Jesper Grønkjær
Encyclopedia
Jesper Grønkjær (ˈjespɒ ˈɡʁɶnkɛːˀɔ̯; born 12 August 1977 in Nuuk
, Greenland
) is a former Danish
professional football player. A pacey winger, he was able to play on the right or left wing and as a second striker. Grønkjær played a total 400 league games for a number of European clubs, most notably winning the 1999 Dutch Cup
with Ajax Amsterdam and playing more than 100 games for English club Chelsea FC. He ended his career with FC Copenhagen
, winning four Danish Superliga
titles with the club. Grønkjær was capped 80 times for the Danish national team
from 1999 to 2010, scoring five goals. He played for his country at the 2002 World Cup
and the 2010 World Cup
, as well as two European Championship
tournaments. He was named 1995 Danish Under-19 Player of the Year.
, Grønkjær started his career with local team Thisted FC
. Earlier in his career he was told that he could have been a sprinter. He moved on to defending Danish Superliga
champions Aalborg Boldspilklub (AaB) in 1995. He played almost 100 matches for the club, including games in the European 1995–96 UEFA Champions League
tournament. He attracted the attention of a string of European top clubs.
AaB sold Grønkjær in a £3.5 million transfer deal with Dutch
club Ajax in October 1997, with Grønkjær moving to Amsterdam in July 1998. At Ajax, he was coached by fellow Dane Morten Olsen
, and played alongside Danish international Ole Tobiasen
. With Ajax, he won the 1998-99 KNVB Cup and he was named "Ajax Player of the Year" by the fans in 1999–2000.
for £7.8m, which made him the then most expensive Danish football player. However, he was still sidelined with an injury until January 2001. His career at Chelsea lasted four years, and his erratic form caused much frustration for Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri
and the Chelsea fans. However, at his best he was a constant threat and was capable of giving the best full-backs a tough game. He created and scored some very important goals for the club.
A notable example was when Grønkjær assisted the first goal and scored the second against Liverpool
on the final day of the 2002–03 season at Stamford Bridge
to give Chelsea a 2–1 victory and the important fourth place in the league, which allowed the club to qualify for the upcoming 2003–04 UEFA Champions League tournament. The importance of this result cannot be overstated, as qualification for the Champions League was considered essential to Roman Abramovich
's impending takeover of the club.
In the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg away at Highbury Stadium, Grønkjær came on for Scott Parker
in the second half, with Arsenal
leading 1–0 on the night and 2–1 on aggregate. Within six minutes of the substitution, Chelsea equalized through a goal by Frank Lampard
. As Wayne Bridge
scored three minutes before the final whistle, Chelsea went on to defeat Arsenal 3–2 on aggregate and book a place in the semi-finals. In the following semi-final against AS Monaco, he scored from outside the penalty area
with a cross-come-shot, but it was not enough for Chelsea to reach the final, as the club was defeated 5–3 on aggregate by Monaco.
Grønkjær also scored a strike in front of 67,000 fans at Old Trafford
against Manchester United
in the penultimate game of the 2003–04 season, the second of a three-game scoring streak. His final goal scored for Chelsea came the following week against Leeds United
, where he scored the winner with a header in the first half.
for £2.2m in July 2004. He had a poor start with Birmingham, as he had difficulty adapting to playing for a struggling team, and scored only once, against Lincoln City
in the Football League Cup
. He was transferred to Atlético Madrid in December 2004 for a fee of around £2.5m. His spell with Atletico was also a troubled time for Grønkjær, and in the summer of 2005 he transferred to Bundesliga
club VfB Stuttgart
, where the club was building a formidable squad under manager Giovanni Trapattoni
, with Grønkjær playing alongside fellow Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson
.
However, despite the hype and expectations at the start of the season, the club struggled in mid-table. At the beginning of February 2006, Grønkjær and Tomasson openly criticised Trapattoni as "lacking the will to attack and win." The criticism came after 12 drawn games out of 20, and although Trapattoni wanted to assert his authority and benched both players in the next game, he himself was fired the very next day, on 9 February 2006. Rumours in the German and Danish media suggested that Grønkjær would leave Stuttgart in favour of Danish club F.C. Copenhagen
He was presented as a new player for the defending Danish Superliga
champions F.C. Copenhagen on 23 June 2006. Seen as an important player for F.C. Copenhagen's UEFA Champions League ambitions, Grønkjær helped the team qualify for the 2006–07 tournament, the first tournament participation in club history. He picked up a groin
injury in a September 2006 Champions League match against Portuguese team S.L. Benfica. He was prognosed an eight to twelve week recovery, and returned in a November game against Esbjerg fB
in the Danish Cup
. On 6 December 2006, he scored the second Champions League goal of his career, against Scottish team Celtic
in a match FCK won 3–1 at Parken Stadium
. By the end of the season, Grønkjær had played 21 of 33 games, as Copenhagen retained the 2006–07 Danish Superliga championship. In November 2007, Grønkjær was named both Superliga Profile of the Year and Superliga Player of the Year.
