Vejle Boldklub


Vejle Boldklub, founded in 1891, is a Danish professional football club from the town of Vejle. The club has won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six times.
The club's homeground is Vejle Stadium in Nørreskoven since 1922. The club has played in red shirts and white shorts since 1911.
The main rivals of Vejle Boldklub are AGF from Aarhus and AC Horsens from Horsens.
In July 2011, Vejle Boldklub merged with Kolding FC and became Vejle Boldklub Kolding. The merger however was short lived and in June 2013 it was split into Vejle Boldklub and Kolding IF.

History

The club was founded by 23 men from Vejle on 3 May 1891 as a cricket club. Football first became a part of the club's activities in 1902.

The first golden age

The period from 1910 to 1920 is often referred to as Vejle Boldklub's first golden age. In this period the club took part in the Jutland championship final seven times and won it four times in 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1915.

The 1950s: A golden decade

About 15,000 people were seated at Vejle Stadium on 22 May 1952, when Vejle Boldklub secured promotion to the second best Danish league in a match against Odense KFUM. One of the central players in the Vejle team was Bent Sørensen, who later went on to become the club's first national team player.
On 10 May 1956, VB in front of 25,000 people in Parken, Copenhagen, met B93 in a qualification game for a place in the best Danish league. Once again Bent Sørensen scored the winner. After this VB played in the best Danish league for 36 years, which is the record.
In 1958 the club won its first Danish championship, and also went on to win the Danish cup. This made VB the first club in Denmark to win the Double. Among the stars in the squad was Tommy Troelsen and Henning Enoksen. Tommy Troelsen was only 17 years old when he played in the final.
Normally 15,000–20,000 people attended the matches in Vejle those days. K.B. were beaten 8–3 and Odense Boldklub were sent home with a 7–2 defeat. The manager was Frits Gotfredsen and he was the man who started developing the attacking style of play that made VB the most popular club in Denmark in this period.
The 1959 season also offered great moments for the history books. The biggest triumph was without a doubt the cup win against AGF. 33,000 people came to the national arena to watch the match between the two great clubs from Jutland. VB won the game 1–0, but it has never been decided who scored the winner. Both the ball, Henning Enoksen and a couple of AGF players were in the net. However, it was a goal and VB could celebrate the club's second cup win in two years.
At the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 four VB players were selected in the Danish side which sensationally won a silver medal. The four VB players were: Henning Enoksen, Tommy Troelsen, Poul Mejer and Poul Jensen.

The 1970s: A triumphal march

In 1971 Vejle Boldklub celebrated its 80 years jubilee and the players gave the club the best birthday present possible: the Danish championship trophy and the club's first ticket to the European Champions Cup. The trophy was won through great attacking football, and there was never any doubt that VB would win it.
Danish football followers were impressed with the new top side in Danish football and thousands of people came to Vejle to enjoy the charming football of Vejle Boldklub. Among the many stars in the team were Allan Simonsen and Flemming Serritslev. The manager was once again Frits Gotfredsen. He ended his amazing career in Vejle Boldklub after this big triumph.
In the 1972 season VB went on to prove that the team was now on top of Danish football. The Danish championship in 1971 was followed up by another cup triumph and once again the Danish championship ended up in Vejle – The Double.
The title was won even more convincingly than the year before after ten straight victories in the spring half of the season. It was simply VB and the others. After the 1972 season VB's biggest star, Allan Simonsen, joined German giants Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he was named European Footballer of the Year in 1977 – so far the only Danish player in history.
In the 1975 season VB did not live up to the huge expectations in the league. However, the club delivered some great attacking football in the cup tournament and went on to win the final for the fourth time with a 1–0 victory over Holbæk. Club record holder, Gert Eg, scored with a great first timer, which qualified VB for the European Cup Winners Cup.
The 19 May 1977 Vejle Boldklub won its third cup final in only six years. The fifth cup triumph was won with a 2–1 victory against B1909. The goal scorers for Vejle was Ib Jacquet and Knud Nørregård. VB could now call itself the best cup team in Denmark – a status that was taken away from AGF.
Vejle reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup-Winners' Cup in the 1977–78 campaign.
In the following season, 1978, Vejle Boldklub underlined its top position in Danish football by winning the Danish title for the fourth time in the club's history. Manager Poul Erik Bech and his players could celebrate the victory in Vejle before the last game as AGF and Esbjerg fB could no longer catch the reds. Among the stars in the team were Alex Nielsen, Tommy Hansen and Ulrik le Fevre, who later became the first player to score Tor des Jahres in the German Bundesliga.

