Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (known simply as KB) was a Danish professional multi-sports club based in

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 ...

. The club was founded on 26 April 1876 on the grassy fields in outer Copenhagen which later became

Fælledparken The park Fælledparken in Copenhagen, Denmark, was created 1906–1914 by landscape architect Edvard Glæsel in cooperation with the Copenhagen Municipality on the commons (Danish: ''fælled'') previously named ''Nørrefælled'' and ''Østerfæ ...

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

has been played since 1883. The club hosted, in 1921, one of the early tennis majors: the World Covered Court Championships, won by William Laurentz that year. Today, along with the sports already mentioned, the club also has facilities for

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

pétanque Pétanque (, ; ; ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports (along with Raffa (boules), raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, Bowls, lawn bowls, and Crown green bowls, crown green bowling). In these sports, players or teams play thei ...

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 ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

has been played in KB since 1879, meaning that KB's football team was the first club on continental Europe and it went on to become the most successful club in Denmark, winning a shared record 15 Danish championship titles from 1913 to 1980. In 1991, KB and B 1903 merged their professional football teams and formed F.C. Copenhagen.

Logo

KB's logo is designed by architect and designer Thorvald Bindesbøll (1846–1908). Bindesbøll also designed the Carlsberg logo, and KB's logo is believed to be sponsored by Carlsberg.

History

KB was founded as a result of Copenhageners' burgeoning interest in

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

, which increased significantly throughout the second half of the 1800s. In particular, ball games such as long-ball, sting-ball and round-ball were popular in the capital, and when the

Copenhagen Municipality Copenhagen Municipality (), also known in English language, English as the Municipality of Copenhagen, located in the Capital Region of Denmark, is the largest of the four municipalities that constitute the City of Copenhagen (), the other three ...

demolished the

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

s and tore down the

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

s in 1852, the Copenhageners found it easier to search out for common areas to practice sports. The club's official four founders were printer F. V. Levison,

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

August Nielsen, and wholesalers Carl Møller and E. Selmer. Among the co-founders was also Frederik Markmann, who later became the first chairman of the Danish Football Association (DBU), which was founded in May 1889.

Football

Football was added to the club's programme on 24 October 1878, making it the oldest football club in the world outside of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the oldest football club on continental Europe. The first advertised games were scheduled to be held in a military exercise ground ("Exercerplads") near

Rosenborg Castle Rosenborg Castle () is a renaissance castle in Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV's many architectural projects. It was built in the Dutch Renaissance style, t ...

on 5 January 1879 (at 11am). Nine months later, on 7 September 1879, the first-ever football match in Denmark was held in Eremitagen in Klampenborg, where Birkerød Kostskole Boldklub faced KB's juniors, with the Birkerød school students team winning 3–0. Other sources claim this match was actually held at Rosenborg's Exercerplads on 16 December 1883. In 1888, KB, which was by far the leading club of the time, organized the first Danish football tournament in 1888, which was attended by 15 clubs and bore the official name "Medaille Fodbold-Konkurrencen i 1888". KB were the pre-tournament favourites and lived up to it by comfortably winning the tournament, beating BK Haabet in the final on 29 April 1888 with a resounding 14–0 victory, scoring 40 goals in total and not conceding a single one. KB's dominance and undisputed status as Denmark's best football club was also reflected in the fact that the club paid a significant part of the total expenses for the completion of the tournament. In the first years of football in Denmark, the sport was played in places such as Rosenborg's Exercerplads and Eremitagen, but this changed in 1893, when KB become the first Danish club to get its own football field, being quickly followed up by AB,

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 and its youth academy. Since its foundatio ...

and B93, who also got their own tracks. In 1893, KB gathered its activities in Frederiksberg (where

Forum Copenhagen Forum Copenhagen () is a large multi-purpose, rentable indoor arena located in Frederiksberg, Denmark. It hosts a large variety of concerts, markets, exhibitions and other events. The venue can hold up to 10,000 people depending on the event. Th ...

