Jens Jørn Haahr Bertelsen (born 15 February 1952), known as Jens Jørn Bertelsen and Sjønne, is a Danish former association football player in the

defensive 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. He played 362 matches and scored 42 goals for Danish club

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. Found ...

, and played for a number of European clubs. He played 69 matches and scored two goals 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 represented Denmark at the

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

and

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

tournaments.

Club career

Born in the

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town 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 population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

suburb of Guldager, Bertelsen started playing football with small-time club Sædding-Guldager. When Sædding-Guldager coach and former Danish international

Egon Jensen Egon Jensen (13 November 1937 – 13 September 2020) was a Danish footballer who played as a midfielder for Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football ...

was hired by 3rd Division team

, Bertelsen followed him to the club, where he played alongside later Danish internationals

Ole Kjær Ole Kjær (born 16 August 1954) is a Danish former footballer, who won the 1978 Danish ''Player of the Year'' award. He played as a goalkeeper, and most prominently represented Danish club Esbjerg fB, with whom he won the 1979 Danish Champion ...

Ole Madsen Ole Eduard Fischer Madsen (21 December 1934 – 26 March 2006 Camilla Dam ''Danmarks Radio'', 26 March 2006) was a Danish international footballer, who scored 42 goals in 50 matches for the Denmark national team and competed at the 1964 Europe ...

, and

John Lauridsen John Mikkelsen Lauridsen (born 2 April 1959) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, gifted with field vision and able to shoot with both feet. He won the Danish championship with Esbjerg, before pla ...

. He made his Esbjerg debut at the age of 21, on 1 April 1973. He was a hard-working

, and helped the team win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the top-flight

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

. In 1976, he was named man of the match as Esbjerg won the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official " knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will qu ...

tournament, Esbjerg's first trophy in 11 years. In the 1st Division, Bertelsen helped Esbjerg finish third in 1977, second in 1978, and finally win the 1979

Danish football champions The Danish football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in Denmark. The title has been contested since 1913, in a varying form of competitions. Since 1991, the winners have been found through the Danish Superliga championsh ...

hip. He was subsequently named 1979

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 player by the Danish Football Association since 1963. The winner is decided in a vote among the professional Danish footballers. Since 2000 ...

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 te ...

. He received a number of offers from European clubs, and decided to move abroad in May 1982. He signed a professional contract with

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

club R.F.C. Seraing, and quickly settled into the team. He stayed two years in Belgium, before moving on to French outfit

Rouen FC Football Club de Rouen 1899 (; commonly referred to as simply FC Rouen) is a Football in France, French association football club based in Rouen, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy. The club was formed in 1899 and currently plays in Ch ...

when Seraing went bankrupt in 1984. After one season with relegation battlers Rouen, he moved to

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

team

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss football club based in Aarau. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local ...

in the summer of 1985. Bertelsen returned to Esbjerg fB in 1987, where he ended his career at the end of the 1988 season.

International career

Bertelsen made his international debut with the

Denmark national under-21 football team The Denmark national under-21 football team has played since 1976 and is controlled by the Danish Football Association. Before 1976, the age limit was 23 years. Tournament record UEFA European U-21 Championship *''*Draws include knockout matche ...

in May 1975, and played five under-21 games until October 1975. He was called up for the senior Danish national team by national manager Kurt "Nikkelaj" Nielsen, and made his national team debut in a 0–0 draw with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

on 24 June 1976. He played his second game in February 1978, and went on to become a mainstay in the team under new national manager

Sepp Piontek Josef Emanuel Hubertus "Sepp" Piontek (born 5 March 1940) is a German former footballer and manager. Playing career Born in Breslau, now Wrocław. Piontek started his playing career with VfL Germania Leer. Between 1963 and 1972, the full-ba ...

. Bertelsen had a somewhat anonymous role in the defensive midfield,Rebecca Vang, "Fortidens stjerner: Den vestjyske slider",

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indep ...

, 9 January 2005, p.12. though his work rate made him an integral part of the team. While playing abroad, Bertelsen was called up by Piontek to represent Denmark at the

. He played full-time in all Denmark's four games before elimination in the semi-finals. He was also called up for the Danish squad at the

. He played three of Denmark's four games at the tournament. He played his last national team game in September 1987, at the age of 35.

Honours

*1976

*1979

hip *1979

References

External links

*
Esbjerg fB profile
* *
Haslund.info profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertelsen, Jens Jorn 1952 births Living people Danish men's footballers Denmark men's international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Esbjerg fB players R.F.C. Seraing (1904) players FC Rouen players FC Aarau players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Danish expatriate sportspeople in France Danish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Esbjerg