Allan Simonsen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Allan Simonsen

Simonsen in 2012
Personal information
Date of birth	(1952-12-15) 15 December 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth	Vejle, Denmark
Height	1.65 m
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1971–1972	Vejle BK	42	(16)
1972–1979	Borussia Mönchengladbach	178	(76)
1979–1982	Barcelona	98	(31)
1982–1983	Charlton Athletic	16	(9)
1983–1989	Vejle BK	166	(70)
Total		500	(202)
National team
1971–1972	Denmark U-21	6	(0)
1972–1986	Denmark	55	(20)
Teams managed
1991–1994	Vejle BK
1994–2001	Faroe Islands
2001–2004	Luxembourg
2011–2013	Fredericia (General manager)
2013	Fredericia (caretaker)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a famous Danish former footballer and manager. He was known as a fantastic striker. A striker is a player who focuses on scoring goals.

Simonsen played for big clubs like Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany and Barcelona in Spain. With Mönchengladbach, he won the UEFA Cup twice. With Barcelona, he won the Cup Winners' Cup. He is the only player to score in the finals of the European Cup, UEFA Cup, and Cup Winners' Cup. In 1977, he was named the European Footballer of the Year. This is a huge award for the best player in Europe!

For the Denmark national team, Simonsen played 55 games and scored 20 goals. He played for Denmark in the 1972 Summer Olympics, the 1984 European Championship, and the 1986 World Cup. In 2008, he was added to the Danish Football Hall of Fame.

Club Career

Vejle BK

Allan Simonsen was born in Vejle, Denmark. He started playing football with Vejle FC. In 1963, he joined the youth team of his local club, Vejle BK (VB). He played his first senior game for VB on 24 March 1971.

With Vejle BK, he won the Danish championship in 1971 and 1972. He also won the Danish Cup in 1972. This meant his team won both the league and the cup in the same year, which is called "The Double". After scoring three goals at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Simonsen moved to Germany. He joined Bundesliga champions Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Simonsen playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1976.

Simonsen's first two seasons with Borussia Mönchengladbach were a bit tough. He played only 17 games and scored two goals. But he was part of the team that won the German Cup in 1973.

In the 1974–75 season, he became a regular player. He played all 34 games and scored 18 goals. Mönchengladbach won the Bundesliga championship that year. Simonsen also scored ten goals in 12 games in the 1974–75 UEFA Cup. He scored two goals in the 5–1 final win against FC Twente.

The next season, Simonsen scored 16 goals. Mönchengladbach won the Bundesliga again in the 1975–76 season. He scored four goals in six games in the 1975–76 European Cup. His team was knocked out by Real Madrid.

The year 1977 was a very special year for Simonsen. He helped Mönchengladbach reach the 1977 European Cup Final against Liverpool. In the final, Simonsen scored a great goal to make it 1–1. But Mönchengladbach lost the game 3–1.

After this, he was named the 1977 European Footballer of the Year. He was the first Danish player to win this big award. He won by a small margin over Kevin Keegan and Michel Platini. This was amazing because Denmark was not a top football country back then.

Simonsen kept scoring many goals in the next two Bundesliga seasons. Mönchengladbach won another international trophy in 1979. He scored eight goals in eight games in the 1978–79 UEFA Cup. He scored the winning goal in the 2–1 final against Red Star Belgrade. In 1979, Simonsen moved to FC Barcelona. He turned down offers from other big clubs.

Barcelona

Simonsen played for Barcelona for three successful seasons. In his first season, he was the top scorer for the team. He scored ten goals in 32 games. Barcelona finished fourth in the league.

The next season, Barcelona won the 1981 Copa del Rey. Simonsen scored ten goals again. He was the third-highest scorer for the team. In the 1981–82 La Liga season, he was the second-highest scorer. He also helped Barcelona reach the final of the 1981–82 European Cup Winners' Cup. In the final, Simonsen scored the winning goal with his head. This helped Barcelona win the trophy.

Charlton Athletic

In 1982, Barcelona signed the famous Argentinian player Diego Maradona. Spanish league rules meant only two foreign players could be in the starting team. Simonsen had to compete with Maradona and Bernd Schuster for these spots. Simonsen felt this was unfair, so he asked to leave Barcelona.

