Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional
football club
In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...
based in
Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, which was founded on 3 December 1964 by a merger of the football clubs Brøndbyøster Idrætsforening (founded on 10 October 1928) and Brøndbyvester Idrætsforening (founded on 1 February 1909). The club's first team, which plays in 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 ...
, plays its home games at
Brøndby Stadium - in the clubs colors of blue and yellow.
The club has excelled both nationally and internationally by reaching the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup in 1986-87 and the semi-finals of the
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
1990–91. In addition, the club qualified for the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
in 1998, where Brøndby beat Bayern Munich in the group stage, and for the
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
/
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
several times.
Through the 1980s, Brøndby IF's role in Danish football became more prominent with, among other things, winning 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 ...
in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, and 1991. In 1996–1998, Brøndby IF won three Danish championships in a row. In 1998, the club also won the
Danish Cup
The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955.
The winner will ...
and thus brought home
"The Double". Brøndby IF won the Danish Superliga in 2002 and the
Danish Cup
The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955.
The winner will ...
in 2005. The team recently won the
Danish Cup
The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955.
The winner will ...
in 2018 and 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 ...
in 2021.
Brøndby have a longstanding rivalry with city neighbors
FC Copenhagen
Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklu ...
, against which they contest the
Copenhagen Derby. The fixture is also referred to as the "Battle of Copenhagen" or the "New Firm".
History
Formation (1964–1977)
Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening was formed on 3 December 1964 following a merger between two local rivals – Brøndbyøster IF and
Brøndbyvester IF. The merger was to be completed as a prerequisite for the construction of a new stadium by
Brøndby Municipality
Brøndby Kommune (), a municipality () in the former Copenhagen County (now Region Hovedstaden), is on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population o ...
.
Brøndby IF spent its inaugural season as an amateur club in the 6th tier of the 11 Danish leagues, the Serie 1, where they finished their two first seasons in fourth place. Among the players of the early years was team captain
Per Bjerregaard, a doctor who had moved to Copenhagen from
Randers
Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().[Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...]
, and Hans Gregersen, who was the mascot of the team until his death by
syphilis
Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
in 1967. In 1967, the club hired coach Leif Andersen who instantly secured promotion to ''Sjællandsserien'' (the
Zealand
Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
series). After a few mediocre years, a new coach, John Sinding, was brought in, and the club won promotion to ''Danmarksserien'' (the Denmark series).
In 1973, Per Bjerregaard stopped his active career at 27 years of age and became chairman of Brøndby; his first action was to sack head coach Sinding. In his place, Brøndby hired former professional and
Denmark national team player
Finn Laudrup
Finn Laudrup (born 31 July 1945) is a Danish former association football player who played as a forward. He represented a number of Danish clubs and played professionally with Wiener Sport-Club in Austria. He played 19 matches and scored six go ...
, who took over as head coach while he still took actively part in the matches as a player. Laudrup joined his brother-in-law
Ebbe Skovdahl
Ebbe Skovdahl Hansen (5 July 1945 – 23 October 2020) was a Danish football manager. He most prominently was a successful manager at Brøndby, for whom he had also played in his active years. He helped turn the side into the most dominant Danis ...
in the Brøndby team, and he brought his two young sons
Brian
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...
and
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...
with him to the club. Under Finn Laudrup's influence, the club's playing style was changed to a more attacking strategy, even though Laudrup decided to fully concentrate his efforts as a player after only a year. After winning promotion in 1974, Laudrup left Brøndby in the 3rd Division in 1976 to play for
KB in the Danish top-flight league (then named the 1st Division) and a year later Michael Laudrup, the brightest talent in Danish football, followed.
Professional football (1977–1987)
In 1977, Brøndby moved up into the 2nd Division, and were one of the clubs who quickly adapted to the new times of paid football in the best Danish leagues in 1978. Per Bjerregaard persuaded Finn Laudrup into returning to Brøndby in 1981 on a professional contract, and following a season of 85 goals in 30 matches, Brøndby won promotion to the top-flight 1st Division under coach
Tom Køhlert. Finn Laudrup subsequently ended his career at age 36, but in his place Michael Laudrup returned for the
1982 season, being one of ten players leaving KB that year.
Brøndby won their 1st Division debut match 7–1 over fellow
promoted team
B 1909 in a match which featured two goals from Michael Laudrup. He was subsequently called up for the Denmark national team, and on 15 June 1982 he became the first Brøndby player to win a
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...
for the national team. Brøndby finished their first 1st Division season in fourth place with Laudrup the league's third top goal scorer with 15 goals, earning him the
Danish Player of the Year
The Danish Player of the Year award is an annual prize, which has been given to the best male Danish football (soccer), football player by the Danish Football Association since 1963. The winner is decided in a vote among the professional Danish fo ...
award. In 1983, Laudrup was sold to
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
in the then-biggest transfer deal in Denmark, giving Brøndby the economic foundation to expand further.
