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.

Viborg
Full nameViborg Fodsports Forening
Nickname(s)
  • The Greens
  • The Old Capital
Short nameVFF
Founded1 April 1896; 127 years ago (1896-04-01)
GroundViborg Stadium, Viborg
Capacity10.000
Managing DirectorMorten Jensen
Head CoachJakob Poulsen
LeagueDanish Superliga
2022–234th of 12
WebsiteClub website
Current season

History edit

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 edit

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

Stadium edit

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 edit

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 edit

First-team squad edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

Academy edit

Managerial history edit

 
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 edit

League edit

Cup edit

European record edit

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 edit

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 edit

  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 edit