FC_Midtjylland

FC Midtjylland

FC Midtjylland

Danish association football club based in Herning

Football Club Midtjylland (Danish: [ˈmitjyˌlænˀ], "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they have won three times, most recently in 2020.

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Club history

Stadium of FC Midtjylland. MCH Arena

FC Midtjylland was founded by Johnny Rune, a carpenter and owner of a private business in the wood-supply industry, and Steen Hessel, an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer.[1]

The two men wanted to unite the football clubs Ikast FS (founded 1935) and Herning Fremad (founded 1918) – clubs that for decades had been strong rivals, but had never played any significant role in Danish football. Ikast FS had some success in the late 1970s and '80s and made three Danish Cup final appearances, but had never been a top team in the Danish league. At least ten years had passed with the two clubs being unable to agree on a merger, but on 6 April 1999, a deal was finalised and announced at a press conference the next day.[2][3]

In 2000, Midtjylland were promoted to the top-flight Danish Superliga after a season in which the team had gathered more points than any other team in the history of the first division.

In July 2014, Matthew Benham (owner of English club Brentford) became the majority shareholder of Midtjylland's parent company FCM Holding.[4] In the 2014–15 season, they won the Danish football championship for the first time. Later on, they won two league titles in 2017–18 and 2019–20, then qualified to the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in their history.[5]

During a celebration of the inauguration of the Club's new FCM House, Dream 99 on 15 August 2023, it was announced that HEARTLAND, holding company for the Danish clothing chain Bestseller, purchased Benham's shares and became majority owner of the club, as well as Portuguese side C.D. Mafra. It was also announced that FCM would embark with a women's football program in 2024.[6]

Scouting and developing

Midtjylland have built a reputation of finding and developing promising talents, and have a highly regarded youth academy.[7]

In July 2004, Midtjylland was the first Danish club to establish their own football academy, similar to that of French side Nantes.[8] The academy attracts players from throughout Denmark, as well as players from FC Ebedei, a partnering club in Nigeria. The club has developed a network of over 100 clubs located in the western part of Jutland.[9]

In 2008, Danish centre-back Simon Kjær, a talent of the academy, was sold to Palermo for a transfer fee of approximately DKK30 million (€4 million).[10] In 2010, Sune Kiilerich, another talent of the academy, was sold to Sampdoria, while Winston Reid, an academy product and New Zealand international, was sold to West Ham United for DKK32 million (€4.26 million).[11][12] In 2016, vice-captain Erik Sviatchenko was sold for £1.5 million to Celtic.[13]

Other notable sales of academy products include Pione Sisto to Celta Vigo, Rasmus Nissen to Ajax, Andreas Poulsen to Borussia Mönchengladbach and Mikkel Duelund to Dynamo Kyiv.

Stadium

In 2004, the team moved to a new stadium in Herning with a capacity of 11,432 spectators. Midtjylland was the first Danish club to sell the stadium naming rights to a sponsor, resulting in the name "SAS Arena" which has since been changed to MCH Arena. The stadium's opening match was on 27 March; it proved to be a success, with Midtjylland beating AB 6–0. Five of the goals were scored by Egyptian striker Mohamed Zidan.

On 22 June 2022, the club started an expansion of MCH Arena that will add a new hospitality lounge and 11 new VIP boxes. The expansion will increase the total capacity by 720 seats, taking the capacity from 11,432 to a total of 12,152. The expansion is believed to be finished in December 2023.

Supporters

Black Wolves is the official fanclub of FC Midtjylland.[14] It was founded in the beginning of August 1999, as the official fanclub of Ikast FS 1993 "Yellow Flames" changed their name at an extraordinary general meeting. Ultra Boys Midtjylland is the first unofficial faction in Midtjylland, established in 2007 and later renamed Ultras Midtjylland. In 2014, Midtjylland got its second unofficial faction, a youth faction called Midtjylland Ungdom. As of today, there are three unofficial factions: Zartow, Chaos Crew, and Midtjylland Ungdom. Collectively, all FC Midtjylland supporters go under the name of Hedens Drenge.

Hedens Drenge is currently Midtjylland’s largest fan-based social media account, with a following of around 11,000 on Instagram and Facebook combined.

The club's main rival is Viborg FF. This rivalry is often referred to as The Battle of the Heath, The Battle of Hatred, and The Derby of Midtjylland. The derby is claimed to be the second biggest in Denmark behind that of FC København and Brøndby IF.

Recent history

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Honours

Players

Main article: List of FC Midtjylland players

Current squad

As of 1 February 2024[15][16] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

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Youth players in use 2023/24

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

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Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

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Youth team

See: FC Midtjylland Academy

Notable players

1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s

Personnel

Current technical staff

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Management

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Coaches

FC Midtjylland in European competition

Main article: FC Midtjylland in European football

FC Midtjylland's first competitive European match was on 9 August 2001 in the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, playing Northern Ireland's Glentoran to a 1–1 draw in the first leg of the Qualifying Round before ultimately advancing to the First Round where they were eliminated by Sporting CP. In 2016 Midtjylland reached the Round of 32 of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, where they achieved a 2–1 home victory over Manchester United but would end up losing 6–3 on aggregate following the second leg.

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UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 26 July 2023[17]
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References

  1. [1]
    Heide Lund, Kasper (1 July 2019). "'Vi gad sgu ikke se på den middelmådighed mere': Superligaens frække dreng fylder 20 år". dr.dk. Danmarks Radio. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  2. [2]
    Flatau, Line (22 May 2018). "FC Midtjyllands stormfulde vej til toppen". tvmidtvest.dk. TV Midtvest. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. [3]
    Kristiansen, Kenneth (19 June 2019). "20 år med FCM: I begyndelsen var Ove P." herningfolkeblad.dk. Herning Folkeblad. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  4. [4]
    Murtagh, Jacob (2 July 2014). "Benham remains fully committed to Bees despite Danish project". Get West London. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  5. [5]
    "Midtjylland 4–1 Slavia Praha". UEFA. 30 September 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  6. [6]
    "NEW OWNERSHIP, CD MAFRA AND WOMEN'S FOOTBALL: EVERYTHING FROM TUESDAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE". FCM. 15 August 2023. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  7. [7]
    Ingle, Sean (27 July 2015). "How Midtjylland took the analytical route towards the Champions League". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  8. [8]
    Just Kristensen, Jørn (22 June 2019). "Akademi-ideen blev født i Nantes". herningfolkeblad.dk. Herning Folkeblad. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  9. [9]
    "Investor vil styrke og udvikle FC Midtjylland". fcm.dk. FC Midtjylland. 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  10. [10]
    "FCM scorer millioner på Simon Kjær-handel" (in Danish). Tipsbladet. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.(subscription required)
  11. [11]
    "Superligaens transferoverblik". Indkast.dk. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  12. [12]
    "BBC Sport – Football – New Zealand international Winston Reid joins West Ham". BBC News. 5 August 2010. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  13. [13]
    "Erik Sviatchenko: Celtic seal £1.5m transfer of Midtjylland man". BBC Sport. 17 January 2016. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  14. [14]
    "Black Wolves : Homepage". Black-wolves.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  15. [15]
    "Superligatrup | fcm". Fcm.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  16. [16]
    "DBU's Officielle Statistikere". Danskfodbold.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  17. [17]
    "UEFA Club Coefficients". UEFA. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
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