After four years in the top division, Brøndby won their first Danish championship in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
and played its first European match when the club beat
Hungarian champions
Budapest Honvéd 4–1 in the 1986
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
. In 1986, Brøndby became the first Danish club of fully professionals when ten players were signed full-time, and the club was introduced at the
Copenhagen Stock Exchange
The Nasdaq Copenhagen, formerly known as the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (), is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options.
Nasdaq Copenhagen is on ...
in 1987.
European success (1987–1992)
Throughout the second half of the 1980s, the team dominated the league and did not finish lower than second place until 1992. The team was built around talented Danish players, and from 1987 to 1991 players from Brøndby won the Danish Player of the Year award every year. The recipients formed the backbone of the Denmark national team which later won
UEFA Euro 1992
The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA.
Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...
, and was the first goalscorer in the 2–0 Euro 1992 final win
John "Faxe" Jensen (1987), national team captain
Lars Olsen
Lars Christian Olsen (born 2 February 1961) is a Danish former footballer and current manager, who was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB in the Danish Superliga. He started his coaching career with Randers in 2003, guiding them to promot ...
(1988), the World's Best
Goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
1992 and 1993 award winner
Peter Schmeichel (1989), four-time Danish Player of the Year award winner Brian Laudrup (1990) and the second goalscorer of the
Euro 1992 final Kim Vilfort (1991). The club became used to winning the national title and turned its attention towards European success.
In 1990, Brøndby hired former national team captain
Morten Olsen
Morten Per Olsen (; born 14 August 1949) is a Danish former Association football, football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding ...
as coach, and under his reign, the
1990–91 UEFA Cup
The 1990–91 UEFA Cup was the 20th season of the UEFA Cup, the secondary club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The final was played over two legs at San Siro, Milan, Italy, and at the Stadio ...
became the high point in the short history of the club. Especially the meriting wins over German sides
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...
and
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...
, and Russian club
Torpedo Moscow
Football Club Torpedo Moscow (, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. The club will return to the Russian Premier League in the 2025–26 season. Their c ...
saw the many Danish profiles shine, and the club was minutes from qualifying for the final match of the tournament. In the 88th minute of the semi-final, however, a
Rudi Völler
Rudolf "Rudi" Völler (; born 13 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player, who is currently the director of the Germany national team. In Germany, he is nicknamed "Tante Käthe" ("Aunt Kathy"), a name bestowed upon ...
goal denied Brøndby a trip to the UEFA Cup final in favour of
Roma. Following the impressive European display by the comparatively small club, important members of the team, including Lars Olsen, top scoring
striker Bent "Turbo" Christensen and star goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, left the club.
The following year, 1992, was the worst year in the club's history as the intended takeover of the Danish bank
Interbank went awry. It was expected that European Cup success would boost the Brøndby stock value in order to finance the buy, but as the club was beaten by
Dynamo Kyiv
The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...
in the
1991–92 European Cup qualification, the stocks never reached the value necessary to finalize the deal. It had been arranged for financial backers Hafnia Insurance Company to step in and take over the buy in case Brøndby could not finance it, but as Hafnia went
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...
, Brøndby were forced to buy Interbank and financial collapse was imminent as club debts amassed to 400 million
DKK. A long-term rescue plan was initiated to save the club, but these events influenced the performance of the team and the championship, now called the Danish Superliga, was not won again until
1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
.
Rebuilding (1992–2002)
The rebuilding of the team was led by head coach
Ebbe Skovdahl
Ebbe Skovdahl Hansen (5 July 1945 – 23 October 2020) was a Danish football manager. He most prominently was a successful manager at Brøndby, for whom he had also played in his active years. He helped turn the side into the most dominant Danis ...
, who deployed the team in a
4-4-2 formation
In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...
. The return to the club of Euro 1992 veterans John Jensen and captain Lars Olsen combined with the emergence of goalkeeper
Mogens Krogh and striker
Ebbe Sand got the club back on its feet. The rebuilding culminated in the
1995–96 UEFA Cup
The 1995–96 UEFA Cup was the 25th season of Europe's then-tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was won by German club Bayern Munich on aggregate over Bordeaux of France. Girondins de Bordeaux went to the final all the way ...
elimination of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, though Roma once again knocked Brøndby out. Including that year, Brøndby won three Danish championships in a row, and
the next year's UEFA Cup saw one of the biggest upsets in Brøndby history, as a 3–1 home defeat to
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...
was changed to an aggregate win when Brøndby beat the team of
Euro 1996
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...
winner
Thomas Häßler
Thomas Jürgen "Icke" Häßler (; born 30 May 1966) is a German former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder throughout his career. At club level, he made a century of appearances for four teams: 1. FC Köln, Karlsruher SC and 186 ...
5–0 away in Germany. Most importantly for the club's economy, Brøndby qualified for the new format of the European Cup, rebranded as the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
.
The Champions League qualification meant six guaranteed matches in a
group stage
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
with three of the biggest teams of Europe, and when they were paired with
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and later finalists
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
and
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
, Brøndby faced very economically attractive matches. Despite winning 2–1 over Bayern in the first match of the group stage, Brøndby conceded 18 goals in 6 matches and were eliminated with a single win to their name.
