Vejlby-Risskov Idrætsklub, commonly known as VRI, is a

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

Risskov Risskov is the name of both a neighbourhood and a district in the city of Aarhus, Denmark. The district of Risskov is sometimes referred to as Vejlby-Risskov, as it is a merger of the neighbourhood of Risskov and the neighbourhood of Vejlby. The ...

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, Denmark. VRI is mostly known for its

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

department, which competes in the

Denmark Series The Denmark Series () is the fifth tier in the Danish football league system. Teams are divided into four groups of ten. The top team in each following promotion group is promoted to the Danish 3rd Division. The bottom three teams in each group ...

, the fifth tier of the

Danish football league system The Danish football league system, also known as the football league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league structure for association football in Denmark, in which all divisions are bound together by the principle of promotio ...

. Founded in 1937, it is affiliated to the regional

DBU Jutland DBU Jutland () is the local governing body for association football and futsal in Jutland, Denmark. They are responsible for the governance and development of men's and women's football at all levels in the region. DBU Jutland is a member of the U ...

football association. The team plays its home matches at NES Park where it has been based since 2011.

History

The club was founded on 9 November 1937. The initiators were Frode Nielsen and Gunnar Åse Nielsen, who established the club at a meeting held at Risskov Badehotel, where 70 new members joined the club. Frode Nielsen, who became chairman, Gunnar Nielsen, Erling Nielsen, S. Blinkenberg and Søren Andersen were elected to the first board. Initially, the club mostly focused on

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, but the club included

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 ...

in its program from 1938. The first training grounds were located at the current Bellevuehal, while indoor training took place in Stadionhallen. In 1952, the club was allocated a clubhouse adjacent to

Bellevue Beach Bellevue Beach (), often simply referred to as Bellevue, is a beach at Klampenborg on the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. With up to 500,000 visitors a year, it is one of the most popular beaches in the Copenhagen area, although it at ...

. Bellevuehallen, the club's new indoor arena, was inaugurated on 19 June 1966, with the addition of another new indoor arena in 1987. Each year in December, VRI hosts an indoor football tournament in Bellevuehallerne to find the "Aarhus Champions in Indoor Football" between selected teams from AGF,

Aarhus Fremad Aarhus Fremad (, "Aarhus Forward") is an association football club located in Aarhus N, the northern part of Aarhus, Denmark. The club will compete in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of the Danish football league system in the 2025� ...

VSK Aarhus Vejlby Skovbakken Aarhus (; commonly known as VSK Aarhus) is a Danish football club based in Risskov, a neighbourhood in Aarhus. The club was founded in 2016 when the football departments of Vejlby IK Fodbold and Idrætsklubben Skovbakken decide ...

and VRI. On 20 November 2011, the club inaugurated its new home ground, NES Park, with a pitch consisting of

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

. Present at the inauguration were local

players

Martin Jørgensen Lars Martin Jørgensen (; born 6 October 1975) is a Danish former professional footballer who currently works as a scout for AGF. Starting his career as a full-back, he eventually spent most of it in midfield. In his 20-year playing career, ...

and Peter Graulund, as well as former VRI player Mikkel Kirkeskov. The football department has mostly spent its existence in the lower tiers of the

, bouncing between the fifth tier

Jutland Series Jutland Series () is the highest division for men organized by the regional association DBU Jylland and one of the fifth-highest divisions overall in the Danish football league system. The Jutland Association Football Championship () was introduc ...

and lower regional tiers. Its best historical achievement was long regarded to be the 1969 promotion to the fourth-tier

, with the club almost reaching the third tier 3rd Division in 1971. In 2019, VRI repeated the feat from 1969 and won promotion to the Denmark Series after a 3–0 win over Agerbæk/Starup in the third to last round.

References

External links

Official site
{{Denmark Series Football clubs in Denmark Association football clubs established in 1937 1937 establishments in Denmark Sport in Aarhus