Ole Kjær (born 16 August 1954) is a Danish former

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 won the 1978 Danish ''Player of the Year'' award. He played as a

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 ...

, and most prominently represented Danish club

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 ...

, with whom he won the 1979 Danish Championship. He played 26 games for the Danish national team from 1977 to 1984, and represented Denmark at the 1984 European Championship.

Club career

Kjær began his professional career in 1974 with

. Two years after, he was able to win the

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 ...

with Esbjerg. This was their first victory in the tournament since 1964 and only the second in the club's history. The team won 2–1 against

Holbæk B&I Holbæk Bold- & Idrætsforening is a Danish football club currently playing in Danish 3rd Division. They play at Holbæk Sportsby in Holbæk on Zealand. From 2008 to 2014 their first team played under the name Nordvest FC. History The club ...

. In the 1978 season, Kjær and his team finished runners-up, four points behind title winners

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

. They reached the final of the cup again, but had to admit defeat after three 1–1 draws and a penalty shoot-out against Frem. In the same year he was voted

Danish Football 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 (soccer), football player by the Danish Football Association since 1963. The winner is decided in a vote among the professional Danish fo ...

, succeeding OB's Allan Hansen. In the following season, the team managed to win the league title. With only two defeats and thirty goals conceded, Kjær's team recorded the best defence and finished six points ahead at first place in the league. As the defending champions, however, the club only came in a disappointing tenth place the following year. The sporting situation at Esbjerg did not improve in the coming years either. As the club relegated at the end of the 1986 season, Kjær decided to move to first division rivals

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 ...

rivals

Næstved Boldklub Næstved Boldklub is a Danish association football team based in Næstved in the South of Zealand. Næstved Boldklub is the professional superstructure of the parent club Næstved Idræts Forening (Næstved IF) and currently plays in the Danish ...

. In 1990, however, he returned to Esbjerg fB, and retired two years later in 1992. With a total of 474 competitive matches for Esbjerg, Kjær holds the club record. On 11 April 1992, he replaced

Jens Peter Hansen Jens Peter Hansen, alternatively spelled Jens Peder Hansen (15 March 1927 – 16 November 1996) was a Danish footballer who played 465 games and scored 150 goals for Esbjerg fB in Denmark. He was the top goalscorer of the 1951 Danish football ch ...

(465 games between 1943 and 1966) as the record holder.

International career

Ole Kjær was a part of Danish national team manager

Sepp Piontek Josef Emanuel Hubertus "Sepp" Piontek (born 5 March 1940) is a German former football player and manager. Playing career Born in Wrocław during World War II, Piontek started his playing career with VfL Germania Leer. Between 1963 and 1972, the ...

's successful "Danish Dynamite" team in the early 1980s, where he competed for the starting goalkeeper spot with Ole Qvist and

Troels Rasmussen Troels Rasmussen (born 7 April 1961) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Danish clubs Vejle Boldklub and AGF. He played 391 games for AGF, and scored five goals from penalty kick A penalty shot or penalt ...

. He played an important part as Denmark qualified for the 1984 European Championship. Especially the game against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

on 21 September 1983 saw Kjær make a number of saves, as Denmark beat England 1–0. After a 6–0 pre-tournament loss to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Kjær was replaced in the Danish goal by Ole Qvist, and he did not play any games at the 1984 European Championship main tournament.

Outside football

Kjær is educated as a carpenter. He has worked six years in the sports business, sold holiday homes at for , been a salesman for ten years for Naturgas Syd, been director of Esbjerg Elite (1994–96) and been employed by TDC and DanReklame. Kjær still lives in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city 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 area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

and has coached Esbjerg fB's U14 goalkeepers.

Honours

Esbjerg fB * Danish Championship:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

: 1976 Individual *

: 1978

References

External links

*
Esbjerg fB profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kjaer, Ole 1954 births Living people Footballers from Kolding Men's association football goalkeepers Danish men's footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's international footballers Esbjerg fB players Næstved Boldklub players UEFA Euro 1984 players 20th-century Danish sportsmen