Skovdahl decided to take a stab at coaching at Scottish club
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
and Brøndby took a more
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n approach, in search of stable success in the European competitions with Norwegian club
Rosenborg the role model. The club hired Norwegian manager
Ã…ge Hareide in 2000, who proclaimed a shift in line-up to a more attacking
4–3–3 system. With Hareide came a handful of Scandinavian players of whom especially
Sweden national team player
Mattias Jonson became a fan favourite.
The year 2000 was also the year the club finalized a planned expansion of Brøndby Stadion from a 20,000 to a 29,000 capacity, making it the second largest stadium in Denmark, only trailing the
Parken Stadium
Parken, currently known as Parken - Connected by 3 for sponsorship reasons, and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from ...
of
F.C. Copenhagen. At the cost of 250 million DKK, the vast expenditure was seen as a sign that the club was out of its former financial crisis. The building project was finalized in Autumn 2000, and on 22 October, 28,416 spectators saw Brøndby beat
Akademisk Boldklub
Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (AB) is a Denmark, Danish professional football (soccer), 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 ...
4–2 in the opening match of the rebuilt stadium.
Hareide's visions of a 4–3–3 system never worked out, and the team soon returned to the well-known 4–4–2 setup. As he slowly lost hold of a ten-point lead to rivals F.C. Copenhagen, gained in a great first half of the
2001–02 Superliga season, Hareide took his leave in spring 2002 before the last matches of the season. He was replaced by youth team coach Tom Køhlert, who, though reluctant to take the job, gave first team debuts to the top youth team players, most notably
Thomas Kahlenberg, who helped the club narrowly secure the championship win on
goal difference
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
.
The Laudrup years (2002–2006)
In the 2002–03 pre-season, Brøndby announced that Danish icon
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...
was taking the manager seat in his old club with
John Jensen
John Jensen (; born 3 May 1965), nicknamed Faxe (), is a Danish professional football manager and former player.
A former midfielder, his playing career lasted almost two entire decades, including a stint with Arsenal in England and three stin ...
, also a club legend, as his assistant. In their first season, there were massive cuts from the very large squad; ten players were put in the reserves squad or sold and a talent squad was established. The club was to rely even more home grown players as Brøndby was already famous for developing very talented players. In the process, Laudrup told several players to find new clubs as he thought they would not fit in the playing style he wanted to implement.
During the Laudrup era, Brøndby won the
Double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
in 2005. The club was relatively successful in the European competitions as
Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...
was beaten 2–1 in the
2003–04 UEFA Cup
The 2003–04 UEFA Cup was won by Valencia in the final against Marseille. It wrapped up a league and UEFA Cup double for Valencia.
Porto could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and a ...
but was later beaten by Laudrup's former club Barcelona, 0–1.
In May 2006, it was announced that Laudrup and Jensen could not agree with the board of Brøndby regarding an extension of their contracts, and the duo left the club.
Years of crisis (2006–2013)
The two were replaced by Dutch coach
René Meulensteen, who had a rough start in charge of the first team. Together with newly appointed Anders Bjerregaard – son of director
Per Bjerregaard – Meulensteen bought a number of questionable players in the final days of the summer transfer window. In the first matches, the new coach struggled with injuries among the key players and the team had problems living up to the expectations.
Meulensteen resigned after six months, leaving Brøndby in seventh position halfway through the
2006–07 Superliga. The official explanation for his departure was that his family could not settle in Denmark, but soon after, the former coach revealed major infrastructural problems in the club's organization, calling the club "a very sick patient requiring immediate attention", as well as cliques inside the first team. In order to solve the clique problems, he had gone to director Per Bjerregaard to fire three key players –
Marcus Lantz,
Thomas Rytter and one club man
Per Nielsen – in order to reestablish the balance in the first team squad, a demand Danish football experts later described as the quickest way of getting sacked.
Tom Køhlert took the managerial reins once more, this time as a permanent solution on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
After losing 2–4 to
Horsens
Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...
on 26 August, their 23rd consecutive away match without a victory, the team was met by approximately 200 furious fans and cries like "die mercenaries" and "we are Brøndby, who are you?" on their return to Brøndby.
On 31 August 2007, Per Bjerregaard announced that he resigned from the position as director of Brøndby IF, and instead took over as chairman of the board. Shortly after his resignation, Peter Schmeichel announced that he was ready to purchase Brøndby and become a director. The announcement divided the fans. Some praised the former player for trying to save the club, while others criticized him for bringing investor Aldo Petersen along, a keen supporter and former stockholder of rivals F.C. Copenhagen. Schmeichel's offer, however, was rejected. On 1 April 2008, Hermann Haraldsson was appointed to the vacant position.
Following a disappointing beginning of the
2007–08 Superliga season with only five points gained from seven matches, manager Tom Køhlert made it clear in August 2007 that the
Danish Cup
The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955.
