Jesper Jørgensen (; born 9 May 1984) is a Danish former 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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Esbjerg

Jørgensen began his career with Janderup Billum Samarbejde (JBS) and signed for local rivals

Varde IF Varde Idrætsforening is an association football club based in Varde, Southern Jutland, Denmark that competes in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. Founded in 1975 as a result of the merger between Varde Gym ...

in July 2002. After one year, Jørgensen left his hometown Varde to sign with regional powerhouse

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 ...

in summer 2003. On 5 January 2005, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract extension with the club. He lost two cup finals with Esbjerg, both in 2005–06 and 2007–08.

Belgium

After 201 matches for Esbjerg, Jørgensen announced his move to Belgian club

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

on 10 December 2010, where he would sign a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his first-team debut on 20 January 2011 against

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. With more than 41,500 inhabitants, it is on ...

. He remained, except for the away game against

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian association football, football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from Belgian First Division 1999–2000, 1999–2000 ...

, in the starting lineup for the rest of the regular season. He also remained a starter in the relatively unsuccessful play-offs for Gent. Jørgensen also remained a starter under new head coaches Francky Dury and

Trond Sollied Trond Johan Sollied (born 29 April 1959) is a Norwegian football manager and former player. He last managed Lokeren. During his playing career, Sollied was a defender who won the Norwegian top flight five times. He also played for Norway's na ...

. He also hardly missed a game in the

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

in the 2011–12 season. He also managed to significantly improve his scoring ability compared to his first six months at the club by scoring 13 times in 39 league games that season and was thus one of the key players in the team. In June 2012,

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 29,042. They pl ...

announced that Jørgensen signed a three-year contract with the club. In 2014, Jørgensen signed a two-year contract with Zulte Waregem on 1 September 2014.

Return to Esbjerg

On 11 January 2016, Jørgensen's move back to Esbjerg fB was confirmed by the club. He joined on an agreement that valid until the summer of 2018. He left Esbjerg fB in February 2018 due to a recurring knee injury, which also resulted in him retiring from football.

International career

Jørgensen played internationally for the Denmark under-19 team in four matches and also gained four caps for the under-20 team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensen, Jesper 1984 births Living people People from Varde Municipality Danish men's footballers Danish expatriate men's footballers Varde IF players Esbjerg fB players S.V. Zulte Waregem players K.A.A. Gent players Club Brugge KV players Danish Superliga players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Men's association football midfielders Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Footballers from the Region of Southern Denmark 21st-century Danish sportsmen