Niels-Christian Holmstrøm (born 23 February 1947) 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, manager, chief consultant in

Team Danmark Team Danmark is an organization funded by the Danish government through the proceeds from Danske Spil, the state-controlled organization for betting on sports in Denmark, with the purpose of promoting elite sports in Denmark. References Exter ...

and sports director of Danish football club

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklub ...

. Currently he is the chairman of

Kjøbenhavns Boldklub Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (known simply as KB) was a Danish professional multi-sports club based in Copenhagen. The club was founded on 26 April 1876 on the grassy fields in outer Copenhagen which later became Fælledparken. Tennis has been played s ...

and a "special consultant" for F.C. Copenhagen. In his active career, Holmstrøm played the position of striker, guiding Kjøbenhavns Boldklub to two Danish Championships. He also played professionally for

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

and

HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982� ...

in the Netherlands, and French club

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

. He played 15 A nationals and scored four goals for the Danish national team.

Playing career

Club

Born 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 ...

, he started his career at

(KB), where he was the top goal-scorer in the Danish championship in 1968 as he guided the club to its 13th championship trophy. In 1969, he moved abroad to play professionally for Dutch clubs

and

. His professional career was quickly over, as he suffered a career-ending injury and was declared medically unfit to play football.Jens Kristensen, "Krudttønde – nu med mikrofon", ''

Fyens Stiftstidende ''Fyens Stiftstidende'' is a daily newspaper in Denmark and has its headquarters in Odense. The paper serves for Funen. History and profile The newspaper was first published on 3 January 1772. It was part of the Stiftstidende dailies. The other ...

'', 23 June 2006 He refused to end his career, and returned to play for KB. In 1974, he repeated his 1968 feat, as he was league top-scorer in KB's 14th Danish championship win. Following that season, he won the 1974 Danish ''Footballer of the Year'' award. He moved abroad once more in 1974 to play for

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (department), Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitain ...

in France, and stayed with the club until his retirement in 1977.

International

Holmstrøm played six Danish under-21 national team matches and scored two goals, in 1968 and 1969. His last two under-21 national games came after he had already debuted for the Danish senior national team on 4 December 1968 against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. He played four national team matches, before his national team career went on a hiatus following his move to the Netherlands, as professional players were not allowed in the national team. Holmstrøm re-entered the national team in 1973, and he scored 3 goals in a national team match against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

on 3 September 1974 (final score 9–0), and was selected as the Danish

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 ...

in the next 3 national team games. The Danish rule of amateurism had been abolished in 1971, and Holmstrøm continued to play for Denmark after his move to France. His last match for the national team came on 17 November 1976 against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Football executive

Following his retirement, he managed Danish club

Kastrup BK Kastrup Boldklub (Kastrup BK or KB for short) is a Danish football club based in the suburb of Kastrup (Tårnby Municipality) on Amager. As of the 2024–25, the club's first senior men's team play in Copenhagen Series ( level 6). The club was fo ...

with such success, that he earned the "Manager of the Year in Denmark" award in 1979. He also managed

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 ...

(B1903) and KB before he ended his managerial career in 1986. He became sports director of

in 1999, the merger of KB and B1903. He took the temporary role of manager in two games, when manager

Kent Karlsson Kent Karlsson (born 25 November 1945) is a Swedish football coach and former player. He was capped 38 times for the national team and played at the 1974 FIFA World Cup. As a manager, he has managed Swedish, Danish and Norwegian clubs such as IF ...

surprisingly left the club in September 2001. He ended his job at F.C. Copenhagen in 2006, having helped new sports director

Carsten V. Jensen Carsten Vagn Jensen (; born 28 February 1963), colloquially known as Carsten V. Jensen or simply CV, is a Danish former footballer and coach, who was most recently the director of football of Brøndby IF. Career He started his career with Næstv ...

ease into the position. He went on to work as a consultant and a board member for FC Copenhagen. He also serves as a member of the board of UEFA's Club Forum, as well as the chairman of KB.

Personal life

Holmstrøm is well known for his outspoken manners, which had given birth to many classic quotes, which is still cited and loved by the fans of FC Copenhagen today. A few examples are "Hvis Per Bjerregaard holder op med at lyve om os, så skal vi nok lade være med at fortælle sandheden om ham!" ("If

Per Bjerregaard Per Anders Bjerregaard (; born 23 January 1946) is a Danish educated physician (cand.med.) and former footballer, executive director and chairman of Danish football club Brøndby IF. Career Born in Randers, Bjerregaard moved to Copenhagen where ...

hairman of local rivals Brøndby IF">Brøndby_IF.html" ;"title="hairman of local rivals Brøndby IF">hairman of local rivals Brøndby IFstops lying about us, we won't tell the truth about him!"), and "Hellere løve for èn dag, end lænkehund hele livet" ("[I'd] rather be a lion for one day, than a chained dog for one entire life"). In 2006 Holmstrøm released his memoirs, "Livet er for kort til lange afleveringer – erindringer med mening" ("Life is too short for long passes – memoirs with a meaning").

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

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 for ...

: 1968 and 1974, with KB *

top scorer : 1968 (23 goals) and 1974 (24 goals). *

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 ...

: 1969, with KB * Danish ''Footballer of the Year'' : 1974 * Manager of the Year in Denmark : 1979

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmstrom, Niels-Christian Living people 1947 births Danish men's footballers Kjøbenhavns Boldklub players HFC Haarlem players ADO Den Haag players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Eredivisie players Ligue 1 players Danish football managers F.C. Copenhagen managers F.C. Copenhagen non-playing staff Denmark men's international footballers Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Men's association football forwards Kastrup Boldklub managers Danish football chairmen and investors Footballers from Copenhagen Danish expatriate sportspeople in France Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 20th-century Danish sportsmen