FC Nordsjælland

Farum Boldklub badge.

Established on 1 January 1991 from the merger of two football clubs, Farum Idræts Klub (formed in 1910) and Stavnsholt Boldklub af 1974,[3][6] both from the former Farum municipality (now consolidated with Værløse as the Furesø municipality), Farum BK would become one of the few successful mergers in Danish football, but not without controversy.[6] The club was an initiative of Farum residents[10] including mayor Peter Brixtofte, who took a personal interest in the club by arranging sponsorship.[11][12] The club kit colours became a combination of the two merged clubs, the red and white of Stavnsholt with the yellow and blue of F.I.K. combined into a kit with yellow and red striped shirts and dark blue shorts and socks, which is still used in some form to this day. Colours were not the only thing the newly formed club inherited, as Thomas Andreasen who had been with Stavnsholt BK was carried over into the new Farum squad, Andreasen would go on to make a record 295 appearances, playing from the Denmark Series all the way to the Danish Superliga, until his departure from the club in 2007.[10]

Farum BK was placed in the second group of the Denmark Series, the fourth tier in the Danish football pyramid, though it gained promotion to the first group after the club's maiden season.[6] Jørgen Andersen, a former goalkeeper for Hvidovre, took over as the club's first head coach in 1992. The club stayed in the Denmark Series first group for six years. Under the guidance of manager Jørgen Tideman, who took over in 1994, Farum qualified for promotion into the 2nd Division in the 1997–98 season and subsequently turned professional for the first time in club history.[6][10]

Farum's first full season as a professional club was a fruitful one, edging out Aalborg Chang and Skive by one point, gaining promotion for the second time in two years into the 1st Division.[6] The club's meteoric rise was slowed at first with the new challenge of playing in the Danish second tier, though it was not stopped, ending the 1999–2000 campaign with a respectable eighth-place finish, winning the same number of games as it lost. Farum, however, remained unable to make any sort of impact in the Danish Cup, having lost in the first round for the previous three years since making its debut in the tournament in the 1997–98 season. The following year saw some progression in both the league and cup, improving on the previous year's finish by finishing fifth, three spots and nine points behind second-placed promotion winners Vejle, as well as breaking out of the first round of the Danish Cup to eventually fall to Fremad Amager in the third round following a 2–1 loss.

With the 2001–02 season, unconventional coach Christian Andersen was brought in to manage the team, building on the foothold the club had gained in the 1st Division. Jeppe Tengbjerg played a pivotal role, brought in from B.93 the previous year. He scored 16 goals, becoming Farum's top goalscorer of the season and third overall in the league. The team went on to earn promotion into the Superliga after finishing in second place, 11 points clear of third-placed Sønderjylland, one point behind first-place winners Køge, scoring a team total of 69 goals, the highest in the division that season, and losing only four games.

Farum's 2002–03 appearance in the top flight of Danish football would be its first and last under the Farum BK name. It ended the season in third place, qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time in its history.[6] The club's achievement, however, was overshadowed by the scandal involving Peter Brixtofte, who had arranged for the municipality to deliberately overpay for welfare services bought from private companies that in return would sponsor the Farum football team.[6][11][13] Brixtofte was forced to step down as chairman and the club came close to bankruptcy.[10]

The full-time score at Farum Park.

In March 2003, Farum BK was bought by AKP Holding, the holdings company of local businessman Allan K. Pedersen, and in an effort to distance the club from the Brixtofte scandal, Farum BK was re-branded as FC Nordsjælland,[10] named after the North Zealand (Danish: Nordsjælland) region to clarify the club was to represent both the region as well as the town in which the club is based.[6] To reinforce the status as a regional team, a network of local football clubs from the surrounding area was created, consisting of around 66 teams, with the aim to highlight young talent in the region and bring it to national attention via FC Nordsjælland. The network is known as Fodbold Samarbejde Nordsjælland (FSN).[3][6]

The club's second year in the Superliga, first as Nordsjælland, struggled to improve on the previous year's outing. With its worst goal difference since turning professional, not one FCN player ended in the top ten goal scorers, fighting to avoid relegation for most of the season, ending the campaign in ninth place. The Wild Tiger fans, however, were rewarded with European football with the club's first appearance in the UEFA Cup; it beat Armenian team Shirak 6–0 on aggregate in the qualifying round, but were eliminated in the first round by Greek team Panionios.[6] Christian Andersen was sacked at the end of the 2003–04 season, replaced by Johnny Petersen as head coach.

