F.C. Copenhagen , F.C. COPENHAGEN

FCK plays in the Danish Superliga and is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football and the highest ranking Danish club at the UEFA team rankings list, currently ranking as the 77th best club in Europe^[1]. They have won six Danish Superliga championships, three Danish Cup trophies, and the Scandinavian tournament Royal League twice. They qualified for the 2006-07 edition of the UEFA Champions League, for the first time in club history.

F.C. Copenhagen was founded in 1992, as a superstructure between 15-time Danish football champions Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB) and seven-time Danish football champions Boldklubben 1903, both clubs from Copenhagen. The club plays its matches at Parken Stadium, which also serves as the venue for Denmark national football team matches. Since its founding, F.C. Copenhagen has had a fierce rivalry with Copenhagen suburb club Brøndby IF, and the so-called "New Firm" games between the two sides attract the biggest crowds in Danish football.^[2]

[edit] History

Football Club København is in many ways both an old and a new club. Even though the club was established in 1992, it is nevertheless rooted in over 100 years of club tradition. F.C. Copenhagen is unique in Scandinavia, as the clubs first team actually represents two separate clubs: Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB) (mainland Europe's oldest football club) founded in 1876 and Boldklubben 1903 founded in 1903. The two Copenhagen clubs merged first teams to found F.C. Copenhagen on 1 July 1992. F.C. Copenhagen used B1903's club license to start its history in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship, while KB became the official reserve team of the club. With the rebuilding of the Parken Stadium, Denmark's national team stadium, the new club had a modern stadium to play at from its foundation. The initial ambition of the club was to continually qualify for one of the European competitions each season. The means to attain this goal were a solid economy, a big fan base, and an "attractive and positive style of football".^[3]

[edit] Early success

The club was managed by Benny Johansen, and in its first season, FCK got off to a great start. FCK made their first appearances in the European tournaments when they beat Swiss team Grasshopper Zürich 2-1 in the 1992 UEFA Intertoto Cup.^[4] FCK won the Intertoto Cup that year, and qualified for the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated in the second round by French team AJ Auxerre. The club won the 1992-93 Superliga season one point ahead of Odense BK in second place, and two points ahead of third placed Brøndby IF.^[5] For the 1993-94 Superliga season, expectations were high for FCK. The start of the season was marked by a 0-6 loss to Italian team A.C. Milan in the 1993-94 UEFA Champions League qualification. FCK went on winter break after the first half of the Superliga season as the third placed team. In spring 1994, F.C. Copenhagen gained on leaders Silkeborg IF. In the penultimate match of the season, the two teams met at Parken. In front of a record setting attendance of 26,679 spectators,^[6] FCK won the match 4-1. They were one point ahead of Silkeborg, but as FCK lost 3-2 to Odense BK in the last game of the season, they had to settle for second place.^[7]

[edit] Years of underachievement

For the next three seasons, FCK found no success in the Superliga, but went on to win two Danish Cup trophies. FCK won the 1995 Cup final against Akademisk Boldklub with a superior 5-0 win, qualifying for European football once again, despite mediocre results in the league. Kim Brink took over as manager in 1996, but despite winning the second Cup trophy for the club, the 8th place in the 1996-97 Superliga season prompted yet another manager replacement.^[8]^[9]^[10]

[edit] Flemming Østergaard enters the board

In February 1997, FCK got a new management, when Flemming Østergaard, ironically nicknamed "Don Ø", entered the board of the club as vice chairman and CEO. In November 1997, FCK was introduced on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange through a successful IPO, generating DKK 75 million. The 1997-98 season marked the first season that FCK averaged more than 10,000 spectators at their home games, and the club bought their stadium Parken for DKK 138 million in June 1998.^[11] The self-appointed "best manager in Denmark" Christian Andersen took the manager seat in January 1999. After just 30 controversial days, Andersen was fired, which started a strained relationship between Andersen and Østergaard.

FCK made its then biggest imprint in the European tournaments when it faced Chelsea F.C. in the second round of the 1999 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In the first game at Stamford Bridge, Bjarne Goldbæk gave FCK the lead 1-0, nine minutes before the end, but Chelsea managed to score in the last minute of the game. Chelsea won the second game at Parken on a goal scored the Dane Brian Laudrup. At the post-match press conference, it was announced that Brian Laudrup was signing with FCK from January 1999, with Bjarne Goldbæk signing for Chelsea. A four-time Danish Player of the Year award winner, Brian Laudrup could not help FCK improve their league position as they ended 7th in the 1998-99 Superliga season. Laudrup stayed half a year in FCK, before switching to Ajax Amsterdam at the end of the season in summer 1999.^[12] In the 1999-2000 season, still struggled, and ended 8th in the league table.