The 1980s: The trophies are brought to Vejle

In 1978 Vejle Boldklub became the first team to win the Danish title after the involvement of money in Danish football. But as it turned out VB would find it difficult to adapt to the new times.
However, at the start of the decade VB continued in the footsteps of the successful 1970s teams. On 28 May 1981 Boldklubben Frem was beaten 2–1 in the cup final. This meant that the beautiful trophy – which Danish clubs had been fighting for since 1955 – was brought to Vejle permanently and placed in the club house in Nørreskoven.
In 1983 Allan Simonsen – named third best player in Europe the same year – returned to Vejle Boldklub. Simonsen had a big impact on the team and was a major influence as the club went on to win its fifth Danish title in 1984. With this victory the greatest trophy in Danish football found a permanent spot in the club house in Vejle next to the cup winners trophy. Among the biggest stars in the squad were John Sivebæk, Allan Simonsen and Steen Thychosen, who became the league top scorer with 24 goals.
After some indifferent seasons VB was in 1988 taken over by four local businessmen. Once again the club started dreaming about titles and the fans were excited by the signings of star players such as Preben Elkjær Larsen, John Larsen and Keld Bordinggaard. However, the new manager Ebbe Skovdahl could not get the team to work together even though he had several star players in his side.

1991: A black year in VB's history

Vejle Boldklub's centenary was celebrated in the worst possible manner with relegation to the second tier for the first time since 1956. Many star players went to play for other clubs and a sad atmosphere of crisis descended upon Vejle. The four businessmen left the club, but ensured on their way out that it was not in dire straits. To turn things around VB hired their old star player Allan Simonsen as new manager. However, it was a thankless task for Simonsen, who started his managerial career with a defeat.
In 1994 the successful manager from 1981, Ole Fritsen, was named as the new manager of Vejle Boldklub. As a former youth coach in the club, Ole knew all about the many talented young players in VB, amongst which were Kaspar Dalgas and Peter Graulund. Ole started to build up a new team around these young players.
Vejle Boldklub was back in the top Danish league in 1995. Ole Fritsen's young team played impressive, charming and attacking football, which earned them runners-up medals in 1997 and qualification for the UEFA Cup on two occasions. For his fine work, Ole Fritsen was named Danish Manager of the Year in 1997.

2000: Crises and rebuilding

At the beginning of the new millennium, VB was relegated from the Danish super league for the second time in the club's history. They were back after only one season in the first division, but it turned out to be a short respite as the club was relegated the same season. This proved to be the beginning of a serious crisis. In 2004, VB was almost relegated to the third tier division and the club was threatened with bankruptcy. This resulted in desperate attempts to save the club through amalgamations with clubs in the north, south, east and west.
But, in late 2004, another turning point was reached when a group of visionary businessmen reconstructed the club's finances and launched the so-called four point plan: A new stadium, promotion to the Danish super league, income through business other than football and a new sponsor strategy. In 2006, VB was back in the first division. However, the club made a dreadful start to the season with nine defeats in a row. But a successful second half of the season pointed it in the right direction and optimism returned.
Today, VB draws together the most successful businesses in south-east Jutland, which makes the club potentially one of the wealthiest in Danish football. And where the club earlier had to look in vain for local support, today it is seen as an attractive investment.
In spring 2008, Vejle Boldklub opened the gates to its new modern stadium. It retains the name of Vejle Stadium and is still located in Nørreskoven.
On 5 June 2008, VB achieved a record in scoring the highest number of points to win the Danish 1st Division. Promotion to the Superliga was secured with 78 points from 30 matches.
By the 32nd round of the 2008–09 season, it was clear VB would be relegated to play in the Danish 1st Division during the 2009–10 season.

Merger with Kolding FC

On 8 December 2010, Vejle Boldklub announced that the club known as Vejle Blodklub would merge with Kolding FC and from July 2011 would be known as Vejle Boldklub Kolding. This would mark an end for Vejle Boldklub and the beginning of yet another Danish fusion club.

Resurrection

In November 2012 Kolding IF withdrew from the agreement with Vejle Boldklub. This resulted in the dissolution of Vejle Boldklub Kolding, and Vejle Boldklub inherited the merger club's licence in the Danish 1st Division for the upcoming 2013–14 season.

Honours

Danish Championship
Danish Cup
1973 was the year when Vejle Boldklub made its debut in the European Champion Clubs' Cup. Vejle was put up against one of the biggest clubs in Europe at the time: Anderlecht from Belgium. Vejle gave the Belgians a good match, but the reds could not keep Anderlecht from progressing in the tournament.
The highlight of Vejle Boldklub's European history came in 1978, when the club went all the way to the quarter finals in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, where VB lost out to Dutch side FC Twente.
In the 1985–86 season, Vejle lost to eventual Champions' Cup winners FC Steaua Bucureşti, after a first-leg tie: 1–1, 1–4.
The last time Vejle Boldklub played in Europe was in 1998–99, when the reds were drawn with Real Betis in the first round of the UEFA Cup. Betis came to Denmark with a great team including the star player Denílson. But against all odds VB won the first match against the Spanish stars as Peter Graulund scored the winner in the dying minutes of the game. However, in Sevilla VB could not follow up on the good result and lost 5–0.
ChampionsCup WinnersUEFA CupIntertoto Cup
1972–73, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1985–861975–76, 1977–78, 1981–821990–91, 1997–98, 1998–991967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975,
1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990

Squad and players

Current squad

Out on loan

Incoming players

Notable players

1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Note: 1D = Danish Superliga, 2D = Danish 1st Division

Achievements