The winner will ...
now had a higher priority for the club. The change of priorities was successful, and Brøndby won their first domestic title in almost three years on 1 May 2008 when
Esbjerg
Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...
were defeated 3–2 in the final of the
2007–08 Danish Cup. Soon after, manager Køhlert declared his job complete, prompting club chairman Bjerregaard to search for his replacement. On 16 June 2008, the club announced the appointment of former player and head coach of Horsens,
Kent Nielsen. Nielsen took charge of the first team on 1 January 2009. Former legendary coach Køhlert in the meantime led Brøndby to the first place, where they stayed until Nielsen arrived.
On 1 July 2008, KasiGroup replaced Codan as the main sponsor of the club. The partnership involved a cooperation with
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
, making Brøndby the third club in Europe next to Barcelona and Swedish side
Hammarby to wear the UNICEF logo on their shirts. Furthermore, KasiGroup entered a sponsorship for the stadium and promised substantial funds for strengthening the first-team squad. During the 2008 summer transfer window, this contributed to Brøndby signing five new players with national team experience in order to strengthen the team.
On 30 December 2009, KasiGroup owner Jesper Nielsen got in trouble with Brøndby and refused to pay the remainder of the pledged money. On 31 August 2012, Brøndby told the Danish media B.T. that KasiGroup owed the club more than DKK 45 million (€6,000,000 / £5,000,000). Nielsen told B.T. that he could recognize the amount but that his lawyer thought they could make a settlement at a much lower figure than the 45 million. Nielsen was the owner of
AG København, which went bankrupt on 31 July 2012. He was thus chased both by Brøndby and the Danish tax authorities, and a lawsuit followed. The case came to a close years later, in 2018, when Brøndby IF and Nielsen reached a multi-million Danish kroner settlement depending on Nielsen's active arbitration case against jewellery manufacturer
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground '' ky ...
.
The Jan Bech era
Thomas Frank and "Oscar-gate" (2013–2016)

In May 2013, the club was again close to bankruptcy, but was taken over and saved by a small group of investors led by Ole Abildgaard and Aldo Pedersen. On 10 April 2014, the new main investor, Jan Bech Andersen, took over as chairman and replaced the board with his own team. On 14 July 2014, the club announced they had signed a one-year contract with Danish betting company Bet25 as their main sponsor, with the option to extend the contract for an additional two years. The deal was said to be worth "a significant amount in the million Danish kroner range". The deal includes a strategic partnership between Brøndby and Bet25. As part of the contract, Danish telecommunications company
TDC A/S (which owns 51% of Bet25), installed
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
in Brøndby Stadion in December 2014. On 15 January 2015, it was announced Brøndby and Bet25 extended their contract until summer 2017.
In 2016,
Thomas Frank announced his resignation as Brøndby IF manager after chairman Jan Bech Andersen had discredited him on an online chat-forum under the name of "Oscar", the case being referred to as "Oscar-gate" by the media. Bech Andersen stepped down as chairman after the incident but continued as board member.
Zorniger and the German years (2016–2019)
In April 2016, the board of directors presented ''Strategi 6.4'' (Strategy 6.4), a plan for the future course of the club. The main value presented was "community" (), and a vision for Brøndby IF was also laid out. Between 2016 and 2019, the club was to make the
Superliga championship playoff every year, become more transparent and reach economic viability by the end of the period.
Finally, between 2020 and 2023, Brøndby was to reach
European football
UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. T ...
every season and continue to improve in areas of community, transparency and economy.
In addition, the team should strive for a tactic with strong pressing and return to having one of the best youth academies in Denmark again.
On 17 May 2016, Brøndby named German coach
Alexander Zorniger as their new head coach. His first two seasons as head coach resulted in two second-place league finishes and a
Danish Cup
The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955.
The winner will ...
win. The focal point of Brøndby under Zorniger was an extreme form of the German ''
Gegenpressing'' tactic, popularly translated to ''overfaldsfodbold'' (assault football) in Denmark; a style which proved to be a success.
During the
2017–18 season, Brøndby mounted an eventful title charge to eventually finish second behind
FC Midtjylland
Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...
after being top of the table in the penultimate round. Zorniger was sacked in February 2019, following a poor start to the new campaign. His position had earlier been called into question after a match against
Hobro IK in December 2018, where Brøndby's starting lineup featured no Danes. After the match, Zorniger criticised the Brøndby youth department for lacking quality and the Danish mentality for being poor.
Martin Retov and
Matthias Jaissle, former assistants under Zorniger, were appointed as caretaker managers the next day.
Frederiksen, "CV" and Superliga Champions (2019–2022)
In June 2019, former
Denmark national U21 coach,
Niels Frederiksen, was presented as the new head coach of Brøndby IF. A month later,
Carsten "CV" Jensen was appointed as
Director of Football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...
in Brøndby, and became the person responsible for meeting the requirements of implementing ''Strategi 6.4''. In Frederiksen's
first season, Brøndby ended in fourth place of the league table, as the team failed to reach qualification to the
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
. However, the team was largely seen to be in a rebuilding phase, with the departures of important first-team player such as
Kamil Wilczek,
Dominik Kaiser and
Hany Mukhtar in the January transfer window, and the emergence of younger players such as
Morten Frendrup
Morten Wetche Frendrup (; born 7 April 2001) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or full-back for club Genoa and the Denmark national team.
