrated great versatility, playing in every outfield position except on the wings. His later appearances were mainly as a left-back.HullCityOnline profile
In December 1956, he returned to Denmark to coach

, and he later coached lower-league team Varde Boldklub.EfB profile
at EfBhistorik.dk Upon his return to Denmark, he worked 23 years at the Esbjerg public power plant."The great dane er død",

Jydske Vestkysten ''JydskeVestkysten'' is a Danish language regional newspaper published in Esbjerg, Denmark, which is among the largest publications in the country. History and profile ''JydskeVestkysten'' was first published on 15 January 1991 as a result of th ...

, December 2, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Viggo 1921 births 2005 deaths Association football forwards Danish men's footballers Esbjerg fB players Hull City A.F.C. players English Football League players Denmark international footballers Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Denmark Olympic bronze medalists for Denmark Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate footballers in England Danish football managers Esbjerg fB managers Olympic medalists in football People from Skagen Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from the North Jutland Region