Viborg FF

Viborg

Full name	Viborg Fodsports Forening
Nickname(s)	The Greens The Old Capital
Short name	VFF
Founded	1 April 1896;127 years ago (1896-04-01)
Ground	Viborg Stadium, Viborg
Capacity	10.000
Managing Director	Morten Jensen
Head Coach	Jakob Poulsen
League	Danish Superliga
2022–23	4th of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Viborg Fodsports Forening ("Viborg Footsport Association"), or Viborg F.F. and VFF for short, is a Danish professional football club based in Viborg. The club was founded in 1896 and waited more than a century before winning its only national trophy, the 2000 Danish Cup.

History

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

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

In 2021, Viborg finished first in the Danish 1st Division, earning promotion to the top tier. Their first season back in the Superliga was immediately successful, as they qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League. After knocking out Sūduva and B36 Tórshavn, they eventually lost over two ties against Premier League club West Ham United. ^[1]

Colours and badge

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

Stadium

Viborg plays its home matches at Viborg Stadion, which 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 FF 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 young adults established Fanatikos. In 2004 a new group, Shamrock Ultras, was born.

Their main rival is FC Midtjylland and the game is called "Hadets Opgør" (The battle of Hatred) or "det midtjyske derby" (Central Jutland Derby). Viborg fans, see themselves as being the true Central Jutlanders and most Viborg fans are annoyed by the fact that FC Midtjylland call themselves FC Midtjylland (FC Central Jutland). The derby can also be seen as a battle between traditional football and modern football.

Players

First-team squad

As of 31 January 2024 ^[2]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   DEN Lucas Lund Pedersen 3 DF   DEN Mads Lauritsen 4 DF   SUI Nicolas Bürgy 5 DF   SVN Žan Zaletel 6 MF   DEN Mads Søndergaard 7 FW   CPV Serginho 8 FW   NGA Ibrahim Said 9 MF   CUW Nigel Thomas 10 MF   NED Jamie Jacobs 11 FW   BRA Renato Júnior 13 MF   DEN Jeppe Grønning 14 FW   DEN Anosike Ementa 15 FW   DEN Isak Jensen (loan from St. Louis City) 16 GK   FIN Lasse Schulz (loan from Greuther Fürth)

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF   DEN Jakob Bonde 18 MF   GER Jean-Manuel Mbom 20 GK   DEN Kasper Kiilerich 23 DF   DEN Oliver Bundgaard 24 DF   KEN Daniel Anyembe 25 DF   SVN Anel Zulić 27 DF   FRO Martin Agnarsson 28 MF   DEN Magnus Westergaard 29 FW   GHA Malik Abubakari (loan from Malmö) 30 DF   SVN Srđan Kuzmić 37 MF   DEN Jakob Vester 55 DF   CRO Stipe Radić 58 GK   GER Nico Mantl (loan from Red Bull Salzburg)

Youth players in use 2023—24

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 32 DF   DEN Mathias Nedergaard 33 DF   DEN Lukas Kirkegaard

No. Pos. Nation Player 35 DF   DEN Viktor Hjorth

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   DEN Sofus Berger (at Fredericia until 30 June 2024) — MF   CZE Jan Žambůrek (at Slovan Liberec until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW   SWE Marokhy Ndione (at Feirense until 30 June 2024) — FW   POR Paulinho (at Sport Clube União Torreense until 30 June 2024)

Retired numbers

Main article: Retired numbers

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

Academy

Further information: FK Viborg

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

Name Nationality Years 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–Aug 2, 2017 Steffen Højer Aug 2, 2017–June 3, 2019 Jacob Neestrup June 20, 2019–December 22, 2020 Lars Friis January 16, 2021–January 25 2022 Jacob Friis February 3, 2022–November 8, 2023 Jakob Poulsen November 8, 2023–Present

Honours

League

• Danish 1st Division
  • Champions: 2020–21

Cup

• Danish Cup
  • Winners: 1999–2000
• Danish Super Cup
  • Winners: 2000

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	Second qualifying round	Sūduva	1–0	1–0	2–0
		Third qualifying round	B36 Tórshavn	3–0	2–1	5–1
		Play-off round	West Ham United	0–3	1–3	1–6

Recent history

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
1996–97	SL	11	33	6	11	16	31	58	29		Relegated
1997–98	1D	1	30	20	7	3	72	29	67		Promoted
1998–99	SL	8	33	13	5	15	61	59	44
1999–2000	SL	4	33	15	7	11	56	50	52	Winners
2000–01	SL	6	33	13	7	13	52	42	46	Semi-final
2001–02	SL	8	33	10	11	12	46	45	41	Last 16
2002–03	SL	8	33	11	10	12	58	55	43	Semi-final
2003–04	SL	7	33	11	9	13	47	44	42	Quarter-final
2004–05	SL	7	33	13	9	11	43	45	48	Fourth round
2005–06	SL	4	33	15	9	9	62	43	54	Fifth round
2006–07	SL	9	33	8	5	20	34	64	29	Semi-final
2007–08	SL	11	33	5	5	23	29	68	39	Second round	Relegated
2008–09	1D	4	30	17	3	10	59	40	54	Third round
2009–10	1D	7	30	10	14	6	30	26	44	Fourth round
2010–11	1D	11	30	9	6	15	37	43	33	Fourth round
2011–12	1D	4	26	10	10	6	45	34	40	Fourth round
2012–13	1D	1	33	17	11	5	60	30	62	Second round	Promoted
2013–14	SL	12	33	6	10	17	38	63	28	Third round	Relegated
2014–15	1D	1	33	17	14	2	47	20	65	First round	Promoted
2015–16	SL	8	33	11	7	15	34	42	40	Fourth round
2016–17	SL	13	32	8	9	15	35	47	33	Third round	Relegated
2017–18	1D	4	33	15	9	9	58	42	54	Second round
2018–19	1D	2	33	17	9	7	61	37	60	Second round
2019–20	1D	2	33	17	8	8	66	44	59	Third round
2020–21	1D	1	32	23	7	2	71	24	76	Second round	Promoted
2021–22	SL	7	32	10	14	8	45	43	44	Fourth round	Qualified for 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League
2022–23	SL

References

1. "West Ham beat Viborg to cruise into group stage". BBC Sport. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
2. "Truppen". Viborg F.F. Prof. Fodbold A/S (in Danish). Retrieved 29 August 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Viborg FF Fans – official supporter club site