is located today), where surrounded by 10 tennis courts was the larger court ''Granen'' (K.B.'s Skt. Markus), which in 1910 was the home ground for Denmark's first international football match under DBU auspices, a 2–1 win over England Amateurs. The Danish Football Association (DBU) was founded by Frederik Markmann in May 1889, a former

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player who, among other things, had been a co-founder and chairman of KB. In the same year, DBU organized the first edition of Fodboldturneringen, which was held between 1889 and 1903, with KB winning on four occasions, including back-to-back titles in 1896–97 and 1897–98. The Fodboldturneringen was the forerunner for the Danish National Football Tournament, which was held for the first time in 1912–13, and ended with a KB triumph, thus becoming the first Danish champions. In 1908, when

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

made their international debut at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, the club provided seven players to the 17-man squad, three defenders (the Middelboe brothers, Einar, Nils and

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

Kristian), three forwards ( Oskar Nielsen,

Rasmussen The surname Rasmussen () is a Danish and Norwegian surname, meaning ''Rasmus' son''. It is the ninth-most-common surname in Denmark, shared by about 1.9% of the population.Vilhelm Wolfhagen, Wolfhagen) and the team's

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 ...

Ludvig Drescher, of which six started in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in a 0–2 loss. They were the fundamental players behind Denmark's silver medal campaign, with Nils Middelboe scoring Denmark's first-ever official goal in a 9–0 victory over

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 19 October 1908, while Vilhelm Wolfhagen scored 8 goals in just two matches, a poker in both the quarter and the semi-finals. The club began to spread its activities beyond Copenhagen. Among other things, they moved the football team into the Københavns Idrætspark (today's Parken Stadium) on Østerbro, which was inaugurated on 25 May 1911 with a football match between a combined team from B93 and KB against the English side

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, ending in a 3–2 to the latter. Later in the year, an audience record for a football match in Denmark was set with 11,233 spectators when a selected Copenhagen team with six KB players met the Scottish champion Rangers FC from

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, who won by the score of 4–1. This attendance record only lasted three years, until Denmark met England Amateurs on 5 June 1914 and won 3–0 in front of 18,500 spectators in Idrætspark. But in the early 1990s, KB and

Boldklubben 1903 Boldklubben 1903 or B 1903 was a football club founded on 2 June 1903, located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Seven times winner of the Danish championship (introduced 1913) in 1920, 1924, 1926, 1938, 1969, 1970 and 1976 and twice winner of the D ...

were in financial trouble. At the same time, new Danish giants and local rivals Brøndby won 5 championships in 7 seasons. Moreover, with Parken Stadium soon finished, both clubs acted the merger on 1 July 1992. Denmark national football team all-time top scorer Poul Nielsen (1891–1962) played for KB during all of his career. One of Denmark's all-time greatest players,

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 ...

, played for the club from 1980 to 1982 before rejoining Brøndby IF. Legendary striker Preben Elkjær played for KB for one season as a trainee (1973–1974), while Nicklas Bendtner, who in 2019 played for FCK, was a former trainee at KB between the years of 2002 and 2004. Since November 2018, KB is a member of the Club of Pioneers.

Tennis

In 1883,

became part of the club's activities, first at Rosenborg's Exercerplads, while the first actual tennis courts were built in 1889 by KB in Dronningens Mølle at Rosenkrantz Bastion (where Østerport station is today). In the late 19th century, KB established a large tennis facility called Porcelainsfabrik, which in 1902 laid the courts for the first major international tournament in Denmark. At one point in the 1920s, the club had more than 50 tennis courts, but as of 2021, the number has been reduced to just under 40. For a few years around

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1913 and 1919–23), the International Tennis Federation held the World Covered Court Championships, and in 1921 they took place in KB's first tennis hall at Pile Allé in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

, and KB won the tournament.