The following two years under Johnny Petersen were spent avoiding relegation, with no success to speak of in either the Superliga or Danish Cup. Petersen's reign was not completely amiss, as he was noted for creating a good young team and the emergence of players Mads Junker and Anders Due. For the 2006–07 season, Morten Wieghorst was promoted from assistant to head coach,[12] a position the former Celtic player would retain for five years.

Wieghorst's first dilemma in charge of FCN was to fill the gap left by top scorer Mads Junker, sale to Dutch side Vitesse the previous winter. Morten Nordstrand came in on a free from nearby Lyngby after scoring 29 goals in the 1st Division that previous season. Nordstrand would go on to make an instant impact, topping the goal scorers charts for the first half of the 2006–07 season and earning himself a call up to the Denmark national team.[12] Helping the club to a fifth-place finish, Nordstrand ended the season with 18 goals after appearing in every league match that season. Danish champions Copenhagen purchased the player at the end of the season for a then record 15 million Danish kroner, becoming the largest transfer fee ever paid for a player between two Danish clubs.

With lower-than-average attendance and issues still arising from the Brixtofte scandal, chairman Allan Kim Pedersen confirmed there had been discussions to move the club north to Hillerød, where it would be able expand to other sports such as ice hockey and basketball.[14] The move, however, never materialized.

Nordsjælland would find itself in a similar position the following season, again having sold its star striker Martin Bernburg to Copenhagen. The team only managed a ninth-place finish, yet qualified for the UEFA Cup for the second time via the UEFA Respect Fair Play rankings.[6] 2008–09 would become a good year for the Wild Tigers in terms of cup competitions, making it to the quarter-finals in the Danish Cup for the second time in its history, and improving on its previous European outing with wins over TVMK Tallinn and Queen of the South, though later being knocked out by Greek side Olympiacos 0–7 aggregate.[6]

In October 2008, Allan K. Pedersen sold FC Nordsjælland from AKP Holding to himself for a reported 500,000 Danish kroner, shortly before his holding company went bankrupt, a price Pedersen, however, denies. Following an investigation from his creditors, it was found that the sale was forced through without the bank's consent, and that the value for which the club was sold was too low, which ultimate reduced the finances the creators received for the sale. FCN was reevaluated to be worth 35 million kroner at the time of sale.[15][16][17] The case has gone to the Supreme Court and is yet to be resolved; it speculated that it could take one-to-four years.[18]

The 2009–10 season saw Nordsjælland lift its first trophy, the Danish Cup. FCN was not drawn against another Superliga team until the quarter-final meeting with Silkeborg, where it won 3–1 in extra time. The team would go on to face Midtjylland in Nordsjælland's first cup final, winning in extra time[6] 2–0 with goals from new signing Nicolai Stokholm and Bajram Fetai,[19] and qualifying for European competition in the newly remodeled UEFA Europa League. The team would repeat this feat the following season, facing Midtjylland once again in the finals of the Danish Cup and winning the trophy for the second time[6] with a 3–2 win. This would be Morten Wieghorst's last trophy with the Wild Tigers, however; he moved to manage the Denmark under-21 national team at the end of the 2010–11 campaign.

Kasper Hjulmand was named Wieghorst's successor in June 2011, promoted from the coaching staff.[6] In preparation for the 2011–12 season, the former Lyngby head coach brought in two Danish internationals in Mikkel Beckmann (from relegated Randers) and Patrick Mtiliga (on a free from Málaga). FCN sought to improve on the previous season's sixth-place finish and to defend its Danish Cup title for the second year running. It would go on to play in the Europa League for second year in a row, exiting the competition in the third qualifying round after losing to Sporting CP 2–1 aggregate, which had also eliminated Nordsjælland from Europe the previous season.[6]

FCN celebrating the championship

FCN started the new season in good form, peaking as high as second in the Superliga, and an undefeated run at home in all competitions until 30 October, including an impressive 0–0 draw with Portuguese side Sporting CP, making the start of the 2011–12 campaign one of its best starts in recent years. For the first time in club history, a total of five players were called up to the Denmark national team[6] to face Sweden and Finland in November: Mikkel Beckmann, Andreas Bjelland and debutantes Tobias Mikkelsen, Jesper Hansen and Jores Okore.[20][21][22] FCN ended the season as Superliga champions for the first time in its history.[6]

FCN against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League

In 2012–13, for the first time FCN participated in the UEFA Champions League, where it was drawn into a difficult group alongside defending champions Chelsea, Serie A champions Juventus and Ukrainian Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk. FCN played all its home matches at the Danish national stadium, Parken. It gained one point from the group stage – playing 1–1 against Juventus at home thanks to a direct free-kick goal from Beckmann. In the last group match, a controversial goal from Luiz Adriano became the talking point of the match.

