Jacob Laursen

Infobox Football biography
playername = Jacob Laursen
fullname = Jacob Thaysen-Laursen


nickname =
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1971|10|6|mf=y
cityofbirth = Vejle
countryofbirth = Denmark
height =
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1989-1992
1992-1996
1996-2000
2000-2002
2002
2002
2002
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2005
clubs = Vejle BK
Silkeborg IF
Derby County
FC Copenhagen
Leicester City
Wolverhampton (loan)
Aarhus GF (loan)
Rapid Wien
Vejle BK
FC Fredericia
caps(goals) = 67 (3)
125 (8)
137 (2)
45 (3)
10 (0)
5 (0)
8 (0)
9 (0)
33 (1)
nationalyears = 1990
1990-1993
1995-1999
nationalteam = Denmark under-19
Denmark under-21
Denmark
nationalcaps(goals) = 2 (0)
24 (0)
25 (0)

Jacob Thaysen-Laursen (born October 6, 1971) is a Danish retired professional football (soccer) player, who played as a defender. He most notably played for English club Derby County and won the Danish Superliga championship with Silkeborg IF and F.C. Copenhagen. He played 25 matches for the Danish national team, with whom he won the 1995 King Fahd Cup and participated in the 1996 European Championship and 1998 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Biography

Born in Vejle, Jacob Laursen spent his childhood years playing for Vejle Kammeraterne and Vejle Boldklub (VB). He made his senior debut for VB in July 1989, and was named 1989 Danish "under-19 Player of the Year". He played at VB until the club was relegated to the secondary Danish 1st Division league in the summer 1992.

Laursen represented Denmark at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he played full time in Denmark's three matches before elimination. After the Olympics, Laursen moved to Silkeborg IF, and he went on to captain the Danish under-21 national team. Laursen won the 1994 Danish Superliga championship with Silkeborg IF, and made his Danish national team debut in January 1995. He was selected for the 1995 King Fahd Cup by Danish national team manager Richard Møller Nielsen, and went on to play in every game of the tournament, which Denmark won. He also played a single game for the Danish national team at the 1996 European Championship.

In July 1996, Laursen moved abroad to play for English club Derby County in a transfer deal worth £500,000. He spent four seasons at Derby, playing more than 100 games for the club. He was a part of the Danish national team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but played unimpressively in his single match participation at the tournament. In March 2000, he decided to end his national team career under national team manager Bo Johansson. Laursen cited personal reasons, as well as the booing he received by Danish spectators when he came on as a substitute for his 25th national team game in November 1999. While he did not win over the Danish public, Laursen was selected as team captain for Derby in a number of games and was voted 2000 "Derby County Player of the Year".

In the summer 2000, Laursen moved back to Denmark, in order to be closer to his kids. He signed a contract with F.C. Copenhagen (FCK), moving to the club on a free transfer. In his first year at FCK, the club won the 2001 Superliga championship under manager Roy Hodgson. Before the new season, Laursen criticized FCK for a lack of professionalism and he left the club in January 2002. He moved back to England to play for Leicester City, in a £400,000 transfer deal. He played ten games for Leicester, before his relationship with the club turned sour. After two months in Leicester, he underwent a month-long loan deal with English club Wolverhampton, before being loaned out to Aarhus GF in Denmark for the remainder of the 2001-02 season. He was loaned out to Greek club PAOK Salonika for the entire 2002-03 season, but eventually refused to play for the club. In November 2002, Laursen was given a free transfer by Leicester, who were struggling economically, and he left the club.

He signed a contract with Austrian team Rapid Wien, but he was dropped from the team in April 2003. He moved back to Denmark to play on an amateur basis in September 2003, and enlisted at childhood club Vejle Boldklub in the Danish 1st Division. Laursen signed a contract with division rivals FC Fredericia in July 2004, and played with the club until he ended his career in September 2005.

Honours

*1989 Danish "under-19 Player of the Year"
*Danish Superliga: 1994, 2001
*1995 King Fahd Cup
*2000 "Derby County Player of the Year"

External links

* [http://www.dbu.dk/lbase/playerInfo.aspx?playerid=1243 Danish national team profile]
*da icon [http://www.fck.dk/saesonen/statistik/kampstatistik/?search=1&play_playerid_fk=52&score_playerid_fk=0&teamid_fk=0&gametype=0 F.C. Copenhagen statistics]
*da icon [http://vejle-boldklub.dk/statistik-spillernavn.asp?Spillere=Jacob%20Laursen Vejle BK profile]
* [http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=8981 Soccerbase career statistics]
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/php/spieler.php?id=13872 National Football Teams career statistics]