Viborg FF

Viborg Fodsports Forening (lit.'Viborg Footsport Association'), or Viborg F.F. and VFF for short, is a Danish professional football club based in Viborg. The club was founded in 1896 and waited more than a century before winning its only national trophy, the 2000 Danish Cup.

Viborg
Full nameViborg Fodsports Forening
Nickname(s)
  • The Greens
  • The Old Capital
Short nameVFF
Founded1 April 1896 (1896-04-01)
GroundViborg Stadium, Viborg
Capacity10,000
Managing DirectorMorten Jensen
Head CoachJakob Poulsen
LeagueDanish Superliga
2023–248th of 12
WebsiteClub website

History

Viborg FF was founded in 1896, with several other sports apart from football - among other things were gymnastics, cricket, field hockey, boxing, athletics, skiing, weight-lifting, and wrestling.

The first big sporting highlight of the club came in 1924, when Viborg FF won the championship in Mesterrækken (The Champion Division), which was the best regional division in Jutland. A big title win at the time when, among others, AGF were a dominating club in Jutland.

Following the championship, Viborg dropped somewhat out of the picture, but never more than the club has always been on the Danish footballing map. It was a big relief for the club when it was promotion to the national competitions (4th Division) for the first time in 1959, following many closely missed attempts at qualification. One of the players taking part in the promotion was Erik Bundgaard, whose 421 matches for VFF is still club record.

Except for a couple of seasons in the start of the 1970s, Viborg has not been relegated to a tournament lower than the national competitions since 1959. Though the country's best league have been domicile for Viborg, during the last couple of years the club has been moving up and down between the country's two best leagues.

The finest achievements of the club came in the 1999–2000 season, where the Superliga bronze medals were missed by the smallest margin. Instead, the team was celebrated as winner of the Danish Cup, the DONG Cup. They then added the Danish Super Cup, beating champions Herfølge Boldklub in a penalty shoot out.

In 2021, Viborg finished first in the Danish 1st Division, earning promotion to the top tier. Their first season back in the Superliga was immediately successful, as they qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League. After knocking out Sūduva and B36 Tórshavn, they eventually lost over two ties against Premier League club West Ham United.[1]

Colours and badge

Viborg F.F.'s colours are green and white.

Stadium

Viborg plays its home matches at Viborg Stadion, which has a capacity of 9,566 spectators, all seated. The biggest stand is the eastern stand (2,792 seats) and the smallest is the southern (2,040 seats). The field size is 105 x 68 m, the same size as the national stadium, Parken. The light is 1200 lux. The sound comes from an Ascon PA-system. There is undersoil heating installed at the venue, which UEFA has approved as an international stadium.

Supporters

Viborg FF has no official Fanclub. A former official Fanclub is The Green Pride. It was one of the largest in Denmark with over 500 members. There is a small continuation of The Green Pride active in Viborg to this day.

The first ultra group was established in 2002, when a group of young adults established Fanatikos. In 2004 a new group, Shamrock Ultras, was born.

Their main rival is FC Midtjylland and the game is called "Hadets Opgør" (The battle of Hatred) or "det midtjyske derby" (Central Jutland Derby). Viborg fans, see themselves as being the true Central Jutlanders and most Viborg fans are annoyed by the fact that FC Midtjylland call themselves FC Midtjylland (FC Central Jutland). The derby can also be seen as a battle between traditional football and modern football.

Players

First-team squad

As of 28 May 2024[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  DEN Lucas Lund Pedersen
3 DF  DEN Mads Lauritsen
4 DF  SUI Nicolas Bürgy
5 DF  SVN Žan Zaletel
6 MF  DEN Mads Søndergaard
7 FW  CPV Serginho
8 FW  NGA Ibrahim Said
9 MF  CUW Nigel Thomas
10 MF  NED Jamie Jacobs
11 FW  BRA Renato Júnior
13 MF  DEN Jeppe Grønning
14 FW  DEN Anosike Ementa
15 FW  DEN Isak Jensen
16 GK  FIN Lasse Schulz (loan from Greuther Fürth)
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF  DEN Jakob Bonde
18 MF  GER Jean-Manuel Mbom
20 GK  DEN Kasper Kiilerich
23 DF  DEN Oliver Bundgaard
24 DF  KEN Daniel Anyembe
25 DF  SVN Anel Zulić
27 DF  FRO Martin Agnarsson
28 MF  DEN Magnus Westergaard
29 FW  GHA Malik Abubakari (loan from Malmö)
30 DF  SVN Srđan Kuzmić
37 MF  DEN Jakob Vester
55 DF  CRO Stipe Radić
58 GK  GER Nico Mantl (loan from Red Bull Salzburg)

Youth players in use 2023—24

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
32 DF  DEN Mathias Nedergaard
33 DF  DEN Lukas Kirkegaard
No. Pos. Nation Player
35 DF  DEN Viktor Hjorth