During the closing games of the 2007–08 football season in May 2008, Grønkjær sustained a knee injury. The injury became infected by staphylococcus
, and required three bouts of surgery. He did not recover until half way through the 2008–09 football season, when he rejoined the Copenhagen team for a friendly match against Swedish team Malmö FF
in January 2009. By the end of that season he had again earned a place in the starting line up, as Grønkjær helped Copenhagen win the Double
of both 2008–09 Danish Superliga championship and the 2008–09 Danish Cup trophy. Grønkjær played the highest number of games in his Copenhagen career during the 2009–10 football season, as he helped the club win the 2009–10 Danish Superliga
championship.
With two goals in 12 games, Grønkjær helped Copenhagen advance to the 2010–11 Champions League Round of 16, as the first Danish team to advance that far into the tournament. Copenhagen was eventually eliminated by Grønkjær's former team Chelsea FC. On 26 May 2011, with Copenhagen having already secured the 2010–11 Danish Superliga
championship, Grønkjær announced that he would retire from professional football after the last league match of that Superliga season. "I'd like to be able to go jogging when I have played my last football game," he said. "I want a life without aches." He played his last game against his first professional club AaB, and scored the final goal in a 2-0 victory for F.C. Copenhagen.
, Grønkjær showed himself one of the brightest talents in Danish football. He was named 1995 Danish Under-19 Player of the Year. In total, he scored 26 goals in 64 Danish youth team international games.
In his first year at Ajax, Grønkjær made his full international debut for the Denmark national team
in the 2000 European Championship
(Euro 2000) qualification game against Italy
on 27 March 1999. In the very first minute of the game, he famously echoed Jesper Olsen
's 1986 World Cup
mistimed backpass to Spanish
forward Emilio Butragueño
, as Grønkjær passed the ball to Italian
forward Filippo Inzaghi
who promptly scored the first goal in Italy's 2–1 victory. Despite the disappointing debut game, Grønkjær became an important part of the national team under coach Bo Johansson and he played full time in Denmark's three games at the Euro 2000 main tournament.
While at Chelsea, Grønkjær became a mainstay in the Denmark national team under new national team coach Morten Olsen, and he played in all of Denmark's four games at the 2002 World Cup. In the qualification games for Euro 2004
, he scored the game-winning goal in a 1–0 victory over closest rivals Norway
, helping Denmark qualify for the final tournament in Portugal
. He missed the opening game of Euro 2004 due to the death of his mother, but went to Portugal to join the Danish squad and scored the second goal of the 2–0 win against Bulgaria
.
He was included in Olsen's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
in South Africa
. After Denmark's elimination from the 2010 World Cup, Grønkjær announced his retirement from international football.
|1995–96||rowspan="3"|AaB
||rowspan="3"|Superliga
||29||3||||||-||-||||||||
|-
|1996–97||28||1||||||-||-||||||||
|-
|1997–98||29||6||||||-||-||||||||
|-
|1998–99||rowspan="3"|Ajax||rowspan="3"|Eredivisie
||25||8||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–00||25||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||5||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||rowspan="4"|Chelsea
||rowspan="4"|Premier League||14||1||2||2||0||0||0||0||16||3
|-
|2001–02||13||0||3||0||0||0||0||0||16||0
|-
|2002–03||30||4||5||1||2||0||2||0||39||5
|-
|2003–04||31||2||4||0||3||0||10||1||48||3
|-
|2004–05||Birmingham City
||Premier League||16||0||0||0||2||1||0||0||18||1
|-
|2004–05
||Atlético Madrid||La Liga
||16||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06||Stuttgart
||Bundesliga
||25||0||2||0||1||0||7||0||35||0
|-
|2006–07||rowspan="5"|Copenhagen
||rowspan="5"|Superliga
||21||5||4||0||-||-||6||1||31||6
|-
|2007–08||25||3||3||1||-||-||7||1||35||5
|-
|2008–09||14||2||0||0||-||-||2||0||16||2
|-
|2009–10
||29||2||1||0||-||-||12||4||42||6
|-
|2010–11
||25||4||1||0||-||-||12||2||38||4
200||26||||||||||||||||
55||12||||||||||||||||
104||7||14||3||7||1||12||1||137||12
16||0||||||||||||||||
25||0||2||0||1||0||7||0||35||0
400||45||||||||||||||||
Nuuk
Nuuk, is the capital of Greenland, the northernmost capital in North America and the largest city in Greenland. Located in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, the city lies on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea and on the west coast of Sermersooq. Nuuk is the largest cultural and economic center in...
, Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
) is a former Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
professional football player. A pacey winger, he was able to play on the right or left wing and as a second striker. Grønkjær played a total 400 league games for a number of European clubs, most notably winning the 1999 Dutch Cup
KNVB Cup
The KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...
with Ajax Amsterdam and playing more than 100 games for English club Chelsea FC. He ended his career with FC Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the Parken Sport & Entertainment....
, winning four Danish Superliga
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
titles with the club. Grønkjær was capped 80 times for the Danish national team
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
from 1999 to 2010, scoring five goals. He played for his country at the 2002 World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
and the 2010 World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
, as well as two European Championship
UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...
tournaments. He was named 1995 Danish Under-19 Player of the Year.
AaB & Ajax
Raised in ThistedThisted
Thisted is a town in Thisted municipality of Region Nordjylland, in Denmark. It has a population of 13,005 and is located in Thy, in northwestern Jutland....
, Grønkjær started his career with local team Thisted FC
Thisted FC
Thisted FC is a Danish football club currently playing in the Danish 2nd Division West following their relegation from the Danish 1st Division at the end of the 2009-10 season. They play at Sparekassen Thy Arena in Thisted, West Jutland, which has a capacity of 3,000.-Current squad:-External links:...
. Earlier in his career he was told that he could have been a sprinter. He moved on to defending Danish Superliga
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
champions Aalborg Boldspilklub (AaB) in 1995. He played almost 100 matches for the club, including games in the European 1995–96 UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League 1995-96
The 1995–96 UEFA Champions League was the 41st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the fourth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League. The tournament was won by Juventus, who beat defending champions Ajax on penalties in the final for their first championship...
tournament. He attracted the attention of a string of European top clubs.
AaB sold Grønkjær in a £3.5 million transfer deal with Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
club Ajax in October 1997, with Grønkjær moving to Amsterdam in July 1998. At Ajax, he was coached by fellow Dane Morten Olsen
Morten Olsen
Morten Per Olsen is a Danish football manager and former football player. He has been the head coach of the Danish national team since 2000, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup...
, and played alongside Danish international Ole Tobiasen
Ole Tobiasen
Ole Tobiasen is a Danish former footballer, who played professionally for a number of clubs in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway. He most prominently won the Dutch Eredivisie championship with Ajax and the Danish Superliga championship with F.C. Copenhagen. He played in the right back and...
. With Ajax, he won the 1998-99 KNVB Cup and he was named "Ajax Player of the Year" by the fans in 1999–2000.
Chelsea
In October 2000, Grønkjær joined Premier League club ChelseaChelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
for £7.8m, which made him the then most expensive Danish football player. However, he was still sidelined with an injury until January 2001. His career at Chelsea lasted four years, and his erratic form caused much frustration for Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri, is an Italian football manager, currently in charge as head coach of Internazionale.He has also managed many other well-known clubs in Europe, including Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus and Roma.-Early life:Ranieri attended St...
and the Chelsea fans. However, at his best he was a constant threat and was capable of giving the best full-backs a tough game. He created and scored some very important goals for the club.
A notable example was when Grønkjær assisted the first goal and scored the second against Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
on the final day of the 2002–03 season at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
to give Chelsea a 2–1 victory and the important fourth place in the league, which allowed the club to qualify for the upcoming 2003–04 UEFA Champions League tournament. The importance of this result cannot be overstated, as qualification for the Champions League was considered essential to Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky...
's impending takeover of the club.
In the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg away at Highbury Stadium, Grønkjær came on for Scott Parker
Scott Parker (footballer)
Scott Matthew Parker is an English footballer who plays for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. He is the FWA Footballer of the Year for the 2010–11 season. He has represented England at every level from under-16 to senior. Uniquely, he won his first four England...
in the second half, with Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
leading 1–0 on the night and 2–1 on aggregate. Within six minutes of the substitution, Chelsea equalized through a goal by Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side...
