Jan Johnsen Sørensen (14 May 1955 – 16 February 2024) was a Danish professional footballer who played as a striker. He most notably played professionally for Belgian club

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

as well as

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedes ...

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

in the Netherlands. He played 11 matches and scored three goals for the Denmark national team from 1977 to 1980.

Career

Sørensen started his career with Glostrup IC before joining

BK 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. Since its foundation in 1886, Frem has w ...

in Denmark ahead of the 1977 season. He proceeded to move abroad to play professionally for Belgian team

in 1977. He reached the 1978

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 competi ...

final with Club Brugge, which was lost to English club

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. He played six seasons at Club Brugge, scoring a total of 63 goals in 185 matches, and winning two Belgian Jupiler League championships. He left the club in 1983, and moved to the Netherlands to play for

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

and

. He ended his active career with

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It a ...

in Portugal. Following his retirement, he was appointed manager of

Walsall FC Walsall Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club's nickname, "The Saddlers", reflects ...

in June 1997. He spent 11 months at the club, leaving again in May 1998. He later became sports director of Danish club

Hvidovre IF Hvidovre Idrætsforening, more commonly known as Hvidovre IF () is a Danish professional football club based in Hvidovre. The club competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of Danish football, and plays its home matches at the Hvidovre ...

Later life and death

Jan ran a pub called the ''Prince of Wales'' in the Tamworth area. Sørensen died following a long illness on 16 February 2024, at the age of 68.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sørensen goal.''

Honours

Player

Club Brugge *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

: 1977–78, 1979–80 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

runner-up: 1978–79, 1982–83 *

Belgian Supercup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champio ...

: 1980 *

European Champion Clubs' Cup The European Champion Clubs' Cup, also known as Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The competition in its older forma ...

runner-up: 1977–78 *

Jules Pappaert Cup Trophy Jules Pappaert or Pappaert cup is a Belgian football trophy since 1953 and is awarded annually to a club in the first, second or third division of the Belgian Pro League with the longest uninterrupted series of unbeaten games. The award i ...

: 1978 * Bruges Matins: 1979, 1981 * Japan Cup Kirin World Soccer: 1981

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorensen, Jan 1955 births 2024 deaths People from Glostrup Municipality Danish men's footballers Footballers from the Capital Region of Denmark Men's association football forwards Denmark men's international footballers Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Primeira Liga players Boldklubben Frem players Club Brugge KV players FC Twente players Feyenoord players Excelsior Rotterdam players AFC Ajax players Portimonense S.C. players Danish football managers Portimonense S.C. managers Walsall F.C. managers Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate football managers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Danish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate football managers in England