Viborg FF

Viborg F.F.

Full name	Viborg Fodsports Forening
Nickname(s)	De Grønne (The Green Ones), Den Gamle Hovedstad (The Old Capital)
Short name	VFF
Founded	1896
Ground	Viborg Stadion, Energi Viborg Arena, Viborg
Capacity	9,566
Managing Director	Morten Jensen
Head Coach	Johnny Mølby
League	Danish Superliga
2014-15	Danish 1st Division, 1st (Promoted)
Home colours Away colours

Viborg F.F. is a Danish professional football club located in Viborg. The full name of the club is Viborg Fodsports Forening (Viborg Footsport Association), but the name is frequently abbreviated as Viborg F.F. or VFF. The club was founded in 1896, but would have to wait more than a century before winning its only countrywide trophy, the 2000 Danish Cup.

History

Viborg F.F. 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 F.F. won the championship in Mesterrækken (The Champion Division), which were the best regional division in Jutland. A big title win at the time when, among others, Aarhus GF were a dominating club in Jutland.

Following the championship, Viborg F.F. 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 F.F. have not been relegated to a tournament lower than the national competitions since 1959. Though the country's best league have been domicile for Viborg F.F., 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.

Colours and badge

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

Stadium

Viborg F.F. play their home matches on Viborg Stadion. It 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 F.F.'s 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 teenagers established Fanatikos. In 2004 a new group, Shamrock Ultras, was born.

Current squad

As of 28 January 2016. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Peter Friis Jensen 2 DF Jonas Thorsen 4 DF Jacob Egeris 5 DF Mikkel Rask 6 DF Christopher Poulsen 7 MF Mathias Wichmann 8 MF George Fochive 9 FW Ante Rukavina (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb) 10 FW Jeppe Curth 11 MF Jonas Kamper 12 MF Lukas Lerager 13 MF Jeppe Grønning

No. Position Player 15 DF Kristoffer Pallesen 19 MF Jeff Mensah 20 DF Søren Reese 21 MF Osama Akharraz 25 DF Søren Frederiksen 26 DF Jeroen Veldmate 27 MF Sebastian Andersen 28 FW Serge Déblé 29 FW Mikkel Vestergaard 33 GK Sebastian John 34 MF Sebastian Denius

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player 16 FW Aleksandar Stankov (on loan to AC Horsens until 30 June 2016) 23 MF Christian Sivebæk (on loan to Vejle BK until 30 June 2016) — FW Antonio Stankov (on loan to Vejle BK until 30 June 2016)

Retired numbers

• 22 Søren Frederiksen, Forward, (1989–94, 1995–96, 1998, 2001–05)

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

Name Nationality Years Bent Martin 1976 Erik Bundgaard 1977–79 Svend Hugger 1980–81 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–

Notable former players

Hans Ove Andersen Hermann Brüchmann Erik Bundgaard Jesper Christiansen Finn Døssing Heine Fernandez Søren Frederiksen Jakob Glerup Michael Gravgaard Steffen Højer Jakob Kjeldbjerg Jørgen Pedersen Ralf Pedersen Sven Aage "Svenner" Poulsen Peter Rasmussen Arnold Thisted

Sasho Petrovski José Mota Stephen Lowe George Popkhadze Razak Pimpong Rúrik Gíslason Imants Bleidelis Paul Obiefule Arek Onyszko John Alvbåge Martin Åslund Hans Eklund Mikael Rosén Vorawan Chitavanich Mike Burns

Achievements

• Danish Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1999-2000
• Danish Super Cup:
  • Winners (1): 2000

Recent history

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
1996-97	1D	11	33	6	11	16	31	58	29		relegated
1 season at lower levels
1998-99	1D	8	33	13	5	15	61	59	44
1999-00	1D	4	33	15	7	11	56	50	52	winner
2000-01	1D	6	33	13	7	13	52	42	46	semi-final
2001-02	1D	8	33	10	11	12	46	45	41	last 16
2002-03	1D	8	33	11	10	12	58	55	43	semi-final
2003-04	1D	7	33	11	9	13	47	44	42	quarter-final
2004-05	1D	7	33	13	9	11	43	45	48	4th round
2005-06	1D	4	33	15	9	9	62	43	54	5th round
2006-07	1D	9	33	8	5	20	34	64	29	semi-final

External links

• Viborg FF - official site
• Viborg FF Fans - official supporter club site