. As Wayne Bridge
Wayne Bridge
Wayne Michael Bridge is an English footballer who plays as a left back for Manchester City.A graduate of the Southampton Academy where he made his debut in 1998, he has also played for Chelsea and Fulham during his Premiership career....
scored three minutes before the final whistle, Chelsea went on to defeat Arsenal 3–2 on aggregate and book a place in the semi-finals. In the following semi-final against AS Monaco, he scored from outside the penalty area
Penalty area
The penalty area , is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends to each side of the goal and in front of it. Within the penalty area is the penalty spot , which is from the goal line, directly in-line with the centre of the goal...
with a cross-come-shot, but it was not enough for Chelsea to reach the final, as the club was defeated 5–3 on aggregate by Monaco.
Grønkjær also scored a strike in front of 67,000 fans at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (football)
Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 75,811, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in England after Wembley, the third-largest in the United Kingdom and the eleventh-largest in Europe...
against Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
in the penultimate game of the 2003–04 season, the second of a three-game scoring streak. His final goal scored for Chelsea came the following week against Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
, where he scored the winner with a header in the first half.
Three clubs in two years
Chelsea had fired manager Ranieri before UEFA Euro 2004, and Grønkjær signed for Birmingham CityBirmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
for £2.2m in July 2004. He had a poor start with Birmingham, as he had difficulty adapting to playing for a struggling team, and scored only once, against Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
in the Football League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
. He was transferred to Atlético Madrid in December 2004 for a fee of around £2.5m. His spell with Atletico was also a troubled time for Grønkjær, and in the summer of 2005 he transferred to Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
club VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...
, where the club was building a formidable squad under manager Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni , sometimes known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football coach and former player, considered the most successful club coach in the history of Serie A. As a player he was part of Italy's squad at the 1962 FIFA World Cup....
, with Grønkjær playing alongside fellow Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Jon Dahl Tomasson is a retired Danish footballer and assistant manager at the Dutch football club SBV Excelsior....
.
However, despite the hype and expectations at the start of the season, the club struggled in mid-table. At the beginning of February 2006, Grønkjær and Tomasson openly criticised Trapattoni as "lacking the will to attack and win." The criticism came after 12 drawn games out of 20, and although Trapattoni wanted to assert his authority and benched both players in the next game, he himself was fired the very next day, on 9 February 2006. Rumours in the German and Danish media suggested that Grønkjær would leave Stuttgart in favour of Danish club F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the Parken Sport & Entertainment....
F.C. Copenhagen
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
champions F.C. Copenhagen on 23 June 2006. Seen as an important player for F.C. Copenhagen's UEFA Champions League ambitions, Grønkjær helped the team qualify for the 2006–07 tournament, the first tournament participation in club history. He picked up a groin
Groin
In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two creases at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area. This is also known as the medial compartment of the thigh. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a painful injury sustained by straining the hip adductor muscles...
injury in a September 2006 Champions League match against Portuguese team S.L. Benfica. He was prognosed an eight to twelve week recovery, and returned in a November game against Esbjerg fB
Esbjerg fB
Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber also referred to as Esbjerg fB or simply EfB is a professional Danish football club from the port city of Esbjerg in West Jutland. The club was formed in 1924, as a merger between Esbjerg Boldklub af 1898 and Esbjerg Amatørklub af 1911. The club has training facilities...
in the Danish Cup
Danish Cup
The Danish Cup is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955...
. On 6 December 2006, he scored the second Champions League goal of his career, against Scottish team Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
in a match FCK won 3–1 at Parken Stadium
Parken Stadium
Parken Stadium is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990–1992. It currently has a capacity of 38,065 for football games, and is the home ground of F.C. Københaven and the Danish national football team...
. By the end of the season, Grønkjær had played 21 of 33 games, as Copenhagen retained the 2006–07 Danish Superliga championship. In November 2007, Grønkjær was named both Superliga Profile of the Year and Superliga Player of the Year.
During the closing games of the 2007–08 football season in May 2008, Grønkjær sustained a knee injury. The injury became infected by staphylococcus
Staphylococcus
Staphylococcus is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria. Under the microscope they appear round , and form in grape-like clusters....