[edit] Finally champions again

In the winter 2000 transfer window, South African striker Sibusiso Zuma was bought by FCK,^[13] and in May 2000, English manager Roy Hodgson was hired. From the 2000-01 season, things went well for FCK. They won their second Superliga championship, when FCK won 3-1 in the last New Firm match of the season, played at Parken. The 2-0 goal was a bicycle kick by Sibusiso Zuma. Zuma received the ball in chest height, bouncing the ball in the air with his chest, and in the same motion making the overhead kick. Zuma volleyed the ball into the far corner, out of reach of Brøndby keeper Mogens Krogh. This goal was one of the best ever scored in the Superliga, and was awarded as the Danish goal of the year.^[14] Hodgson broke his contract with FCK a few weeks after celebrating the championship, signing with Italian team Udinese Calcio, and he was replaced by Swedish Hans Backe.

FCK faced Italian team S.S. Lazio in the UEFA Champions League qualification, but a 2-1 win in the first game was not enough, as Lazio won 5-3 on aggregate. FCK entered the UEFA Cup, where they defeated Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam 1-0 on a goal by left back Niclas Jensen. In the next round, German team Borussia Dortmund eliminated FCK. The 2001-02 Superliga season ended in disappointment for FCK. Brøndby won the championship on goal difference, after FCK had caught up with Brøndby's 10 point lead after the first half of the season.^[15] In the penultimate round of the 2002-03 Superliga season, FCK faced Brøndby at Brøndby Stadium. In extra time, Hjalte Nørregaard scored his first goal for FCK, and brought the championship back to Parken.^[16] In the Champions League second qualifying round 2004-05 FCK won the first match against ND Gorica 2-1 but later lost at Parken with 0-5. Under Backe, FCK went on to win the 2004 and 2006 Danish championships and the 2004 Danish Cup. F.C. Copenhagen also won the inaugural 2004-05 edition of the Royal League tournament, beating Swedish team IFK Göteborg on penalty shootout in the 2005 final.^[17] FCK repeated the achievement in the 2006 edition of the tournament, after this time beating Norwegian team Lillestrøm S.K. 1-0 in the 2006 final.^[18] Backe became the longest serving coach for FCK, before leaving the club in December 2005, vacating the manager spot for former FCK player Ståle Solbakken.^[19]

[edit] European ambitions

For the 2006-07 season, FCK was reinforced by Danish national team player Jesper Grønkjær. FCK looked forward to the 2006 UEFA Champions League qualifiers, where they beat Ajax Amsterdam. For the first time in the club's history, FCK entered the group stage of the Champions League, being grouped with Scottish club Celtic F.C., Portuguese club S.L. Benfica and Manchester United from England. Despite not losing a game at home in Parken (Benfica 0-0, Man Utd. 1-0 and Celtic 3-1), FCK failed to qualify from the Champions League group stage losing all away games.^[20] On May 9 FCK beat Brøndby 1-0 away winning their 5th Danish championship in seven years with four games to go in the tournament.^[21]

In the 2007-08 season FCK lost the 3rd qualification round of the Champions League with 3-1 agg. to Benfica. Beating RC Lens (France) 3-2 FCK qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Cup, where they played Panathinaikos FC (H), FC Lokomotiv Moscow (A), Atlético Madrid (H) and Aberdeen.^[22]. FCK lost to Panathinaikos and Madrid but a win against Moscow meant that they needed only a draw against Aberdeen to qualify for the next round. However a 4-0 defeat to Aberdeen put them out of the tournament.^[23] FCK finished a dissapointing 3rd in the league, with Aab taking the title.

In the 2008-09 season FCK got off with a good start, playing a more atractive style of play, battling for the 1st place with Brøndby and Odense BK. The team qualified to the UEFA Cup group stage by eliminating, Cliftonville (NI), Lillestrøm (NO) and FC Moscow (RU). So far the team lost at home to St. Etienne and drew 1-1 away with Valencia. FCK will battle Club Brugges (BE) and Rosenborg (NO) in the quest for qualification to the spring 2009 play-offs.

[edit] Colours

In Superliga home matches, F.C. Copenhagen plays in white shirts with blue collar, white shorts and white socks with blue Kappa logos.^[24]

Away in the Superliga, they play in black shirts with white collar, black shorts and black socks. White Kappa logos.^[24]

In European games, the home kit is all white. The shirt has gray collar and shoulders, and include big white Kappa logos on the shoulders. The away kit is all Maya Blue, with black collar and big white Kappa logos on the shoulders. The third kit is all orange, with black collar and big white Kappa logos on the shoulders.^[24]

[edit] Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

[edit] Stadium

F.C. Copenhagen is owner of their stadium, the national arena Parken. It was built in 1992 - the same year FCK was founded. Until Parken opened, they played their home matches at the much smaller Østerbro Stadion, which is located just next door.

