Henning Jensen
Encyclopedia
Henning Jensen is a Danish
former football (soccer)
player, who played professionally for German
club Borussia Mönchengladbach
, Spanish
club Real Madrid
and Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam
where he won the domestic league championship in each country. He scored 9 goals in 21 games for the Denmark national football team
from 1972 to 1980.
Born in Nørresundby
, Jensen started playing football for local team Nørresundby BK in the Denmark Series, the then fourth best division of Danish football
. Playing as a Right sided Attacker, he made his debut for the Danish national team in May 1972, and scored a goal in the 1972 Summer Olympics
qualification match against Romania
. Before having ever played a Danish league game, he moved abroad in 1972 as he signed a professional contract with German club Borussia Mönchengladbach.
At Mönchengladbach, he played alongside fellow Danish national team player Allan Simonsen
in the attack. He won the 1973 German Cup, 1975 UEFA Cup
, and two German Bundesliga championships in his four years at the club. After 44 goals in 125 league games, he earned a lucrative move to defending Spanish La Liga
champions Real Madrid in 1976. He played three successful years at Real Madrid, winning the 1978 and 1979 La Liga championships. While in Madrid
, he scored the 300th goal in the European competition for the club. He moved to the Netherlands
in 1979, to play for defending Dutch Eredivisie
champions Ajax Amsterdam of the coaches Cor Brom
and Leo Beenhakker
. He met in Amsterdam other Danish players like Frank Arnesen
and Soren Lerby (and 2 years later also for a very short period Jesper Olsen
). The routined player had to work hard for his position in the team for the first time at the age of 30 years. The midfielder had much rivalry from Frank Arnesen
, Dick Schoenaker
and Søren Lerby
, which trio formed one of the strongest (attacking) midfields of Europe those years. Jensen started as centre forward, when central attacker Ray Clarke
was sold. Thereafter he played at the wings, as wing attacker for a period. When Frank Arnesen
had been injured a part of the 1979/1980 season Jensen moved to the midfield, there playing his best matches for Ajax Amsterdam. In the season 1979/1980 he won with Ajax the Dutch eredivisie league championship and also the semi-finals of the European CupI tournament for champions were reached that season.
He returned to Denmark July 1981, to play for AGF Aarhus
, before he moved back to Nørresundby and played his last games for Nørresundby BK.
In 2006, Henning Jensen was named among the nominees for DBU
's "Denmark's All-Time Best Footballer" award, alongside Preben Elkjær Larsen
, Brian Laudrup
, Michael Laudrup
, Morten Olsen
, Peter Schmeichel
, Allan Simonsen
and Jon Dahl Tomasson
.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
former football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player, who played professionally for German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
club Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, well-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 40,000 members and is the sixth...
, Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
club Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
and Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...
where he won the domestic league championship in each country. He scored 9 goals in 21 games for the Denmark national football team
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
from 1972 to 1980.
Born in Nørresundby
Nørresundby
Nørresundby, a part of Aalborg Municipality, is a northern neighbourhood in Aalborg, north of the Limfjord, in Vendsyssel, in Denmark. The urban area has a population of 21,376 ....
, Jensen started playing football for local team Nørresundby BK in the Denmark Series, the then fourth best division of Danish football
Football in Denmark
Association football is the national sport of Denmark, with 342,955 players and 1,647 clubs registered under the Danish FA.- League system :The top 4 levels in Denmark are governed by the Danish Football Association...
. Playing as a Right sided Attacker, he made his debut for the Danish national team in May 1972, and scored a goal in the 1972 Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
qualification match against Romania
Romania national football team
The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...
. Before having ever played a Danish league game, he moved abroad in 1972 as he signed a professional contract with German club Borussia Mönchengladbach.
At Mönchengladbach, he played alongside fellow Danish national team player Allan Simonsen
Allan Simonsen
Allan Rodenkam Simonsen is a former Danish footballer and manager. He most prominently played for German team Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcelona from Spain, winning the 1982 Cup WInners' Cup...
in the attack. He won the 1973 German Cup, 1975 UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
, and two German Bundesliga championships in his four years at the club. After 44 goals in 125 league games, he earned a lucrative move to defending Spanish La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
champions Real Madrid in 1976. He played three successful years at Real Madrid, winning the 1978 and 1979 La Liga championships. While in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, he scored the 300th goal in the European competition for the club. He moved to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 1979, to play for defending Dutch Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
champions Ajax Amsterdam of the coaches Cor Brom
Cor Brom
Cor Brom was a Dutch football player and manager. Brom died in Amsterdam on 29 October 2008, of Parkinson's disease.-Playing career:During his playing career, Brom played with Telstar.-Coaching career:...
and Leo Beenhakker
Leo Beenhakker
Leo Beenhakker is an international Dutch football coach, who is the current Sports Director of Újpest FC.- Coaching career :...