, and required three bouts of surgery. He did not recover until half way through the 2008–09 football season, when he rejoined the Copenhagen team for a friendly match against Swedish team Malmö FF
Malmö FF
Malmö Fotbollförening, also known simply as Malmö FF, are a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö. The club is affiliated with Skånes Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Swedbank Stadion. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are sky blue and white...
in January 2009. By the end of that season he had again earned a place in the starting line up, as Grønkjær helped Copenhagen win the Double
The Double
The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...
of both 2008–09 Danish Superliga championship and the 2008–09 Danish Cup trophy. Grønkjær played the highest number of games in his Copenhagen career during the 2009–10 football season, as he helped the club win the 2009–10 Danish Superliga
2009–10 Danish Superliga
The 2009–10 Danish Superliga season was the 20th season of the Danish Superliga league championship, which determinates the winners of the Danish football championship. It is governed by the Danish Football Association. The tournament started on 18 July 2009 and concluded on 16 May 2010.The Danish...
championship.
With two goals in 12 games, Grønkjær helped Copenhagen advance to the 2010–11 Champions League Round of 16, as the first Danish team to advance that far into the tournament. Copenhagen was eventually eliminated by Grønkjær's former team Chelsea FC. On 26 May 2011, with Copenhagen having already secured the 2010–11 Danish Superliga
2010–11 Danish Superliga
The 2010–11 Danish Superliga season was the 21st season of the Danish Superliga championship, which decides the Danish football championship. It began on 17 July 2010 with the previous season's silver medalists from Odense facing Esbjerg and ended on 29 May 2011 with six simultaneous matches. F.C...
championship, Grønkjær announced that he would retire from professional football after the last league match of that Superliga season. "I'd like to be able to go jogging when I have played my last football game," he said. "I want a life without aches." He played his last game against his first professional club AaB, and scored the final goal in a 2-0 victory for F.C. Copenhagen.
International career
While at Thisted FC, Grønkjær made his debut for the Danish youth national teams in October 1992. With three goals in six matches, as the Danish national youth team won silver medals at the 1994 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship1994 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship
-----Group B:---------------------Group C:---------------------Group D:---------------------Quarterfinals:-------------Semifinals:-----Third Place Playoff:-Final:-References:**...
, Grønkjær showed himself one of the brightest talents in Danish football. He was named 1995 Danish Under-19 Player of the Year. In total, he scored 26 goals in 64 Danish youth team international games.
In his first year at Ajax, Grønkjær made his full international debut for the Denmark national team
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
in the 2000 European Championship
2000 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organized by UEFA, association football's governing body in Europe....
(Euro 2000) qualification game against Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
on 27 March 1999. In the very first minute of the game, he famously echoed Jesper Olsen
Jesper Olsen
Jesper Olsen is a Danish former footballer who most notably played for Ajax of the Netherlands and Manchester United of England. Olsen was a regular left winger for the Danish national team, scoring five goals in 43 matches...
's 1986 World Cup
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...
mistimed backpass to Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
forward Emilio Butragueño
Emilio Butragueño
Emilio Butragueño Santos is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a striker.He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid...
, as Grønkjær passed the ball to Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
forward Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo Inzaghi, Ufficiale OMRI commonly known as Pippo, is a World Cup and UEFA Champions League-winning Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Milan....
who promptly scored the first goal in Italy's 2–1 victory. Despite the disappointing debut game, Grønkjær became an important part of the national team under coach Bo Johansson and he played full time in Denmark's three games at the Euro 2000 main tournament.
While at Chelsea, Grønkjær became a mainstay in the Denmark national team under new national team coach Morten Olsen, and he played in all of Denmark's four games at the 2002 World Cup. In the qualification games for Euro 2004
2004 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in...
, he scored the game-winning goal in a 1–0 victory over closest rivals Norway
Norway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...
, helping Denmark qualify for the final tournament in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. He missed the opening game of Euro 2004 due to the death of his mother, but went to Portugal to join the Danish squad and scored the second goal of the 2–0 win against Bulgaria
Bulgaria national football team
The FIFA Bulgaria national football team is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Luboslav Penev is in charge manager after replacement of Lothar Matthäus...
.
He was included in Olsen's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. After Denmark's elimination from the 2010 World Cup, Grønkjær announced his retirement from international football.
