Erik Sørensen, also known by his full name Erik Lykke Sørensen, (born 22 January 1940) is a Danish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. He was a

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 ...

, and played professionally in the 1960s and 1970s for Scottish clubs Greenock Morton and Rangers, and later served as the manager of Morton. He played 15 games for the

Denmark national football team The Denmark national football team ( or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark and Greenland in men's international Association football, football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing body for ...

from 1963 to 1971.

Career

Born in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

, Sørensen made his breakthrough with local top-flight club B1913 in the amateur-only Danish championship. He made his debut for the Denmark national team in June 1963, and played five of Denmark's seven games in the successful qualification campaign for the 1964 European Nations' Cup tournament. Before the final tournament, Sørensen signed a professional contract and was banned from the amateur-only national team. He signed with Scottish team Greenock Morton. Morton manager Hal Stewart had originally wanted to sign another Danish goalkeeper, but was advised to sign Sørensen instead.Jeffrey, Jim (1999). ''Greenock Morton Football Club 1874-1999'' Tempus, 1999. Sørensen played in a trial game against Third Lanark dressed all in black. Morton refused to name the new player and he was dubbed by the media "The man in black" or "Mr. X". From 1963 to 1967, Sørensen played 102 league games for Morton.Newcastle Fans profile
/ref> In 1967, he was sold for £25,000 to rival Scottish club Rangers. He played 30 games for Rangers, before returning to Morton in 1970. When the Danish Football Association abolished the rule of amateurism, Sørensen returned to the Denmark national team in May 1971, eight years after his debut. He played a further five national team games, including a 1–0 win against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, before ending his international career in June 1971.Erik Lykke Sørensen - Alle hold (Alle kampe)
at the Danish Football Association He left Morton in 1973, having played a total 173 league games for the club. He eventually became Morton manager for a short time in the mid 70s. He also ran a public house in

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

after he retired from the game. In the late 1970s he briefly returned to football to play for Danish amateur side Svendborg fB.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorensen, Erik 1940 births Living people Footballers from Odense Danish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Denmark men's international footballers Boldklubben 1913 players Odense Boldklub players Greenock Morton F.C. players Rangers F.C. players SfB-Oure FA players Danish football managers Scottish Football League managers Greenock Morton F.C. managers Greenock Morton F.C. non-playing staff Danish expatriate football managers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate football managers in Scotland Publicans Scottish Football League players 20th-century Danish sportsmen