In Parken there are 34,098 seats during the current rebuild. After the new D stand is built, the total capacity of Parken will be 38,000, about 4,000 seats less than the original capacity, which was more than 42,000.^[27]

[edit] Supporters

F.C. Copenhagen is the most supported club in Denmark, and has the biggest fanbase in Scandinavia, as the official fanclub, F.C. København Fan Club (FCKFC), has of march 2008 21.115 members, which is less than in march 2007, where the fanclub had 21.399. ^[28] FCKFC was founded on October 24, 1991, approximately half a year before FCK played its first match.^[29] Furthermore, there are many unofficial "fractions" connected to FCK, and the biggest is Urban Crew, Copenhagen Cooligans and Copenhagen Casuals.^{[citation needed]}. For the 2006-07 season there were 23,795 spectators on average.^[30]

For many years the lower part of the "C-stand" at Parken Stadium, Nedre C, has been the main stand for the supporters of FCK. In 2006 also a part of the lower "B-stand" (Section 12) were made fan section and named Stemningstribunen (lit. Atmosphere Stand).

[edit] Records

[edit] Players

[edit] Current squad

[edit] Reserves

[edit] Hall of fame

[edit] Managers

There have been eight different permanent and two caretaker managers of FCK since 1992; one of the caretakers (Kim Brink) has managed the club in three separate spells. The longest-running manager in terms of time is Hans Backe (2001–2005), who also is the longest-running in terms of games. The only non-Scandinavian to have managed FCK is Roy Hodgson. The most successful permanent manager was Kent Karlsson, in terms of percentage of wins with 55.38%, while Christian Andersen is FCK's least successful (0.00%). Andersen is also the shortest-running permanent manager of FCK and received only a single match, before he was fired.

[edit] Honours

[edit] European performances

[edit] Season-by-season results

[edit] Footnotes and references

^ "Uefa Team Ranking 2009". Burt Kassies. Retrieved on 2008-11-12.
^ Attendance season records at NetSuperligaen.dk, which dates back to the Danish Superliga 1998-99, records the biggest crowd each year has been a derby between F.C. København and Brøndby.
^ "History". F.C. Copenhagen (2006).
^ "01.07. F.C. København - Grasshoppers" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 1992/93 - "We are the champions"". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "05.06 F.C. Copenhagen - Silkeborg IF" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen.
^ "Season 1993/94 - So near... - but so far!". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 1994/95 - Record cup-final win!". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 1995/96 - 7th place and little to cheer about". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 1996/97 - Another cup win ... makes up for the rest of the season!". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 1997/98 - A new era". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 1998/99 - So close to European-glory in London!". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 1999/00 - Win some... draw most!". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 2000/01 - Winning the championship...at last". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 2001/02 - European success...but a bitter end to the season". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Season 2002/03 - Another title and even more spectators...". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "26.05. IFK Göteborg - F.C. København" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "06.04. F.C. København - Lillestrøm SK" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Ståle Solbakken cheftræner i FCK fra 1. januar 2006" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen (2005-10-01). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Kalender (Champions League efterår 2006)" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Danish champions again!". F.C. Copenhagen (2007-05-09). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "FC København". UEFA. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
^ "Aberdeen 4-0 Copenhagen". BBC. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Kampdragten: 2008-2009" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen (2008-07-10). Retrieved on 2008-07-11.
^ "Kappa og FCK indgår Nordens største aftale" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen (2008-10-24).
^ "Carlsberg and F.C. København sign new agreement". F.C. Copenhagen (2007-01-19).
^ "SuperBest tribune står klar medio 2009" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen (2007-10-29). Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
^ "Medlemsstatistik" (in Danish). FCKFC.
^ "Om fanklubben" (in Danish). FCKFC. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
^ "Superligaen 2006/2007" (in Danish). Netsuperligaen.dk.
^ ^a ^b Lindemann, Klaus V. & Mohr, Henrik. "Nipserstat" (in Danish).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Kampstatistik" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen.
^ "Superligaen 2007/2008" (in Danish). Netsuperligaen.dk.
^ "Squad". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
^ "2. Division Øst - Holdet" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2008-12-22.
^ "De 25 største FCK-profiler" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen.
^ "Facts". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
^ "Danmarksturneringen" (in Danish). Haslund.info. Retrieved on 2008-12-07.
^ "Pokalturneringen" (in Danish). Haslund.info. Retrieved on 2008-10-30.

F.C. Copenhagen

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