Club statistics
|-|1995–96||rowspan="3"|AaB
AaB Football
AaB Fodbold, also referred to as Aalborg BK or AaB, is a professional football team of Danish sports conglomerate Aalborg Boldspilklub, located in Aalborg. They play in the Danish Superliga and have won three Danish Superliga championships and two Danish Cup trophies.AaB became the first Danish...
||rowspan="3"|Superliga
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
||29||3||||||-||-||||||||
|-
|1996–97||28||1||||||-||-||||||||
|-
|1997–98||29||6||||||-||-||||||||
|-
|1998–99||rowspan="3"|Ajax||rowspan="3"|Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||25||8||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–00||25||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||5||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||rowspan="4"|Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
||rowspan="4"|Premier League||14||1||2||2||0||0||0||0||16||3
|-
|2001–02||13||0||3||0||0||0||0||0||16||0
|-
|2002–03||30||4||5||1||2||0||2||0||39||5
|-
|2003–04||31||2||4||0||3||0||10||1||48||3
|-
|2004–05||Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
||Premier League||16||0||0||0||2||1||0||0||18||1
|-
|2004–05
2004–05 La Liga
2004–05 season was composed of the following clubs:* Albacete Balompié* Athletic Bilbao* Atlético Madrid* FC Barcelona* Real Betis* Deportivo de La Coruña* Espanyol* Getafe CF* Levante UD* Málaga CF* Real Mallorca* CD Numancia* CA Osasuna...
||Atlético Madrid||La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||16||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06||Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...
||Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
||25||0||2||0||1||0||7||0||35||0
|-
|2006–07||rowspan="5"|Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the Parken Sport & Entertainment....
||rowspan="5"|Superliga
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
||21||5||4||0||-||-||6||1||31||6
|-
|2007–08||25||3||3||1||-||-||7||1||35||5
|-
|2008–09||14||2||0||0||-||-||2||0||16||2
|-
|2009–10
2009–10 Danish Superliga
The 2009–10 Danish Superliga season was the 20th season of the Danish Superliga league championship, which determinates the winners of the Danish football championship. It is governed by the Danish Football Association. The tournament started on 18 July 2009 and concluded on 16 May 2010.The Danish...
||29||2||1||0||-||-||12||4||42||6
|-
|2010–11
2009–10 Danish Superliga
The 2009–10 Danish Superliga season was the 20th season of the Danish Superliga league championship, which determinates the winners of the Danish football championship. It is governed by the Danish Football Association. The tournament started on 18 July 2009 and concluded on 16 May 2010.The Danish...
||25||4||1||0||-||-||12||2||38||4
200||26||||||||||||||||
55||12||||||||||||||||
104||7||14||3||7||1||12||1||137||12
16||0||||||||||||||||
25||0||2||0||1||0||7||0||35||0
400||45||||||||||||||||
International goals
- Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 25 April 2001 Copenhagen CopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
1–0 3–0 Friendly match 2 26 May 2002 Wakayama, Japan JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
1–0 2–1 Friendly match 3 7 June 2003 Copenhagen CopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
1–0 1–0 Euro 2004 qual. 2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifyingQualification for the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship took place between September 2002 and November 2003.Fifty teams were divided into ten groups, with each team playing the others in their group twice, once at home and once away...4 20 August 2003 Copenhagen CopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
1–0 1–1 Friendly match 5 18 June 2004 Braga BragaBraga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
2–0 2–0 Euro 2004 2004 UEFA European Football ChampionshipThe 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in...
Club
- Ajax
- Dutch CupKNVB CupThe KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...
: 1998–99
- CopenhagenF.C. CopenhagenF.C. Copenhagen is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the Parken Sport & Entertainment....
- Danish SuperligaDanish SuperligaThe Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–102009–10 Danish SuperligaThe 2009–10 Danish Superliga season was the 20th season of the Danish Superliga league championship, which determinates the winners of the Danish football championship. It is governed by the Danish Football Association. The tournament started on 18 July 2009 and concluded on 16 May 2010.The Danish...
, 2010–112010–11 Danish SuperligaThe 2010–11 Danish Superliga season was the 21st season of the Danish Superliga championship, which decides the Danish football championship. It began on 17 July 2010 with the previous season's silver medalists from Odense facing Esbjerg and ended on 29 May 2011 with six simultaneous matches. F.C... - Danish CupDanish CupThe Danish Cup is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955...
: 2008–09
Individual
- Danish Under-19 Player of the Year: 1995
- TIPS-bladet's Player of the Year: 2006–07
- TIPS-bladet's Autumn Profile: 2007
- Team of the Year: 2007
- Danish SuperligaDanish SuperligaThe Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
Profile of the Year: 2007 - Danish SuperligaDanish SuperligaThe Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
Player of the Year: 2007