. He met in Amsterdam other Danish players like Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen is a former Danish football player and currently sporting director at Hamburger SV. Arnesen was Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea....
and Soren Lerby (and 2 years later also for a very short period Jesper Olsen
Jesper Olsen
Jesper Olsen is a Danish former footballer who most notably played for Ajax of the Netherlands and Manchester United of England. Olsen was a regular left winger for the Danish national team, scoring five goals in 43 matches...
). The routined player had to work hard for his position in the team for the first time at the age of 30 years. The midfielder had much rivalry from Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen is a former Danish football player and currently sporting director at Hamburger SV. Arnesen was Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea....
, Dick Schoenaker
Dick Schoenaker
Dirk "Dick" Hendricus Schoenaker is a retired football midfielder from the Netherlands, who represented his native country at the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, wearing the number three jersey.- Career :...
and Søren Lerby
Søren Lerby
Søren Lerby, is a Danish former football player, manager, and licensed agent. As a player, he spent the bulk of his career in Dutch football, winning five Eredivisie championships with Ajax Amsterdam as well as the 1988 European Cup and two further Eredivise titles with PSV Eindhoven...
, which trio formed one of the strongest (attacking) midfields of Europe those years. Jensen started as centre forward, when central attacker Ray Clarke
Ray Clarke
Ray Clarke is an English retired professional footballer who played in England for Tottenham Hotspur, Swindon Town, Mansfield Town, Brighton and Newcastle United, in the Netherlands for Sparta Rotterdam and Ajax, and in Belgium for Club Brugge.Clarke was chief international scout for Scottish side...
was sold. Thereafter he played at the wings, as wing attacker for a period. When Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen is a former Danish football player and currently sporting director at Hamburger SV. Arnesen was Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea....
had been injured a part of the 1979/1980 season Jensen moved to the midfield, there playing his best matches for Ajax Amsterdam. In the season 1979/1980 he won with Ajax the Dutch eredivisie league championship and also the semi-finals of the European CupI tournament for champions were reached that season.
He returned to Denmark July 1981, to play for AGF Aarhus
Aarhus Gymnastik Forening
Aarhus Gymnastikforening is one of the oldest sport clubs in Denmark. AGF participates in a variety of activities in both individual and team sports. AGF is best known for its football team which has the longest streak in the Danish top division and also holds the record for most number of cup wins...
, before he moved back to Nørresundby and played his last games for Nørresundby BK.
In 2006, Henning Jensen was named among the nominees for DBU
Danish Football Association
The Danish Football Association is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in the city of Brøndby and is a founding member of both FIFA...
's "Denmark's All-Time Best Footballer" award, alongside Preben Elkjær Larsen
Preben Elkjær Larsen
Preben Elkjær Larsen , known as Elkjær, is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a striker.Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping it to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie A...
, Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup is a Danish former football player and current football commentator, pundit and analyst on TV3+. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalized youth...
, Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup is a retired Danish footballer, who works as a manager and last coached La Liga side RCD Mallorca. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. His most prominent run of football came with Spanish club Barcelona, with whom he won four straight La...
, Morten Olsen
Morten Olsen
Morten Per Olsen is a Danish football manager and former football player. He has been the head coach of the Danish national team since 2000, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup...
, Peter Schmeichel
Peter Schmeichel
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993...
, Allan Simonsen
Allan Simonsen
Allan Rodenkam Simonsen is a former Danish footballer and manager. He most prominently played for German team Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcelona from Spain, winning the 1982 Cup WInners' Cup...
and Jon Dahl Tomasson
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Jon Dahl Tomasson is a retired Danish footballer and assistant manager at the Dutch football club SBV Excelsior....
.
Honours
- German Cup: 1973
- UEFA CupUEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
: 1975 - German Bundesliga: 1975 and 1976
- Spanish La LigaLa LigaThe Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
: 1978 and 1979 - Dutch EredivisieEredivisieThe Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
: 1980