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF  DEN Sofus Berger (at Fredericia until 30 June 2024)
MF  CZE Jan Žambůrek (at Slovan Liberec until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW  SWE Marokhy Ndione (at Feirense until 30 June 2024)
FW  POR Paulinho (at Sport Clube União Torreense until 30 June 2024)

Retired numbers

Academy

Managerial history

 
Name Nationality Years
Harald Hansen 1926–27
Axel Holm 1930–31
Sofus Nielsen 1932–33
Charlie Pohl 1933–35
Arnold Thisted 1935–37
Valdemar Bodilsen 1937–38
Emil Asmussen 1940–41
Willy Henriksen 1942–44
Valdemar Bodilsen 1945–47
Poul Snedker 1947–49
Aksel Larsen 1949–50
Svend H. Mønster 1950–53
Walter Presch 1953–54
Harry Albertsen 1954–55
Svend H. Mønster 1955–56
Walter Presch 1956–57
Karlo Niilonen 1958–60
Leo Nielsen 1961–63
Rudi Strittich 1964
Erik Schou 1965
Knud Schou 1966–68
Jim Magill 1969
Robert Andreasen 1970–71
Kaj Stærk 1972–74
Eduard Bründl 1975
Bent Martin 1976
Erik Bundgaard 1977–79
Svend Hugger 1980–81
 
Name Nationality Years
Eduard Bründl 1982–83
Erik Bundgaard 1984
Jens Tang Olesen 1984–87
Hans Ove Andersen 1988–89
Peter Rudbæk 1990–93
Roald Poulsen 1993–94
Ole Skouboe 1994
Viggo Jensen 1995
Ove Christensen 1995–99
Kim Poulsen July 1, 1999–Oct 23, 2001
Søren Kusk 2001–03
Benny Lennartsson 2003
Ove Christensen July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2006
Tommy Møller Nielsen Feb 2, 2006–Nov 9, 2007
Anders Linderoth Dec 1, 2006–Nov 30, 2007
Hans Eklund Nov 26, 2007–April 8, 2009
Søren Frederiksen April 8, 2009 – June 30, 2009
Lars Søndergaard July 3, 2009–Nov 24, 2010
Steffen Højer &
Søren Frederiksen
(interim)

Nov 24, 2010–June 30, 2011
Ove Christensen July 1, 2011 – January 31, 2014
Auri Skarbalius Feb 1, 2014–June 30, 2015
Johnny Mølby July 1, 2015–Aug 2, 2017
Steffen Højer Aug 2, 2017–June 3, 2019
Jacob Neestrup June 20, 2019 – December 22, 2020
Lars Friis January 16, 2021 – January 25, 2022
Jacob Friis February 3, 2022 – November 8, 2023
Jakob Poulsen November 8, 2023–Present

Honours

League

Cup

European record

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League Second qualifying round Sūduva 1–0 1–0 2–0
Third qualifying round B36 Tórshavn 3–0 2–1 5–1
Play-off round West Ham United 0–3 1–3 1–6

Recent history

Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes
1996–97 SL 11 3361116 315829 Relegated
1997–98 1D 1 302073 722967 Promoted
1998–99 SL 8 3313515 615944
1999–2000 SL 4 3315711 565052 Winners
2000–01 SL 6 3313713 524246 Semi-final
2001–02 SL 8 33101112 464541 Last 16
2002–03 SL 8 33111012 585543 Semi-final
2003–04 SL 7 3311913 474442 Quarter-final
2004–05 SL 7 3313911 434548 Fourth round
2005–06 SL 4 331599 624354 Fifth round
2006–07 SL 9 338520 346429 Semi-final
2007–08 SL 11 335523 296839 Second round Relegated
2008–09 1D 4 3017310 594054 Third round
2009–10 1D 7 3010146 302644 Fourth round
2010–11 1D 11 309615 374333 Fourth round
2011–12 1D 4 2610106 453440 Fourth round
2012–13 1D 1 3317115 603062 Second round Promoted
2013–14 SL 12 3361017 386328 Third round Relegated
2014–15 1D 1 3317142 472065 First round Promoted
2015–16 SL 8 3311715 344240 Fourth round
2016–17 SL 13 328915 354733 Third round Relegated
2017–18 1D 4 331599 584254 Second round
2018–19 1D 2 331797 613760 Second round
2019–20 1D 2 331788 664459 Third round
2020–21 1D 1 322372 712476 Second round Promoted
2021–22 SL 7 3210148 454344 Fourth round Qualified for 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League
2022–23 SL

References

  1. "West Ham beat Viborg to cruise into group stage". BBC Sport. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  2. "Truppen". Viborg F.F. Prof. Fodbold A/S (in Danish). Retrieved 29 August 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.