As of 1 September 2023[23][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 4 DF  DEN Kian Hansen 5 DF  DEN Martin Frese 6 DF  DEN Jeppe Tverskov 7 FW  DEN Marcus Ingvartsen 8 FW  NOR Andreas Schjelderup (on loan from Benfica) 9 FW  SWE Benjamin Nygren 10 MF  CIV Mohamed Diomande 11 FW  DEN Mads Hansen 12 MF  FRA Rocco Ascone 13 GK  DEN Andreas Hansen 14 FW  GHA Ibrahim Osman 15 DF  DEN Erik Marxen 17 FW  DEN Christian Rasmussen (on loan from Ajax) 19 DF  DEN Lucas Hey

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  DEN Zidan Sertdemir 22 MF  FIN Oliver Antman 23 DF  DEN Oliver Villadsen 24 DF  DEN Lucas Høgsberg 25 GK  FIN Carljohan Eriksson 27 DF  SWE Daniel Svensson 29 MF  CIV Mario Dorgeles 30 DF  DEN Jonas Jensen-Abbew 31 GK  DEN Andreas Gülstorff 39 DF  BFA Adamo Nagalo 40 FW  DEN Conrad Harder 41 FW  CIV Yannick Agnero 42 DF  DEN Kaare Barslund 47 MF  DEN Magnus Munck

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  GHA Emmanuel Ogura (at HIK until 31 December 2023) — DF  SWE Ben Engdahl (at Jönköpings Södra until 31 December 2023) — MF  CIV Lasso Coulibaly (at Randers until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  FIN Leo Walta (at Mjällby until 31 December 2023) — FW  FIN Maksim Stjopin (at HJK until 31 December 2023)

26 – Jonathan Richter (2005–09)[6]

Since 2001, seven players have held the position as club captain for Farum BK or FC Nordsjælland. The first recorded captain was Michael Elbæk. All recorded captains to date have been of Danish nationality. The captain to have lifted the most trophies for FCN is Nicolai Stokholm, who won the Danish Cup on two occasions. Stokholm is also the current and longest-serving captain, having taken over from Henrik Kildentoft when the former arrived at the club in 2009.

Years	Nationality	Name
????–2002		Michael Elbæk
2002–2004		Martin Birn
2004–2005		Jacob Rasmussen
2005–2006		Tommy Olsen
2006–2008		Kim Christensen
2008–2009		Henrik Kildentoft
2009–2014		Nicolai Stokholm
2014–2018		Patrick Mtiliga
2018		Mathias Jensen
2018–2019		Victor Nelsson
2019–2020		Nicolai Larsen
2020–		Kian Hansen

Name	Nationality	From	To	Honours
Christian Andersen	Denmark	1 July 2003	2004	Promotion to Superliga
Johnny Petersen	Denmark	1 January 2005	30 June 2006
Morten Wieghorst	Denmark	1 July 2006	30 June 2011	2 Danish Cups
Kasper Hjulmand	Denmark	1 July 2011	1 June 2014	1 Superliga Championship
Ólafur Kristjánsson	Iceland	1 June 2014	15 December 2015
Kasper Hjulmand	Denmark	1 January 2016	25 March 2019
Flemming Pedersen	Denmark	25 March 2019	7 January 2023
Johannes Hoff Thorup	Denmark	7 January 2023

Key

* Served as caretaker manager.

† Served as caretaker manager before being appointed permanently.

• Danish Superliga

Champions: 2011–12

Runners up (2): 2012–13, 2022–23

• 1st Division

Runners up (1): 2001–02

• Zealand Series

Runners up: 1996

• Danish Cup

Winners: 2009–10, 2010–11

• La Manga Cup

Winners: 2012

As of 6 February 2013[35]