Steffen Højer

Steffen Højer (born 22 May 1973) is a Danish professional football coach and former player, who is the head coach of the Danish national under-21 football team.

Steffen Højer
Personal information
Full name Steffen Højer
Date of birth (1973-05-22) 22 May 1973
Place of birth Viborg, Denmark
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Denmark U21 (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1996 Viborg 71 (35)
1996–1999 AaB 81 (22)
1999 Viborg 4 (1)
1999–2000 Brescia 0 (0)
2000 Midtjylland 9 (3)
2000–2003 Viborg 62 (12)
2003–2005 OB 79 (48)
2005–2007 Viborg 74 (26)
Total 380 (147)
International career
1994–1995 Denmark U21 11 (7)
1996 Denmark 1 (0)
Managerial career
2008–2011 Viborg (sportsdirector)[1]
2010–2011 Viborg (caretaker)[2]
2012 Viborg (head of youth)[3]
2013–2016 Viborg U19[4]
2015–2016 Viborg (second assistant)[5]
2016–2017 Viborg (assistant)[6]
2017–2019 Viborg
2019–2023 Denmark U21 (assistant)
2023– Denmark U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Højer spent most of his career with Viborg FF, although he also played for a number of other Danish clubs, and most notably won the 1998–99 Danish Superliga with AaB. A prolific striker in the Superliga, he finished league top scorer three years in row in the 2003–04 (joint), 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons. He played one match for the Danish national team.[7]

On 7 January 2008, the day of his retirement from his career as a professional footballer, Højer started as head of sport in Viborg FF.

Playing career

Born in Viborg, Højer made his senior debut for hometown club Viborg FF in the Danish 1st Division in 1992. Through four years at the club, Højer and Viborg struggled to get a foothold in the top-flight Danish Superliga. When they succeeded in the 1995–96 season, Højer scored 16 goals in 32 games, and was sold to league rivals Aalborg Boldspilklub (AaB). He made his debut for the Danish national team, when he was substituted into an August 1996 match against Sweden for the last ten minutes of play. He was an immediate success at AaB, though he did not score as many goals as he did for Viborg FF. In his final year of contract at AaB, he helped the club win the 1998–99 Danish championship. He did not play much that season due to stiff competition from Norwegian player Frank Strandli and fellow Dane Søren Frederiksen, which prompted Højer to look for a new club.

He signed a contract with Italian club Brescia Calcio and was loaned out from AaB to Viborg FF, while awaiting his AaB contract to expire in the summer 1999. At Viborg, he played four games before he suffered a knee injury, which meant he started his Italian career injured. His stay at Brescia was short, and he never played a game for the club. He moved back to Denmark in 2000, in order to play the season out at Danish 1st Division team FC Midtjylland. He helped the club win promotion to the Superliga, before moving back to play with childhood club Viborg FF. Not regaining his former goal scoring prowess, lacklustre play in the first half of the 2002–03 season meant that Højer was sold to Odense BK in January 2003. At Odense, he looked to replace league top scorer Kaspar Dalgas, who had been sold to Brøndby IF before that season.

Højer rediscovered his goal scoring form at Odense, as he finished the 2003–04 season as joint top scorer with Mohamed Zidan, Mwape Miti and Tommy Bechmann. He was the sole top scorer of the 2004–05 season. As Højer still lived in Viborg, he decided to once again play for Viborg FF when his contract expired following the 2004–05 season. In his first season back at Viborg FF, he set the record of three consecutive Superliga top scorer titles, improving Peter Møller's former record of two, set in the 1991–92 and 1992–93 seasons.

Steffen Højer scored 125 goals in Danish Superliga.

Coaching career

On 9 January 2023, Højer was appointed as the manager of the Danish national under-21 football team, signing a contract until the summer of 2025 and stepping up from his previous role as assistant manager, following Jesper Sørensen's departure.[8]

Honours

References
  1. Steffen Højer ny sportschef i Viborg, bold.dk, 7 January 2008
  2. Højer: Ferie er træning alene, bold.dk, 3 December 2010
  3. Højer forlænger med Viborg, bold.dk, 30 January 2012
  4. Steffen Højer tilbage i Viborg, bold.dk, 22 July 2013
  5. Steffen Højer bliver Viborg-assistent, bold.dk, 11 June 2015
  6. Steffen Højer ny assistent i Viborg, bold.dk, 20 June 2016
  7. Inetrview with Bold
  8. "Ny U21-landstræner på plads". DBU (in Danish). 9 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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