Leicester City’s Historic Danish Links
The upcoming first leg of City’s knockout round will be their first-ever meeting with the Danish club, who formed in 2003, though links with the country have been present through Leicester’s history and continue in the squad that will take to pitch on Thursday, via current internationals Kasper Schmeichel and Jannik Vestergaard.
Tickets remain available to purchase for the 8pm GMT kick-off on Filbert Way, HERE, and before the two-legged tie gets underway, we delve into the archives to remember former Foxes players from the Scandinavian nation…
Tommy Christensen
Tommy Anton Christensen became Leicester City’s first Danish recruit when he arrived at Filbert Street in November 1985. Born in Hillerød in July 1961, the forward’s club career began with Aarhus GF at the age of 17, scoring twice on debut for the club he enjoyed two spells at, either side of an injury-disrupted two years in Holland with PSV Eindhoven.
A highly successful second stint at Aarhus, which included 35 goals in 66 league games, led to Christensen receiving his first and only international call-up in June 1983. He would also make three appearances in the European Cup.
Leaving Aarhus again in 1984, Spanish side Elche CF secured his services for one season in La Liga, ahead of his move to England and Leicester, though he made just two league appearances for the Foxes during his one-month stay in the Midlands, registering one assist.
In December, he moved to the south coast on another one-month contract, scoring twice in his three appearances for Portsmouth, before returning to his country of birth for one-season at Brondby IF and Vejle Boldklub respectively.
He retired at the end of the 1988/89 season, which he spent in Germany with Eintracht Braunschweig, netting four times in 22 matches for the 2. Bundesliga outfit.
Jacob Laursen
The Blue Army would have to wait 17 years to see another Denmark player put on the Leicester City shirt, when experienced defender Jacob Laursen arrived at the Club. Beginning his senior career with hometown team Vejle Boldklub in the same year that Christensen retired, Silkeborg IF was his next destination, where he played more than a century of games, winning the 1994 Danish Superliga title.
The now 50-year-old made his name in England by making over 100 appearances for Derby County between 1996 and 2000, the majority of those coming in the Premier League. It was during this time at Pride Park that Laursen made most of his Denmark appearances, totalling 25 caps by 1999.
Although he returned to Denmark at the turn of the century, spending two years with FC Copenhagen and winning his second league title under the stewardship of current Watford manager Roy Hodgson, the Dane was soon back on English shores, and indeed in the Midlands, with Leicester.
Brought to the Club by Micky Adams in January 2002 for a reported £400,000, Laursen made 10 appearances for the Foxes, before short loan spells with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aarhus. Laursen had one-season stints with Rapid Wien and back at Vejle ahead of finishing his career at Fredericia in 2005.
Jimmy Nielsen
Denmark captain Kasper Schmeichel has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as Leicester City’s No.1, though he is not the first Denmark goalkeeper to be signed by the Foxes. Jimmy Nielsen holds that record, without ever playing a competitive game for the first team.
Born in Aalborg, his youth career actually started in England at Norwich City, as did his senior career – with Millwall, before he played more than 350 times for AaB Aalborg between 1995 and 2007. During this time, he featured in 17 games for Denmark Under-21s, though never made a senior appearances.
Signing for Leicester in the summer of 2007, he left in January 2008, joining Vejle on a two-and-a-half-year contract. Nearing the end of his deal with the Danish side, Nielsen moved to Sporting Kansas City, where he spent three years before retirement, winning the 2012 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award as the team won the Eastern Conference Championship.
A year later, The Wizards lifted the MLS Cup trophy, defeating Real Salt Lake in the final, with Nielsen in goal as captain. The 44-year-old has since managed Oklahoma City Energy and Hartford Athletic in USA, and is currently assistant coach at MLS outfit Houston Dynamo.
Match tickets remain available for Thursday night’s clash online and can be purchased HERE.