Frendrup was born in Tuse and played youth football with Tuse IF ...
,
Jesper Lindstrøm and
Anis Ben Slimane in the starting lineup.
On 24 May 2021, Brøndby won its first Danish league title in 16 years with a 2–0 win over
Nordsjælland. Brøndby finished the season ahead of
Midtjylland
The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...
and arch-rival
FC Copenhagen
Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklu ...
.
Global Football Holdings ownership (2022–present)
In August 2022, chairman of the club Jan Bech Andersen sold over half of his shares to Global Football Holdings (GFH), an American sports investment company owned by
David Blitzer
David Scott Blitzer (born September 7, 1969) is an American investor and sports team owner. Blitzer is the chairman of the private equity firm Blackstone's tactical opportunities division and managing partner of the New Jersey Devils ice hocke ...
. Andersen continued as chairman of the board. On 14 November, Frederiksen was dismissed from his position after Brøndby ended 2022 in 10th place in the league table. In January 2023, Brøndby announced
Jesper Sørensen, formerly Frederiksen's assistant coach, as their new head coach. On the final matchday of the championship round in the
2023–24 season, Brøndby lost 3–2 at home against
AGF, which resulted in them losing the title to Midtjylland by just one point.
On 8 October 2024, director of football
Carsten V. Jensen left the position by mutual consent. Vice chairman Scott McLachlan took over as caretaker. Sørensen was dismissed on 11 December 2024, with
Frederik Birk taking over first as caretaker and since as permanent head coach. On 30 December 2024, Brøndby announced Benjamin Schmedes as their new director of football.
Stadium
Brøndby have always played their matches at Brøndby Stadion. A part of the merging of Brøndbyvester IF and Brøndbyøster IF was a promise by the Brøndby municipality mayor to build a ground, and in 1965 it was ready for the club to play in. Through the first years in the secondary Danish leagues, the stadium was little more than a grass field with an
athletics track circling the field of play. It was not until 1978 that the main stand was built, sporting a capacity of 1,200 seated spectators. As newly promoted to the top Danish league in 1982, concrete terraces opposite the main stand were constructed, allowing for a crowd of 5,000 additional people. Following the first years of success in the top-flight, the athletic track was discarded and a further 2,000 seats were installed on top of the concrete stands from 1989 to 1990.
When Brøndby played matches against other successful European teams in the 1990–91 UEFA Cup, the then capacity of up to 10,000 spectators was quickly dwarfed by the ticket interest. As the Denmark national stadium
Idrætsparken in Copenhagen was being rebuilt, the club found no other way to host the matches but to get a dispensation to use
scaffolding
Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other human-made structures. Scaffolds are widely u ...
stands, which boosted the stadium capacity to 18,000 in the semi-final leg of the tournament, a 0–0 draw with Roma. Following the European adventure, the club inaugurated its end stands in 1992, allowing for a total of 22,000 spectators.
In May 1998, the club bought Brøndby Stadion from the Brøndby municipality for 23.5 million DKK and immediately spent double that amount to modernize the stadium. When the club qualified for the
1998–99 UEFA Champions League, the stadium was still under construction and the matches were moved to archrival F.C. Copenhagen's
Parken Stadium
Parken, currently known as Parken - Connected by 3 for sponsorship reasons, and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from ...
. In 2000, all stands were standardized and built to the same height, allowing for crowds of 29,000 at domestic matches and 22,000 in the European matches, which allow only
all-seated crowds. Since then, the stadium has seen a number of lesser or larger infrastructural and technical enhancements, and the February 2004 European match against Barcelona was played in front of a 26,031-spectator crowd.
Support
Brøndby are the most widely popular football club in Denmark, with a 2015 study having showed that Brøndby matches have by far the most viewers, both in terms of attendance and TV ratings, with Brøndby's rivals
FC Copenhagen
Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklu ...
coming in second. Copenhagen have in recent years surpassed Brøndby in terms of attendance by several thousands.
Brøndby Support is the official fanclub of Brøndby IF. It was founded in 1993 and has approximately 12,000 members.
Fanafdelingen is in some ways the spiritual successor to Brøndby Supporters Trust, which was a supporters trust with the dedicated goal of gaining influence in the club. Brøndby Supporters Trust managed to gain a board seat in the professional club in 2013. In 2018 BST was given the task of organising the groups of Brøndby Supporters Trust, Alpha Brøndby, Brøndby Support and Svinget under a common umbrella organisation. As a result of this, Fanafdelingen was born. Fanafdelingen, among other things, organises a yearly election for the board seat for the fan representative in the club.
