Allan Simonsen (soccer player)

Allan Simonsen
Allan Simonsen in 2000
Personnel
Surname	Allan Rodenkam Simonsen
birthday	December 15, 1952
place of birth	Vejle ,  Denmark
size	165 cm
position	striker
Juniors
Years	station
1963-1971	Vejle BK
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1971-1972	Vejle BK	42 (16)
1972-1979	Borussia Monchengladbach	178 (76)
1979-1983	FC Barcelona	98 (31)
1983	Charlton Athletic	16 0(9)
1983-1989	Vejle BK	166 (70)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1972	dan. Olympic selection	6 0(3)
1972-1986	Denmark	55 (20)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1991-1994	Vejle BK
1994-2001	Faroe Islands
2002-2004	Luxembourg
1 Only league games are given.

Allan Simonsen (born December 15, 1952 in Vejle , Denmark ) is a former Danish football player and coach .

He was voted Europe's Footballer of the Year in 1977. He had his greatest successes in the 1970s with Borussia Mönchengladbach and later with FC Barcelona . Simonsen later worked as the national coach for Luxembourg and the Faroe Islands .

Career

society

Beginnings

In the early 1960s, Simonsen joined the club from his hometown, Vejle BK , and was trained in football in the youth department. At the age of 18 he made his debut in March 1971 in the senior team in Denmark's first division and won the championship. In the following year, the offensive player was an integral part of the team and won the double of the championship and cup with the Jutlanders .

The agile striker, who despite his small height of only 1.65 m also proved to be strong at the head, was appointed to Denmark's Olympic team in 1972. At the games in Munich , the team was eliminated in the second round; Simonsen, however, was Denmark's most conspicuous player, playing in all six games and scoring three goals.

Change to the Bundesliga and the breakthrough

One of the observers in the Munich Olympic Stadium (venue of the Olympic Games in Munich) was Hennes Weisweiler , coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach , who signed Simonsen. He brought the striker to the Bökelberg for a fee of DM 200,000 .

Simonsen initially had difficulties with the tough playing style in the Bundesliga. In the first two years he only made 17 appearances (two goals) in the Bundesliga. It was then to be sold again, but there was no interested party. The 1974/75 season finally brought his breakthrough: He was used in all 34 games, scored 18 goals and, with Jupp Heynckes (27 goals, top scorer) and Henning Jensen (13 goals), formed one of the most successful strikings in the league. Borussia Mönchengladbach became German champions. Simonsen also scored eight goals in the European Cup and reached the final of the UEFA Cup with his team , in which Twente Enschede was defeated 0-0 and 5-1; Simonsen scored two goals. The next year Borussia defended the championship title with Udo Lattek as the new coach. With 16 goals Simonsen was the best attacker of his team, and with a goal on the penultimate matchday at Kickers Offenbach (1: 1) he secured Gladbach first place.

1977 should be Simonsen's most successful year: Borussia Mönchengladbach won the third championship in a row (twelve goals from Simonsen). the team was in the final of the European Cup , in which they were defeated by Liverpool 1: 3. Simonsen scored the goal to equalize. He was the first Dane to be voted Europe's Footballer of the Year . He stayed with Borussia for two more years and was back in the 1979 UEFA Cup final after scoring eight goals in eight games in the competition. After a 1-1 draw at Roter Stern Belgrade , Simonsen's goal in the second leg in Düsseldorf was enough to win the title 1-0.

Change to Spain

After winning the title, Simonsen moved to FC Barcelona for a transfer fee of around DM 1.3 million . In his first season ( 1979/80 ) he scored ten goals and was the top scorer for the Catalans. The team was further strengthened with Bernd Schuster and Quini and won the Spanish Cup in 1981 . The next year he won the European Cup Winners' Cup under his old coach Udo Lattek . In the 2-1 final win against Standard Liège , he equalized and prepared Quini's winning goal. In the summer of 1982, a third foreigner, the Argentinian Diego Maradona , was committed (alongside Simonsen and Schuster), which is why Simonsen preferred to change clubs, since at that time only two foreigners per team were allowed at the same time.

