Mark Brink Christensen (born 15 March 1998) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Danish Superliga club Silkeborg IF.

Mark Brink
Personal information
Full name Mark Brink Christensen[1]
Date of birth (1998-03-15) 15 March 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Esbjerg, Denmark[2]
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Silkeborg
Number 14
Youth career
2002–2015 Esbjerg fB
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2020 Esbjerg fB 89 (6)
2020– Silkeborg 125 (2)
International career
2013–2014 Denmark U16 7 (4)
2014–2015 Denmark U17 12 (4)
2015–2016 Denmark U18 5 (0)
2015–2017 Denmark U19 9 (2)
2017–2019 Denmark U20 6 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 April 2024

Club career edit

Esbjerg fB edit

Born in Esbjerg, Denmark, Brink is a product of Esbjerg fB and has played for the club his entire youth career. He was the captain of the under-17 team and was promoted to the under-19 team at age 17.[3] was promoted to the first team squad in the autumn of 2015 at the age of 17.[4]

In March 2015, Brink won the Under-17 Talent of the Year 2015 award by the Danish Football Association.[3][5] He made his debut on 1 October 2015 in Danish Cup match against amateur side, Søhus Stige BK, where Brink played the full ninety minutes in a 9–0 victory.[6]

Brink made his league debut for Esbjerg on 4 April 2016 at the age of 18.[7] Brink started on the pitch, but was replaced by Lasse Rise in the 62nd minute in a 1–0 victory against Viborg FF in the Danish Superliga.[8] A few days later, he extended his contract until 2019.[9][10]

After an individual successful period, his contract was extended once again in April 2017 until 2021.[11]

On 25 July 2019, Brink made his European debut, starting in a 2–0 away loss to Belarusian club Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.[12][13][14]

Silkeborg edit

On transfer deadline day, 31 January 2020, Brink joined Silkeborg IF on a three-year contract.[15][16]

He made his competitive debut for the club on 16 February, replacing Vegard Moberg in the 84th minute of a 2–0 home loss to AaB.[17] Silkeborg suffered relegation to the Danish 1st Division at the end of the 2019–20 season, bottom of the league.[18]

On 11 September 2020, Brink scored his first goal for Silkeborg in the 92nd minute of a 4–2 away loss to FC Helsingør on the first matchday of the 2020–21 Danish 1st Division.[19] Silkeborg bounced back to the Danish Superliga that season, finishing second in the league with Brink as a starter. He made 29 appearances, scoring the one goal.[20]

With Brink as one of the key players in midfield, Silkeborg was one of the positive surprises of the 2021–22 season, impressing with an attacking and entertaining style of play under head coach Kent Nielsen.[21] Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, all Russian teams were excluded from European tournaments by UEFA.[22] This meant that the Danish Cup winners entered the final qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League. When FC Midtjylland won the 2021–22 Danish Cup, and at the same time finished in second place in the Superliga, which now gave access to UEFA Champions League qualification, Silkeborg secured Europa League qualification by virtue of their third-place Superliga finish.[23] Brink finished the season with 34 appearances in which he scored one goal.[20]

Career statistics edit

As of match played 6 November 2022[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Danish Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Esbjerg fB 2015–16 Danish Superliga 6 1 1 0 7 1
2016–17 Danish Superliga 12 0 0 0 2[a] 0 14 0
2017–18 Danish 1st Division 31 5 1 0 2[a] 0 35 5
2018–19 Danish Superliga 30 0 4 0 34 0
2019–20 Danish Superliga 10 0 0 0 2[b] 0 12 0
Total 89 6 5 0 2 0 4 0 100 6
Silkeborg 2019–20 Danish Superliga 10 0 0 0 10 0
2020–21 Danish 1st Division 29 1 2 0 31 1
2021–22 Danish Superliga 32 1 2 0 34 1
2022–23 Danish Superliga 14 0 1 0 7[c] 0 22 0
Total 85 2 5 0 7 0 97 2
Career total 174 8 10 0 9 0 4 0 197 8
  1. ^ a b Appearances in the Danish Superliga promotion/relegation play-offs
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League

References edit

  1. ^ Mark Brink national team profile at the Danish Football Association (in Danish)  
  2. ^ a b "Mark Brink". Silkeborg IF (in Danish). Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b Monrad-Alexandersen, Magnus (4 July 2016). "Fokus på: Mark Brink Christensen – Supertalentet fra Esbjerg fB". Tipsbladet (in Danish). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Mark Brink indgår ny treårig aftale med EfB". Esbjerg fB (in Danish). 15 April 2016. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016.
  5. ^ Goldmann, Jonas Hebo (25 August 2022). "Players Lounge #39 – Mark Brink, Silkeborg IF". Mediano (in Danish). Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  6. ^ "DBU pokalen 2015/2016/ Søhus Stige BK – Esbjerg fB/". efbhistorik.dk. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Esbjerg vs. Viborg – 4 April 2016". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  8. ^ Nøhr, Mikkel (6 April 2016). "EfB-debutant: Handlede om at spille simpelt". bold.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  9. ^ Nøhr, Mikkel (15 April 2016). "Esbjerg forlænger med midtbanetalent". bold.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Mark Brink indgår ny treårig aftale med EfB". JydskeVestkysten (in Danish). 15 April 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  11. ^ Blond, Mikael (11 April 2017). "Esbjerg forlænger med trio". bold.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Uskarpe Esbjerg sænket i Hviderusland: Se de to Soligorsk-scoringer her". TV3 SPORT (in Danish). 25 July 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Shakhtyor Soligorsk vs. Esbjerg – 25 July 2019". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Shakhtyor–Esbjerg | UEFA Europa League 2019/20". UEFA. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  15. ^ "EfB sælger Mark Brink til Silkeborg". Esbjerg fB (Press release) (in Danish). 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  16. ^ "SIF forstærker midtbanen". Silkeborg IF (Press release) (in Danish). 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Silkeborg vs. AaB – 16 February 2020". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  18. ^ Nielsen, Ronni Burkal (21 June 2020). "Silkeborg rykker ud af Superligaen". TV 2 Sport (in Danish). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  19. ^ Roesen, Andreas (11 September 2020). "Kjær-hattrick sænkede Silkeborg i målfest". bold.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  20. ^ a b c Mark Brink at Soccerway  
  21. ^ Jensen, Kenneth (7 February 2022). "Alt om SIF: Stjernes lillebror er et større talent". Tipsbladet (in Danish). Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  22. ^ "Russia World Cup ban appeal rejected by CAS". ESPN. 18 March 2022.
  23. ^ Jensen, Kenneth (27 May 2022). "Her er SIF's mulige modstandere i EL-playoff". Tipsbladet (in Danish). Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2023.

External links edit