André Riel (; born 21 October 1989) is a Danish 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 lea ...

who plays as a striker for VB 1968.

Career

Early years

Riel began his senior career in HIK before moving the Faroese club

B36 Tórshavn B36 Tórshavn () is a Faroese football club based in the capital of Tórshavn, playing in the Faroe Islands Premier League, the top tier of Faroese football. B36 Tórshavn has always played its home games in Gundadalur. Today B36 Tórshavn i ...

in 2009, where he spent six months. He subsequently bounced around in the lower divisions of Danish football, playing for BSV, Fremad Amager, Vendsyssel FF, and FC Helsingør. Riel experienced his breakthrough in Helsingør, and his 17 goals in 32 appearances in the 2016–17 season in the second tier helped the club secure promotion to the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

after two decisive play-off matches against

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening (), also known as Viborg FF or VFF for short, is a Danish professional association football, football club based in the Central Denmark Region, Central Jutland city of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg. They compete in the Danish ...

in June 2017. In the following season, Riel scored 4 goals in 7 appearances in the Superliga for Helsingør, before signing with AGF on deadline-day of the 2017 summer transfer window. He signed a three-year contract with the club from

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

AGF

Riel is known for his brash persona and outspoken comments, which led to some controversy in his first week in AGF. In an interview with tabloid ''BT'', Riel was cited for valuing his own success as more important than the club. The same day as the article was published, he apologised in a statement from the club, calling his comments "dumb and clumsy". His stay in AGF was not successful, making only 11 appearances and scoring no goals. On 27 May 2019, it was announced that AGF and Riel had parted ways, making him a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, which all the fans and players were happy about. The Kid did nothing good in his time at AGF.

Lyngby

On 28 June 2019, newly promoted Lyngby BK announced that they had signed Riel on a two-year contract. On 3 September 2020, Riel was sent off in a match against

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Denmark, Danish sport corporation. They have a Football (soccer), football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two team handball, handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female bas ...

after being involved in an altercation with opposing player Stefan Gartenmann, and having used a homophobic slur when saying "Rejs dig op, din fucking homo" ("get up, you fucking homo"). After having been shown the red card by the referee, Riel continued his homophobic rant, saying: "Jeg er ligeglad. Han ER fucking homo" ("I don't care. He IS a fucking homo"). Lyngby and Riel later apologised. He eventually received a five-match ban. In mid-December 2020, Riel was excluded from Lyngby's training by the club's sporting management. On 4 January 2021, Riel's contract was terminated.

BK Frem

One day after leaving Lyngby, it was confirmed that Riel had joined

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division () is a professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Football Association (Danish FA; DBU) as part of the nation-wide Da ...

club

Boldklubben Frem Boldklubben Frem (also known as Frem, BK Frem or BK Frem Copenhagen) is a Danish sports club based in the Valby- Sydhavnen area of Copenhagen. It is best known for its semi-professional football team and its youth academy. Since its foundation ...

VB 1968

In July 2021 it was confirmed, that Riel had moved to Zealand Series club VB 1968.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riel, André Danish men's footballers Danish Superliga players Hellerup IK players B36 Tórshavn players FC Rudersdal players Fremad Amager players Vendsyssel FF players FC Helsingør players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Lyngby Boldklub players Boldklubben Frem players Danish 1st Division players Danish 2nd Division players 1989 births Living people Men's association football forwards VB 1968 players 21st-century Danish sportsmen