Charlton Athletic and Career Ending

Simonsen joined Charlton Athletic in November 1982 , who played in the Second Division . But his commitment overwhelmed the financial possibilities of the London second division club, for whose team he also proved to be overqualified. The Dane had to get back on the transfer list as soon as possible, especially since Barça still demanded part of the transfer fee. Already in the summer the player returned to Denmark after three months and he joined his old club Vejle BK. After a serious injury, he won another championship with Vejle in 1984. Simonsen ended his career in November 1989 at the age of 37.

Career in the national team

In July 1972, the then 19-year-old made his debut for the Danish national team against Iceland . In the 5-2 win he scored two goals and was henceforth a regular player. But Simonsen initially had little success with the national team and could not qualify for a major tournament.

It was not until the early 1980s, when the German coach Josef Piontek formed the numerous Danish football professionals abroad into a successful team, that the first successes came. Simonsen became their captain . The team qualified for a major tournament for the first time, the EURO 1984 in France . This was the beginning of the most successful period in Danish football. Simonsen played as captain in the opening game of the European Championship in Paris against the eventual title holder France . In this game he collided with his opponent Yvon Le Roux and broke his leg . From his sickbed he watched the performance of the Danish team, which only failed in the semifinals to Spain . This injury marked the end of his international career.

Simonsen went to Mexico for the 1986 World Cup (Denmark's first participation in the World Cup), but the now 33-year-old only came on as a substitute in the third round match against Germany (2-0).

On September 24, 1986 he said goodbye to the national team.

Career as a coach

After the end of his active career, Simonsen moved to management at Vejle BK in 1990 , where he worked until 1994 and switched to coaching. From 1994 to 2001 he coached the Faroese national football team and from 2002 to 2004 Luxembourg . From 2011 to 2013 he was employed as a sports director (konceptmanager) at the Danish second division club FC Fredericia .

successes

Title and other successes with his teams

• Danish championship : champions 1971 and 1984
• Danish Cup : Cup Winner 1972
• German championship : Champion 1975 , 1976 and 1977
• DFB Cup : Winner 1973
• UEFA Cup : Finalist in 1973 and winner in 1975 and 1979
• European Champion Clubs' Cup : Finalist 1977
• European Cup Winners' Cup : Winner 1982
• Spanish Cup : Winner 1981

Personal achievements

• Europe's footballer of the year 1977
• Top scorer of the 1977/78 European Cup
• Scorer of the UEFA Cup 1978/79
• Member of the Hall of Fame of Danish Sports since 1995
• Classification as world class in the ranking of German football : winter 1975/76 , summer 1977 , winter 1977/78

Private

Allan Simonsen is divorced, has one daughter and lives in Fredericia .

Web links

Commons : Allan Simonsen (soccer player)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Allan Simonsen in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Allan Simonsen in the database of weltfussball.de
• Allan Simonsen at Borussia.sport-dienst.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Nick Harris: England, Their England. The definitive story of foreign footballers in the English game since 1888 , Hove (East Sussex) 2003, pp. 225 ff.
2. ↑ ibid, p. 227
3. ↑ Allan Simonsen på plads i FC Fredericia . In Politiken June 7, 2011, accessed September 11, 2012 (Danish)
4. ↑ ^{a b} Helle Skram de Fries: Allan Simonsen Skal skilles. In: Billed Bladet. Aller Media A / S, September 11, 2013, accessed on July 9, 2015 (Danish): "Parret bor - nu hver for sig - i Fredericia og har sammen datteren [...] on 10 år." 
5. ↑ ^{a b} anonymous: Fodboldhelten Allan Simonsen: Skilt. In: Se og Hør. Aller Media A / S, September 11, 2013, accessed July 9, 2015 (Danish). 
6. ↑ Jens Rebensdorff: "Vild med dans" or "God til dans"? In: Berlingske. Berlingske Media, November 14, 2013, accessed on July 9, 2015 (Danish): "Allan Simonsen bor i dag i Fredericia." 

predecessor	Office	successor
Franco Cucinotta Gerd Müller	Top scorer of the European Champion's Cup 1977/78 season	Claudio Sulser

predecessor	Office	successor
Gerrie Deykers Raimondo Ponte	Top scorer of the 1978/79 UEFA Cup	Dieter Hoeneß Harald Nickel