- See also: Aalborg Boldspilklub
| Full name | Aalborg Boldspilklub | ||
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| Founded | 1885 | ||
| Ground | Energi Nord Arena, Aalborg | ||
| Capacity | 16,000 | ||
| Chairman |  Per Søndergaard | ||
| Manager |  Bruce Rioch | ||
| League | Danish Superliga | ||
| 2007-08 | Superliga, Winners | ||
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Aalborg Boldspilklub, commonly just AaB and Aalborg BK is a Danish football team located in Aalborg. They play in the Danish Superliga and have won two Danish Superliga championships and two Danish Cup trophies. They are the first Danish football team to ever have knocked out an Italian team in the European competitions, as they beated out U.C. Sampdoria in the 2007-08 edition of the UEFA Cup.
History edit
AaB was a part of the top-flight Danish leagues from the 1928-29 season, until the relegation of the club in 1947. The club came back to the best league in 1963, and except from the years of 1972, 1978 and 1981-1986, AaB has since been a part of the various editions of the Danish football championship. Despite its many years in the Danish championship, the club never won a championship title, but AaB won the Danish Cup competition in 1966 and 1970. Paid football was introduced in Denmark by the Danish Football Association in 1978. As AaB returned to the best Danish league, the club founded the professional branch of AaB A/S in 1987 to run a professional football team.[1]
Through the 1990s, the club won its only two Danish championships. In the Danish Superliga 1994-95 season, 24 goals from league topscorer Erik Bo Andersen secured the championship title for the team of coach Poul Erik Andreasen. The club was initially eliminated by FC Dynamo Kyiv in the qualification matches for the UEFA Champions League 1995-96, but following a bribing scandal Kyiv was banned from the tournament and AaB entered in their place. AaB thus became the first Danish team to compete in the UEFA Champions League. As they managed a 2-1 home win over Panathinaikos FC and a 2-2 draw with FC Porto in the six matches the club played in the initial group stage, AaB was eliminated. Erik Bo Andersen left the club for Scottish club Rangers F.C., but in Søren Frederiksen, the club found its next goal-getter. Though not the league top scorer, Frederiksen scored 17 goals in the Danish Superliga 1998-99 which the club won under guidance of Swedish coach Hans Backe. Once again, AaB faced Dinamo Kyiv in the Champions League qualification, but this time they fell short, losing 1-2 at home and drawing 2-2 in Kyiv after a late AaB goal was disallowed for being behind the goalline.
Since then, the club established itself in the top half of the Superliga, earning fourth place in the Danish Superliga 2001-02 and Danish Superliga 2004-05 seasons. They finished third in the 2006-07 season; their best finishing position since the 1999 championship. That season also saw the first AaB League topscorer in 12 seasons as Swedish Rade Prica netted 19 goals in his first season at the club.
Recent history edit
The bronze medal in 2006-07 also qualified AaB for the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007. AaB beat FC Honka on the away goals rule (2-2 in Finland and 1-1 in Denmark) in the second round, and in the third and final round AaB faced AA Gent and drawed, 1-1, in the away game but beat them 2-1 in the following home match. Thus they "won" a place in the UEFA Cup's second qualification round and met HJK Helsinki, the first match ended 2-1 to Helsinki, but in the last match Aalborg won 3-0 and were thus ready for the UEFA Cup 2007-08. Drawing the Italian team U.C. Sampdoria in the First Round, which have Antonio Cassano and Vincenzo Montella as notable players, made the task seem impossible. AaB made it again on the away goals rule (getting 2-2 in Genoa and managing 0-0 in Aalborg), and qualified for the group stage - being the first Danish team ever, to send an Italian team "out of Europe."
In the group stage AaB was seeded in the lowest pot, and drew R.S.C. Anderlecht, Tottenham Hotspur, Getafe CF, Hapoel Tel Aviv. Drawing with Anderlecht at home, and losing 2-3 to Tottenham (after being ahead 2-0 after the first half) forced AaB to win at home against Getafe, a match AaB lost 1-2.
At 15 May 2008 AaB won their third Danish championship against Brøndby IF.
Stadium edit
Since 1920, AaB has played its games at Aalborg Stadion. The stadium was opened on July 18, 1920 with a north-south aligned playing field. The first spectator seats was built in 1927, and in 1937 a wooden terrace for 3,000 standing spectators was built. In 1960, the stadium burned down and a new east-western aligned concrete stadium was opened in 1962. In recent years the stadium have been enlarged and rebuilt so that it now has modern facilities and roof over all spectator stands. [2] The stadium currently has the capacity of 16,000 people.
Players edit
Current squad edit
- Up to date as of 2008-05-24.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Noted players edit
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Managers edit
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2010) |
Poul Erik Andreasen (1990)
Sepp Piontek (1995)- Per Westergaard (1996)
- Lars Søndergaard (1997)
Hans Backe (1998)- Peter Rudbæk (2000)
- Poul Erik Andreasen (2002)
- Søren Kusk Larsen (2003)
- Erik Hamrén (2003-2008)
Bruce Rioch (2008-)
Honours edit
- Danish Superliga
- Danish Cup
- Winners: 1966, 1970
- Runners-up (7): 1967, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2004
- UEFA Champions League
- UEFA Cup
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
- UEFA Intertoto Cup
- 49 seasons in the Highest Danish League
- 19 seasons in the Second Highest Danish League
- 5 seasons in the Third Highest Danish League
Recent history edit
Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup 1996-97 SL 5 33 12 11 10 46 40 47 quarter-final 1997-98 SL 7 33 12 8 13 54 48 44 quarter-final 1998-99 SL 1 33 17 13 3 65 37 64 final 1999-00 SL 5 33 12 13 8 57 40 49 final 2000-01 SL 5 33 13 10 10 51 49 49 5th round 2001-02 SL 4 33 16 6 11 52 45 54 quarter-final 2002-03 SL 6 33 14 4 15 42 45 46 semi-final 2003-04 SL 5 33 16 9 8 55 41 57 final 2004-05 SL 4 33 15 8 10 59 45 53 5th round 2005-06 SL 5 33 11 12 10 48 44 45 semi-final 2006-07 SL 3 33 18 7 8 55 34 61 2nd round 2007-08 SL 1 33 22 5 6 60 38 71 4th round
References edit
- ^ (in Danish) Om Aalborg Boldspilklub af 1885 at Aalborg Boldspilklub af 1885
- ^ (in Danish) Aalborg Stadion 1920-2001, Aalborg.dk, February 8, 2006
External links edit
- (in Danish) Official website
- (in Danish) Aalborg Boldspilklub af 1885 (amateur foundation)
- UEFA profile
- (in Danish) Aalborg Support Club (Official fanclub of AaB)
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