Brøndby is also renowned for its
ultra
Ultra may refer to:
Science and technology
* Ultra (cryptography), the codename for cryptographic intelligence obtained from signal traffic in World War II
* Adobe Ultra, a vector-keying application
* Sun Ultra series, a brand of computer work ...
fanscene. The most prominent group is ''
Alpha
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...
''. Founded in 2006, the group is placed in the centre of the
Southside Stand and are the main organizers of songs, flags, banners and
tifo
''Tifo'' () is the phenomenon whereby ''tifosi'' of a sports team make a visual display of any choreographed flag, sign or banner in the stands of a stadium, mostly as part of an association football match.
''Tifo'' are most commonly seen in ...
. Other prominent groups are ''Suburban Casuals'', ''Southside United'', ''Svinget'', ''Deling 43'' and ''Fri Sport''.
Honours
*
Danish Football Championship
** Winners (11):
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
,
1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
,
1988,
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
,
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
,
1995–96,
1996–97,
1997–98,
2001–02,
2004–05,
2020–21
** Runner–up (12):
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
** Spain and Portugal en ...
,
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
,
1994–95,
1998–99,
1999–2000,
2000–01,
2002–03,
2003–04,
2005–06,
2016–17,
2017–18,
2023–24
*
Danish Cup
The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955.
The winner will ...
** Winners (7):
1988–89,
1993–94,
1997–98,
2002–03,
2004–05,
2007–08,
2017–18
** Runner–up (4): 1987–88,
1995–96,
2016–17,
2018–19
*
Danish League Cup
** Winners (2): 2005, 2006
*
Danish Super Cup
** Winners (4): 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002
*
Royal League
The Royal League was an annual Scandinavian football tournament held three times in the 2000s between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and ...
(3 participations)
** Winners:
2006–07
*
Atlantic Cup
** Winners:
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
,
2025
So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
*
Denmark Series (fourth tier)
** Group winners:
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
(g1)
*
Zealand Series
Zealand Series () is the highest division for men organized by the regional association DBU Sjælland and one of the sixth-highest divisions overall in the Danish football league system. The Zealand Association Football Championship () was intro ...
(fifth tier)
** Winners:
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
Players
:''See also
Brøndby IF players''
More than 500 players have represented Brøndby in the Danish leagues, cups and the European competitions since 1964.
Current squad
Youth players in use
Leaving players
Out on loan
Player of the year
Starting from 1980, the club has annually named its player of the year. Players still playing for the club are marked in bold:
* 1980:
Brian Chrøis
* 1981:
Ole Østergaard
* 1982:
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...
* 1983:
John Widell
* 1984:
Bjarne Jensen
* 1985:
Claus Nielsen
* 1986:
Ole Madsen
Ole Eduard Fischer Madsen (21 December 1934 – 26 March 2006 Camilla Dam ''Danmarks Radio'', 26 March 2006) was a Danish international association football, footballer, who scored 42 goals in 50 matches for the Denmark national football team, D ...
* 1987:
Lars Olsen
Lars Christian Olsen (born 2 February 1961) is a Danish former footballer and current manager, who was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB in the Danish Superliga. He started his coaching career with Randers in 2003, guiding them to promot ...
* 1988:
Bjarne Jensen (2)
* 1989:
Henrik Jensen
* 1990:
Peter Schmeichel
* 1991:
Kim Vilfort
* 1992:
Uche Okechukwu
Uchechukwu Alozie "Uche" Okechukwu ( ; born 27 September 1967), also known as Deniz Uygar, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a central defender.
"Uchechukwu" is an Igbo name meaning "God´s will". He was also honoured ...
* 1993:
Jes Høgh
* 1994:
Ole Bjur
* 1995:
Allan Nielsen
* 1996:
Søren Colding
* 1997:
Ebbe Sand
* 1998:
Kim Daugaard
* 1999:
Mogens Krogh
* 2000:
Dan Anton Johansen
* 2001:
Krister Nordin
Hans Krister Nordin (born 25 February 1968) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career with Allsvenskan club AIK.
Club career
Born in Stockholm, Nordin started playing football with l ...
* 2002:
Aurelijus Skarbalius
* 2003:
Per Nielsen
* 2004:
Martin Retov
* 2005:
Johan Elmander
* 2006:
Per Nielsen (2)
* 2007:
Mark Howard
* 2008:
Thomas Rasmussen
* 2009:
Stephan Andersen
Stephan Maigaard Andersen (born 26 November 1981) is a Danish former professional association football, football player, who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was a full international for the Denmark national football ...
* 2010:
Michael Krohn-Dehli
* 2011:
Michael Krohn-Dehli (2)
* 2012:
Mike Jensen
* 2013:
Simon Makienok
* 2014:
Lukas Hradecky
* 2015:
Riza Durmisi
* 2016:
Frederik Rønnow
* 2017:
Christian Nørgaard
* 2018:
Kamil Wilczek
* 2019:
Kamil Wilczek (2)
* 2020:
Andreas Maxsø
Andreas Beyer Maxsø (; born 18 March 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids and the Denmark national team. He is known for his strength, leadership and aerial ability.