Honours

Danish championship *Champions (15) (shared record): 1912–13, 1913–14, 1916–17, 1917–18, 1921–22, 1924–25, 1931–32, 1939–40, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1952–53,

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, 1974,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

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: 1968–69 *Runners-up: 1957–58, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1983–84 *53 ''seasons'' in the '' Highest Danish League'' *6 ''seasons'' in the '' Second Highest Danish League'' *1 ''season'' in the '' Third Highest Danish League''

Notable players

* Nils Middelboe * Vilhelm Wolfhagen * Poul Nielsen * Preben Elkjær *

* Nicklas Bendtner

50 or more appearances

All players who have played in 50 or more such matches or played international football during their time at the club are listed below. Players are listed according to the date of their first professional contract signed with the club. Appearances and goals are for first-team competitive matches only; wartime matches are excluded, but substitute appearances are included. Poul Nielsen holds both the appearance and goalscoring records, with 201 appearances and 276 goals between 1907 and 1927. Torben Piechnik is the only other player with over 100 appearances, with 175 between 1980 and 1987.

International players

In the first official game of 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 ...

on 19 October 1908, at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

, five players represented KB in that team, including team captain Kristian Middelboe. Since then, a total 75 players have represented KB in the senior Denmark national team. :''Listed according to the year of debut.'' * 1900s: Ludvig Drescher (1908), Kristian Middelboe (1908), Nils Middelboe (1908), Vilhelm Wolfhagen (1908), Oskar Nørland (1908), Bjørn Rasmussen (1908) * 1910s: Poul 'Tist' Nielsen (1910), Ivar Lykke (1911), Svend Aage Castella (1911), Kristian Gyldenstein (1911),

Christian Morville Christian Viggo Morville (3 December 1891 in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen – 21 December 1942 in Gentofte) was a Danish amateur football (soccer) player, who played one game for the Denmark national football team. He played his entire career for ...

(1912), Georg Brysting (1912), Alf Olsen (1917), Steen Steensen Blicher (1918), Valdemar Laursen (1918) * 1920s: Leo Dannin (1920), Poul Graae (1920), Axel V. Preno (1922), Svend Aage Remtoft (1923), Aage Jørgensen (1923), Wilhelm Nielsen (1925), Erik Eriksen (1929) * 1930s: Henning Jensen (1931), Oscar Jørgensen (1932), Georg Taarup (1932), Eli Larsen (1933), Hans Christensen (1934), Egon Andersen (1936), Helge Jørgensen (1937), Jørgen Iversen (1938), John Nielsen (1938), Erik Glümer (1938) * 1940s: Harald Lyngsaa (1940), Eigil Nielsen (1940), Jørn Jegsen (1943), Niels Bennike (1945), Gustaf Pålsson (1945), Jørgen W. Hansen (1947), Dion Ørnvold (1947), Axel Pilmark (1947), Erik Køppen (1949) * 1950s: Arnold Olsen (1950), Erik Hansen (1951), Jørgen Johansen (1952), Martin Kristensen (1952), Per Jensen (1952), Vagn Birkeland (1954), Jens Torstensen (1956), Finn Alfred Hansen (1957), Jørn Sørensen (1958), Per Funch Jensen (1959), Arne Karlsen (1959) * 1960s: Bent Krog (1961), Ole Sørensen (1961), Henning Helbrandt (1961), Nils Jensen (1961), Gert Hansen (1961), Eyvind Clausen (1962), Niels Møller (1966), Kurt Præst (1968), Niels-Christian Holmstrøm (1968) * 1970s: Flemming Pedersen (1970), Niels Hagenau (1971), Eigil Nielsen (1971), Niels Sørensen (1974), Anders Sørensen (1974), Karl Aage Skouborg (1974), Torsten Andersen (1977), Klaus Nørregaard (1977), Henrik Agerbeck (1978), Ole Højgaard (1979), Finn Laudrup (1979), Ole Qvist (1979), Palle Hansen (1979) * 1980s: Henrik Eigenbrod (1981)

References

External links

Team profile
at the Danish Football Association official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kjobenhavns Boldklub Kjobenhavns BK Football clubs in Copenhagen Kjobenhavns BK Kjobenhavns BK Multi-sport clubs in Denmark Sports clubs and teams in Copenhagen 1876 establishments in Denmark Cricket in Denmark