Per Frandsen

Summary

Per Frandsen (born 6 February 1970) is a Danish professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Danish Superliga club Hvidovre.

Per Frandsen
Personal information
Date of birth (1970-02-06) 6 February 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth Copenhagen, Denmark
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Hvidovre (head coach)
Youth career
BK Skjold
B 93
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1990 B 1903 25 (15)
1990–1994 Lille 109 (19)
1994–1996 Copenhagen 55 (19)
1996–1999 Bolton Wanderers 130 (19)
1999–2000 Blackburn Rovers 31 (5)
2000–2004 Bolton Wanderers 135 (13)
2004 Wigan Athletic 9 (1)
Total 494 (91)
International career
1989–1992 Denmark u-21 21 (8)
1990–2003 Denmark 23 (0)
Managerial career
2009–2012 HB Køge (assistant)
2012–2014 HB Køge
2014–2015 Brøndby U19[1]
2015–2016 AB
2017– Hvidovre
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Most notably, he won the 1994–95 Danish Cup with F.C. Copenhagen, and played 265 league games as a midfielder for Bolton Wanderers in England. Frandsen gained 23 caps for the Denmark national team between 1990 and 2003, and represented his country at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1998 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Biography edit

Born in Copenhagen, Frandsen started playing football with local clubs BK Skjold and B 93. He made his senior debut with top-flight club B 1903, debuted for the Danish under-21 national team in April 1989. He was the third best goalscorer of the 1990 Danish 1st Division, and made his national team debut in May 1990. He played three national team games under national manager Richard Møller Nielsen, until his national team career went on a hiatus in September 1991. In November 1990, he was sold to French club Lille OSC, in a Lille club record transfer deal.

Frandsen joined fellow Danish international Jakob Friis-Hansen at Lille, and played four years at the club. While at Lille, he represented Denmark at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he played full-time in Denmark's three games before elimination. When Lille faced economical difficulties in the summer 1994, Frandsen returned home to Denmark to play for F.C. Copenhagen (FCK). Frandsen stated his intention to only play in Denmark temporarily, and having won the 1995 Danish Cup with FCK, he moved abroad once again in August 1996. He was sold to English club Bolton Wanderers for £1.25 million. Playing in the second tier of English football, he made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw at Port Vale before scoring his first goal for Bolton in the following game against Manchester City.

He soon earned a reputation as one of the best players in English football playing outside the top-flight FA Premier League championship, and it was assumed that it would only be a matter of time before one of the bigger clubs came in for him. Instead, he helped Bolton win promotion back to the Premier League in the 1996–97 season. Frandsen's national team career was revived in November 1996, when he was recalled by new national manager Bo Johansson, after more than five years of absence from the Danish national team. He was one of the few bright spots of Bolton's second Premier League campaign, which ended in swift relegation back into the Football League. He was included in the Danish squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he was used as a substitute in two games.

In September 1999, Frandsen joined Bolton's league rivals Blackburn Rovers for £1.75 million. The decision was against the wishes of Bolton manager Colin Todd, who subsequently resigned. Frandsen's stay at Ewood Park for Blackburn was far from happy. He failed to settle at the club, and at the end of the season he returned to Bolton for £1.6 million. In his final year at Bolton, the club reached the 2004 League Cup final, though they were beaten 2–1 by Middlesbrough. He played 304 first team games for the club in all competitions, scoring 38 goals in the process. Frandsen left Bolton Wanderers to join Wigan Athletic on a free transfer in June 2004, helping them get promoted to the Premiership, scoring once in the process against Brighton.[2] After playing well in his first time at the club, he received a severe cruciate ligament injury and he decided to retire in January 2005.

After his retirement Frandsen worked as a football agent in Denmark,[3] until he was named new assistant manager at HB Køge in June 2009.[4]

Following the sacking of Tommy Møller Nielsen in the autumn of 2012, he was promoted to manager of the club. He managed the club until June 2014, when he was hired as youth coach of Brøndby IF.[1]

On 22 June 2015, Frandsen was appointed as the new manager of AB.[5] In his first season, he led the club to promotion to the Danish 1st Division. His second season, however, saw the club struggling, and in December 2016 he was sacked, with the club in bottom place in the league.[6]

On 18 June 2017, he was named new manager of Hvidovre IF in the Danish 2nd Divisions.[7] During his time at the club, he managed to lead them from the third tier to promotion to the Danish Superliga in 2023.[8]

Honours edit

Copenhagen

Bolton Wanderers

Individual

References edit

  1. ^ a b Jesper Helmin (11 June 2014). "Brøndby hapser HB Køge-træner". www.bold.dk. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Wigan 3–0 Brighton". BBC Sport. 21 August 2004. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  3. ^ Kevin Nolan (18 January 2006). "Kevin Nolan column". www.news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2006.
  4. ^ Jesper Helmin (29 June 2009). "Per Frandsen assistenttræner i HB Køge". www.bold.dk. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Per Frandsen præsenteres som ny cheftræner". ab-fodbold.dk. 22 June 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  6. ^ Nicolai Skovsgaard Tøfting (13 December 2016). "AB smider Per Frandsen på porten". www.bold.dk. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  7. ^ Jesper Helmin (19 June 2017). "Per Frandsen ny Hvidovre-træner". bold.dk. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Hvidovre-jubel: Superligaen burde ikke kunne lade sig gøre". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). 28 May 2023. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Wednesday 21/06 1995 at 20:00". fck.dk. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Boro lift Carling Cup". BBC Sport. 29 February 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  11. ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1999). The 1999–2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-85291-607-7.

External links edit

  • Per Frandsen national team profile at the Danish Football Association (in Danish)
  • FCK statistics (in Danish)
  • BBC Sport profile
  • Per Frandsen at National-Football-Teams.com