Jacob Laursen
Personal information
Full name Jacob Thaysen-Laursen
Date of birth (1971-10-06) 6 October 1971
Place of birth Vejle, Denmark
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1992 Vejle 67 (3)
1992–1996 Silkesborg 125 (8)
1996–2000 Derby County 137 (3)
2000–2002 Copenhagen 45 (3)
2002 Leicester City 10 (0)
2002 → Wolves (loan) 0 (0)
2002 → AGF (loan) 5 (0)
2002–2003 Rapid Wien 8 (0)
2003–2004 Vejle 9 (0)
2004–2005 Fredericia 33 (1)
Total 439 (17)
International career
1990 Denmark U19 2 (0)
1990–1993 Denmark U21 24 (0)
1995–1999 Denmark 25 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Denmark
FIFA Confederations Cup
Winner1995 Saudi Arabia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jacob Thaysen-Laursen (born 6 October 1971) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Laursen most notably played for English club Derby County and won the Danish Superliga championship with Silkesborg and Copenhagen. He gained 25 caps for the Denmark national team, with whom he won the 1995 King Fahd Cup and participated in the 1996 European Championship and 1998 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Club career

Born in Vejle, Laursen spent his childhood years playing for Vejle Kammeraterne and Vejle. He made his senior debut for VB in July 1989,[1] and was named 1989 Danish U19 Player of the Year.[2] He played at VB until the club was suffered relegation to the secondary Danish 1st Division in the summer 1992.[3] Laursen then moved to Silkesborg, where he was part of the team that won the 1994 Danish Superliga championship.

In July 1996, Laursen moved abroad to play for English club Derby County in a transfer deal worth £500,000.[4] He spent four seasons at Derby, where he played more than 100 games for the club.[4] While he did not win over the Danish public while playing for the national team, Laursen was selected as team captain for Derby in a number of games, and was named "Player of the Year" in the 1998–99 season.[5] One of his more memorable moments for the club was goal from a free-kick on 4 September 1996, he, from the edge of the penalty area, lashed the ball into the top corner, with great power and accuracy, to give Derby the lead against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United team.[5]

In August 2000, Laursen moved back to Denmark to be closer to his children. He signed a contract with Copenhagen, moving to the club on a free transfer.[6] In his first year at Copenhagen, the club won the 2000–01 Danish Superliga under manager Roy Hodgson.[7] Before the new season, Laursen criticized his Copenhagen teammates for a lack of professionalism, and he left the club in January 2002.[8] He moved back to England to play for Leicester City in January 2002, in a £400,000 transfer deal.[9] He played ten games for Leicester before his relationship with the club turned sour.

After two months at Leicester, he spent a month on loan with the English club Wolverhampton Wanderers,[10] before being loaned out to AGF in Denmark for the remainder of the 2001-02 season.[11] He was loaned out to Greek club PAOK for the entire 2002–03 season,[12] but eventually refused to play for the club.[13][14] In November 2002, Laursen was given a free transfer by Leicester, which was struggling financially, and he left the club.[15]

On 30 November 2002, he signed a contract with Austrian team Rapid Wien,[16] but he was dropped from the team in April 2003.[17] He moved back to Denmark to play on an amateur basis in September 2003, and enlisted at childhood club Vejle Boldklub in the second-tier Danish 1st Division.[18] Laursen signed a contract with division rivals Fredericia in July 2004,[19] and played with the club until he ended his career in September 2005.[20]

International career

Laursen represented Denmark at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he played full-time in Denmark's three matches, before elimination.[2] After the Olympics, he went on to captain the Denmark under-21 national team. After winning the Danish championship with Silkeborg, he made his Denmark senior national team debut in January 1995. He was selected for the 1995 King Fahd Cup by Denmark national team manager Richard Møller Nielsen, and went on to play in every game of the tournament, which Denmark won.[21] He also played a single game for the Denmark national team at the 1996 European Championship.

He was a part of the Denmark national team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but was unimpressive in his single match participation at the tournament. In March 2000, he decided to end his national team career under national team manager Bo Johansson. Laursen cited personal reasons, as well as the booing he received by Danish spectators when he came on as a substitute for his 25th national team game in November 1999.[22]

Honours

Silkeborg

Copenhagen

Denmark

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Vejle BK » Squad 1989/1990". worldfootball.net. World Football. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Jacob Laursen – Landsholdsdatabasen". dbu.dk. Danish Football Association. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "Danmarksturneringen 1991/92, slutstillingen". danskfodbold.com. Dansk Fodbold. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  4. 1 2 Johnson, Robin (10 November 2017). "The best-ever Danish player to turn out for Derby County?". Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Ex-Player Interview Jacob Laursen Reflects on 'That' Goal Against Manchester United". dcfc.dk. Derby County F.C. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "Jacob Laursen – Forsvar – F.C. København". fck.dk. F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "2000-01 – Efter syv magre år..." fck.dk. F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  8. ↑ Chaudhury, Vijay (5 October 2011). "En besværlig kæmper". NORDJYSKE Medier. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Jacob Laursen til Leicester". fyens.dk. Fyens Stiftstidende. 8 January 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Jacob Laursen til Wolverhampton". B.T. 28 March 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "Fodbold: AGF lejer Jacob Laursen". Politiken. 24 April 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  12. ↑ Rohde-Brøndum, Jakob (6 August 2002). "Laursen udlejet til Thessaloniki". Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  13. ↑ Hannberg, Tina; Hendel, Lars (13 July 2002). "Jacob Laursen holdt for nar". B.T. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  14. ↑ Hedlundh, Kent. "Greek tragedy for Laursen". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  15. ↑ Hendel, Lars (6 November 2002). "Endelig: Jacob Laursen fritstillet af Leicester". B.T. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  16. ↑ "Jacob Laursen til Rapid Wien". Politiken. 30 November 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  17. ↑ "Jacob Laursen færdig i Rapid Wien". B.T. 19 July 2003. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  18. ↑ Thorsen, Gisle (13 September 2003). "Ny forsvarschef i Nørreskoven". Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  19. ↑ Johansen, Carsten (14 July 2004). "Jacob Laursen på kontrakt i Fredericia". bold.dk. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  20. ↑ "Jacob Laursen stopper". dr.dk. Danmarks Radio. 9 September 2005. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  21. ↑ Lyngholm, Johan; Martinsen, Daniel (10 April 2016). "Guldholdet har fået sorte pletter – det laver King Fahd Cup-vinderne i dag". bt.dk. B.T. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  22. ↑ "Jacob Laursen stopper på landsholdet". Jyllands-Posten. 15 March 2000. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  23. ↑ "FIFA Confederations Cup" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
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