FC Midtjylland
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| Full name | Football Club Midtjylland | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Wolves | |||
| Short name | FCM | |||
| Founded | 2 February 1999 | |||
| Ground | MCH Arena, Herning | |||
| Capacity | 11,800 | |||
| Owner | Matthew Benham | |||
| Chairman | Rasmus Ankersen | |||
| Manager | Jess Thorup | |||
| League | Danish Superliga | |||
| 2015–16 | Danish Superliga, 3rd | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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FC Midtjylland (Danish: [ˈmid̥jylanˀ], "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the midwestern part of Jutland. The team was a result of a merger between Ikast FS (which also includes tennis, badminton and handball clubs) and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which it won for the first time in 2015.
Club history
FC Midtjylland was founded by Johnny Rune, a carpenter and owner of a private business in the wood-supply industry, and Steen Hessel, an authorized Mercedes Benz dealer.
The two men wanted to unite the football clubs Ikast FS (founded 1935) and Herning Fremad (founded 1918) – clubs that for decades had been strong rivals, but had never played any significant role in Danish football. Ikast FS had some success in the late 1970s and '80s, but that was about it. At least ten years had passed with the two clubs being unable to agree on a merger, but on 6 April 1999, a deal was finalized and announced at a press conference the next day.
In 2000, Midtjylland were promoted to the top-flight Danish Superliga after a season in which the team had gathered more points than any other team in the history of the first division.
In July 2014, Matthew Benham (owner of English Championship side Brentford) became the majority shareholder of Midtjylland's parent company FCM Holding.[1] In the 2014–15 season, they won the championship in the Danish Superliga.
Scouting and developing
Midtjylland have generally built a reputation of finding and developing promising talents.
In July 2004, Midtjylland was the first Danish club to have its own football academy, similar to that of French side Nantes. The academy attracts players from throughout Denmark, as well as players from a partnering club in Nigeria – F.C. Ebedei. The club has developed a network of over 100 clubs located in the western part of Jutland.
In 2008, Danish centre-back Simon Kjær, a talent of the academy, was sold to Palermo for a transfer fee of approximately DKK30 million (€4M).[2] In 2010, Sune Kiilerich, another talent of the academy, was sold to Sampdoria, while Winston Reid, an academy product and New Zealand international, was sold to West Ham United for DKK32 million (€4.26M).[3][4] In 2016, vice-captain Erik Sviatchenko was sold for £1.5 million to Celtic.[5]
Stadium
In 2004, the team moved to a new stadium in Herning with a capacity of approximately 12,000 spectators. Midtjylland was the first Danish club to sell the stadium naming rights to a sponsor, resulting in the name MCH Arena. The stadium's opening match was on 27 March; it proved to be a success, with Midtjylland beating AB 6–0. Five of the goals were scored by Egyptian striker former AB player Mohamed Zidan.
Supporters
Black Wolves is the official fanclub of FC Midtjylland.[6] It was founded in the beginning in August 1999, as the official fanclub of Ikast FS 1993 "Yellow Flames" changed their name at an extraordinary general meeting. Ultra Boys Midtjylland is the first ultra firm in Midtjylland, established in 2007 and later renamedUltras Midtjylland. In 2014, Midtjyland got its second ultra firm, a youth department called Midtjylland Ungdom.
Recent history
Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 2008–09 SL 4 33 16 7 10 55 46 55 3rd Round 2009–10 SL 6 33 14 5 14 41 41 47 Finalist 2010–11 SL 4 33 13 10 10 50 42 49 Finalist 2011–12 SL 3 33 17 7 9 50 40 58 1/16 Finals UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying Round 2012–13 SL 6 33 12 11 10 51 47 47 quarter-final UEFA Europa League Playoff Round 2013–14 SL 3 33 16 7 10 61 38 55 Fourth round 2014–15 SL 1 33 22 5 6 64 34 71 Fourth round UEFA Europa League Playoff Round 2015–16 SL 3 33 17 8 8 57 33 59 Fourth round UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round, UEFA Europa League Round of 32 2016–17 SL X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 UEFA Europa League First Qualifying Round
Honours
Players
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Youth team
Managers
Ove Pedersen (1 July 1999 – 30 June 2002)- Troels Bech (1 July 2002 – 31 Dec 2003)
- Erik Rasmussen (1 Jan 2004 – 30 June 2008)
- Thomas Thomasberg (1 July 2008 – 11 Aug 2009)
- Allan Kuhn (12 Aug 2009 – 15 April 2011)
- Glen Riddersholm (16 April 2011– 25 June 2015)
- Jess Thorup (12 July 2015 –
European competition history
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References
- ↑ Murtagh, Jacob (2014-07-02). "Benham remains fully committed to Bees despite Danish project". Get West London. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- ↑ "??" (in Danish). Tipsbladet.dk. Retrieved 2015-12-30. (subscription required)
- ↑ "Superligaens transferoverblik". Indkast.dk. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- ↑ "BBC Sport – Football – New Zealand international Winston Reid joins West Ham". BBC News. 2010-08-05. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- ↑ "Erik Sviatchenko: Celtic seal £1.5m transfer of Midtjylland man". BBC Sport. 17 January 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ↑ "Black Wolves : Homepage". Black-wolves.com. Retrieved 2015-12-30./
- ↑ "Superligatrup | fcm". Fcm.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- ↑ "DBU's Officielle Statistikere". Danskfodbold.com. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
External links
- Official website
- Ikast FS's website
- Herning Fremad's website
- Black Wolves – Official fanclub
- Messecenter Herning's website
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