...
* 2021:
Mikael Uhre
* 2022:
Mads Hermansen
* 2023:
Nicolai Vallys
* 2024:
Patrick Pentz
Wall of Honour
Since Michael Laudrup became the first player to represent Brøndby on the Denmark national team in June 1982, more than 80 players have donned the national team jersey of their respective countries. Apart from Denmark, players from
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
,
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
,
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
,
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
,
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
,
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Gambia
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
,
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
,
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
,
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
and
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
have represented their countries. The players are displayed on the "Wall of Honour", according to their year of national team debut. Players still playing for the club are marked in bold:
;1980s
*
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...
(1982)
* Ole Madsen (1983)
*
Brian Chrøis (1983)
* Ole Østergaard (1983)
*
Lars Lunde (1983)
*
Kim Christofte (1984)
*
John Helt (1985)
*
Lars Olsen
Lars Christian Olsen (born 2 February 1961) is a Danish former footballer and current manager, who was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB in the Danish Superliga. He started his coaching career with Randers in 2003, guiding them to promot ...
(1986)
*
John "Faxe" Jensen (1986)
*
Claus Nielsen (1986)
*
Kim Vilfort (1987)
*
Per Steffensen (1987)
*
Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup (, born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder, and was regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation. He currently works for the various T ...
(1987)
*
Kent Nielsen (1987)
*
Peter Schmeichel (1987)
*
Bjarne Jensen (1988)
*
Jan Bartram (1988)
*
Bent "Turbo" Christensen (1989)
*
Per Frimann (1989)
;1990s:
*
Erik Rasmussen (1990)
*
Uche Okechukwu
Uchechukwu Alozie "Uche" Okechukwu ( ; born 27 September 1967), also known as Deniz Uygar, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a central defender.
"Uchechukwu" is an Igbo name meaning "God´s will". He was also honoured ...
(1990)
*
Friday Elahor (1990)
*
Brian Jensen (1991)
*
Frank Pingel (1991)
*
Mogens Krogh (1992)
*
Marc Rieper
Marc Jensen Rieper (; born 5 June 1968) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for AGF and Brøndby in Denmark, West Ham United in England and Celtic in Scotland. He was also a regular player in the Denmark ...
(1992)
*
Mark Strudal (1993)
*
Jes Høgh (1993)
*
Dan Eggen (1993)
*
Jesper Kristensen (1994)
*
Jens Risager (1994)
*
Bo Hansen (1995)
*
Allan Nielsen (1995)
*
Peter Møller (1996)
*
Ole Bjur (1996)
*
Søren Colding (1996)
*
Aurelijus Skarbalius (1996)
*
Ebbe Sand (1998)
*
Oumar Barro (1999)
;2000s:
*
Magnus Svensson (2000)
*
Mattias Jonson (2000)
*
Peter Madsen
Peter Langkjær Madsen (; born 12 January 1971) is a Danish convicted murderer and former entrepreneur. In April 2018, he was convicted of the August 2017 murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on board his submarine, '' UC3 Nautilus'', and se ...
(2001)
*
Mads Jørgensen (2001)
*
Morten Wieghorst
Morten Wieghorst (; born 25 February 1971) is a Danish association football manager and former player. He is currently the assistant manager of the Denmark national football team. He is the former head coach of the Denmark national under-21 foot ...
(2002)
*
Per Nielsen (2002)
*
Jón Rói Jacobsen (2003)
*
Thomas Kahlenberg (2003)
*
Andreas Jakobsson (2003)
*
Karim Zaza (2004)
*
Asbjørn Sennels (2004)
*
Martin Retov (2004)
*
Morten Skoubo (2004)
*
Johan Elmander (2004)
*
Daniel Agger (2005)
*
Hannes Sigurðsson (2006)
*
Martin Ericsson (2006)
*
Chris Katongo (2007)
*
Stefán GÃslason (2007)
*
Samuel Holmén (2008)
*
Thomas Rasmussen (2008)
*
Anders Randrup (2008)
*
David Williams (2008)
*
Max von Schlebrügge (2008)
*
Stephan Andersen
Stephan Maigaard Andersen (born 26 November 1981) is a Danish former professional association football, football player, who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was a full international for the Denmark national football ...
(2008)
*
Ousman Jallow (2008)
*
Michael Krohn-Dehli (2008)
*
Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen (2008)
*
Mikael Nilsson (2009)
*
Martin Bernburg
Martin Løfqvist Bernburg (; born 26 December 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He previously notably played for FC Nordsjælland and Brøndby IF and also gained caps for the Danish national team.
Cl ...
(2009)
;2010s:
*
Mike Jensen (2010)
*
Daniel Wass (2011)
*
Brent McGrath (2011)
*
Clarence Goodson (2011)
*
Dennis Rommedahl (2011)
*
René Joensen (2012)
*
Simon Makienok (2013)
*
Lukáš Hrádecký
Lukas Hradecky (; born 24 November 1989) is a Finnish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for and captain (association football), captains both Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverk ...
