John "Faxe" Jensen (born 3 May 1965), nicknamed Faxe,[1] is the head coach of the Danish club Fremad Amager in the third tier of the Danish league. His playing career lasted over a decade, during which he played most famously for Arsenal F.C. in England along with three separate stints with Brøndby IF in Denmark and amounted four goals in 69 caps for the Danish national team, including a successful 1992 European Championship tournament, in which he scored the opening goal in Denmark's 2–0 final victory.
Biography
He started his career at Brøndby IF, and was an important part of the team which won several Danish championships in the late 1980s, crowned by a call-up to the Denmark national team and the Danish Player of the Year award in 1987. Following a short stay with German team Hamburger SV in 1988, he was back with Brøndby in 1990 where he took part in the club's successful 1991 UEFA Cup campaign which reached the semi-final of the tournament.
Premiership move
After scoring in Denmark's 2–0 1992 European Championship final win over Germany, Jensen was signed by George Graham for Arsenal to succeed Leeds United bound David Rocastle in central midfield, after a bid to sign Geoff Thomas from Crystal Palace failed.[2]
He was part of the 1992–93 side that won the FA Cup and League Cup in the same season, the 1993–94 side that won the European Cup Winners Cup (although he missed the final through injury) and the 1994–95 side that lost in the Cup-Winners Cup final. He was one of only 12 foreign players to play on the opening weekend of the FA Premier League.
He played 132 games for Arsenal, but he is chiefly remembered for the cult hero status he earned, somewhat akin to Perry Groves before him. No matter how hard Jensen tried (and, for a defensive midfielder, he tried exceptionally hard), he could not score a goal. The Arsenal fans came up with a song, "We'll be there when Jensen scores!" and by 1994, Jensen's search for a goal was such a cult cause that whenever he got the ball, no matter whether he was inside his own penalty area or bearing down on goal, the Arsenal fans would implore him to "Shooooot!".
Solitary goal
Jensen finally got his first goal after 98 matches, on a cold and wet afternoon against Queens Park Rangers on 31 December 1994. Arsenal were losing 1–0, when Jensen picked the ball up just inside the penalty area near the left-hand corner, about 16 yards from goal. The crowd gave the obligatory bellow of "shoot!", and Jensen complied, curling a shot into the net, prompting wild celebration from the Arsenal fans. The fans sang Johnny Jensen, Johnny, Johnny Jensen for the rest of the evening. However, a not very good QPR team rode their luck for the rest of the game, winning the match 3–1. The goal is still remembered though and one can still see t-shirts around Highbury saying I saw John Jensen score. Queens Park Rangers fans subsequently wore t-shirts in blue, with white writing, the front stating "I was there when Jensen scored..." and the back reading "And Gallen. And Allen. And Impey". As of 2014, it was the last time QPR had won at Arsenal.
A few months later, it was revealed that Jensen's transfer to Highbury was at least partly motivated by George Graham's involvement with agent Rune Hauge, who had been giving Graham backhanders in exchange for signing players he represented. The first player involved in this 'bung' scandal was Norwegian defender Pål Lydersen, and the second was Jensen. Graham was sacked from his job two months after the story broke, and he was subsequently banned from football for 12 months.
Jensen played on for 18 months before he left Highbury in the summer of 1996, with one goal from 138 competitive appearances for the club. Officially though, he also scored a shootout goal against his friend Peter Schmeichel of Manchester United in the 1993 FA Charity Shield. After leaving Arsenal he rejoined his old club, Brøndby IF.
During the years he spent at Arsenal, John Jensen actually managed to score two goals in 21 games for the Danish national team: one against Albania in 1993 and one against Belgium in 1994.
Coaching career
He retired from full-time playing in 1999 and accepted the job of player/manager at Herfølge BK, a small Danish club, and immediately made a name for himself by winning the Danish Superliga on his first attempt. However, Herfølge's success was short-lived, and they were relegated from the Superliga in the 2001 season. Jensen's reputation with his old club was good enough to secure him a move back to Brøndby IF, as assistant manager to Michael Laudrup, a position he held until June 2006, when Jensen and Laudrup did not extend their contracts with the club.
When Laudrup in 2007 was named new manager at Spanish side Getafe, Jensen followed him as assistant manager. Laudrup quit Getafe after only one season, taking Jensen with him.[3] On 12 January 2009, Jensen started as manager of Danish Superliga side Randers FC. On 6 October 2009, Jensen was sacked from Randers FC after a series of nine losses and two draws in 11 matches.
On 12 January 2011, he signed a six-month contract with Blackburn Rovers to become assistant manager and work alongside Steve Kean.[4] On 23 May 2011, he signed a new deal one-year deal to remain as Steve Kean's assistant at Blackburn.
On 29 September 2011, he left Blackburn Rovers.
On 11 October 2012, he was appointed consultant for Brøndby IF by manager Auri Skarbalius.[5]
On 27 May 2014 he was named new manager of Danish club Fremad Amager replacing Tim Ilsø.[6]
Career statistics
Honours
Player
Club
- Brøndby IF
- Herfølge BK
- Arsenal
International
- Denmark
Individual
Manager
- Herfølge BK
- Brøndby IF
References
External links
Danish Football Manager of the Year |
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