(2013)
*
Ferhan Hasani (2014)
*
José Ariel Núñez
José Ariel Núñez Portelli (born 12 September 1988) is a Paraguayan international footballer who plays as a forward for Guaireña.
Club career
Born in Asunción, Núñez spent his early career in his native Paraguay, playing for Libertad, ...
(2014)
*
Teemu Pukki (2014)
*
Hólmbert Friðjónsson (2015)
*
Lebogang Phiri (2015)
*
Riza Durmisi (2015)
*
Frederik Rønnow (2016)
*
Marco Ureña
Marcos Danilo Ureña Porras, known as Marco Ureña (born 5 March 1990), is a Costa Rican professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for C.S. Cartaginés. He has also played for the Cost ...
(2016)
*
Kamil Wilczek (2016)
*
Yun Suk-young (2017)
*
Paulus Arajuuri (2017)
*
Zsolt Kalmár
Zsolt Kalmár (; born 9 June 1995) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Fehérvár and the Hungary national team.
Kalmár began his professional career with Nemzeti Bajnokság I club ETO Győr in 2013, winning ...
(2017)
*
Jan Kliment
Jan Kliment (born 1 September 1993) is a Czech professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for SK Sigma Olomouc, Sigma Olomouc and the Czech Republic national football team, Czech Republic ...
(2017)
*
Besar Halimi (2017)
*
Hjörtur Hermannsson (2017)
*
Johan Larsson (2018)
*
Simon Tibbling (2019)
;2020s:
*
Simon Hedlund (2020)
*
Anis Ben Slimane (2020)
*
Blás Riveros (2020)
*
Jesper Lindstrøm (2020)
*
Andreas Maxsø
Andreas Beyer Maxsø (; born 18 March 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids and the Denmark national team. He is known for his strength, leadership and aerial ability.
...
(2020)
*
Mikael Uhre (2021)
*
Joe Bell (2022)
*
Ohikhuaeme Omoijuanfo (2022)
*
Nicolai Vallys (2023)
*
Patrick Pentz (2024)
*
Yuito Suzuki (2024)
*
Mathias Kvistgaarden (2025)
Coaching staff
First team
Senior management
:''Updated 30 December 2024''
Managerial history
The person responsible for direction of the first senior team has traditionally been given the title of
head coach/trainer.
Records
* Record home win: 7–0 against
Herfølge
Herfølge is a suburb of the town of Køge, Denmark, located about 5 kilometers south of central Køge, and is a part of Køge Municipality. The suburb is connected to Køge and Næstved by the Lille Syd railway line.
Herfølge Church
Herføl ...
,
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 ...
, 11 July 2005
* Record away win:
: 7–0 against
Esbjerg fB
Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...
, Danish Superliga, 26 August 2001
: 7–0 against
AGF, Danish Superliga, 21 August 2016
* Record home defeat: 1–6 against Esbjerg, Danish Superliga, 14 March 2004
* Record away defeat: 0–5 against
Midtjylland
The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...
, Danish Superliga, 29 July 2007
* Record European win: 9–0 against
Juvenes/Dogana,
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
first qualifying round, 2 July 2015
* Record European defeat:
: 0–5 against
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
,
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
group stage, 4 November 1998
: 0–5 against
PAOK
PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
, UEFA Europa League play-off round, 20 August 2015
* Highest attendance,
Brøndby Stadion: 31,508 vs.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
, 18 June 2003
* Highest average home attendance, season: 21,647,
2023–24
* Most appearances, total: 556,
Bjarne Jensen
* Most European appearances: 70,
Per Nielsen
* Most goals scored, Danish league history: 82,
Bent Christensen
* Most goals scored, season, Danish Superliga: 28,
Ebbe Sand 1997–98
* Most goals scored, Danish Superliga: 71,
Kamil Wilczek
* Most goals scored, European matches: 12,
Ruben Bagger
* Most goals scored, total: 121,
Kim Vilfort
Recent history
:
Brøndby in European competitions
Brøndby's first competitive European match was on 17 September 1986 in the
1986–87 European Cup, defeating
Budapest Honvéd 4–1 and later on
Dynamo Berlin ''en route'' to a spot in the quarter-finals, where they lost to
Porto
Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
. Since then, the club has been a regular fixture in European competitions, and reached the group stages of the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
and the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
several times. They also achieved one European semi-final in
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
, as well as another European quarter-final in
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
.
UEFA club coefficient ranking
Footnotes
:A. Danish club
Aalborg BK played in the
1995–96 Champions League tournament as a result of the bribing scandal of Dynamo Kyiv, thus they did not qualify through the qualification rounds.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Brøndby IFat
Superliga
Brøndby IFat
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brondby If
Football clubs in Denmark
Association football clubs established in 1964
Sport in Brøndby Municipality
1964 establishments in Denmark
Football clubs in Copenhagen
David Blitzer