He made a surprising move to English Second Division team Charlton Athletic. He joined them for £300,000 in October 1982. He chose Charlton because he wanted to play for a club with less pressure. He scored nine goals in 16 games. However, Charlton Athletic had trouble paying his transfer fee and wages. After three months, he was free to leave. Simonsen then decided to go back to his first club, Vejle BK, in 1983.

Return to Vejle BK

Simonsen missed the second half of the 1984 season for Vejle BK. He got injured during the 1984 European Championship. But his team still managed to win the 1984 Danish championship without him. He played in the top Danish league again, but he never quite reached his old form.

Simonsen stopped playing football in 1989 when he was 37 years old. He played his last game for Vejle BK in November 1989. He played a total of 282 games and scored 104 goals for Vejle Boldklub.

International Career

Simonsen played his first game for the Danish national team in July 1972. It was a friendly match against Iceland. He scored two goals, and Denmark won 5–2. Simonsen was then chosen for the Danish team at the 1972 Summer Olympics. At the Olympics, he scored three goals in the first three matches. This helped Denmark move past the first group stage.

He was a very important player for Denmark in the qualifying games for the 1984 European Championship. Denmark was behind England in their group. They played England at Wembley Stadium in September 1983. Simonsen scored one of Denmark's most important goals ever in this game. He scored a penalty kick against English goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Denmark won 1–0. This win helped Denmark qualify for their first major international tournament since the 1972 Olympics. It also meant England could not qualify. Simonsen finished third in the vote for the 1983 European Footballer of the Year award.

The 1984 European Championship was short for Simonsen. He broke his leg in Denmark's first match against France. Even without him, Denmark reached the semi-finals. He was also part of the Danish team at the 1986 World Cup. This was Denmark's first time playing in a World Cup. He only played one match as a substitute. Younger players had become more important than him. He played a final farewell match against Germany in September 1986. Then he ended his national team career.

Simonsen played 55 games for the Danish national team and scored 20 goals.

Managerial Career

After he stopped playing, Simonsen became a coach. He coached his old club Vejle Boldklub from 1991 to 1994. During this time, VB was moved down from the top league to the second league.

Later, he coached the national teams of the Faroe Islands from 1994 to 2001. He then coached Luxembourg from 2001 to 2004.

In 2011, he became the General Manager of the Danish 1st Division team FC Fredericia. In 2013, he also became a temporary manager for the team. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Simonsen left his jobs at Fredericia.

Career Statistics

Simonsen wearing a Vejle BK jersey in 2000.

Club

International

Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Simonsen goal.

List of international goals scored by Allan Simonsen

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 July 1972	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	2–2	5–2	Friendly
2				4–2
3	27 August 1972	Drei Flüsse Stadion, Passau, Germany	Brazil	1–0	3–2	1972 Summer Olympics
4				3–2
5	29 August 1972	Rosenaustadion, Augsburg, Germany	Iran	2–0	4–0	1972 Summer Olympics
6	3 September 1974	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Indonesia	4–0	9–0	Friendly
7	23 May 1976	Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus	Cyprus	1–1	5–1	1978 World Cup qualification
8	1 May 1977	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Poland	1–1	1–2	1978 World Cup qualification
9	15 June 1977	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Sweden	2–1	2–1	1972–77 Nordic Championship
10	20 September 1978	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	England	1–2	3–4	1980 European Championship qualification
11	6 June 1979	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Northern Ireland	3–0	4–0	1980 European Championship qualification
12	21 May 1980	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Spain	1–1	2–2	Friendly
13	19 November 1980	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Luxembourg	4–0	4–0	1982 World Cup qualification
14	15 April 1981	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Romania	1–1	2–1	Friendly
15	26 August 1981	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Iceland	2–0	3–0	Friendly
16				3–0
17	1 June 1983	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Hungary	3–1	3–1	1984 European Championship qualification
18	21 September 1983	Wembley Stadium, London, UK	England	1–0	1–0	1984 European Championship qualification
19	12 October 1983	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Luxembourg	4–0	6–0	1984 European Championship qualification
20	16 November 1983	Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece	Greece	2–0	2–0	1984 European Championship qualification

Managerial Statistics

Updated 16 June 2016

Team	From	To	Record
G	W	D	L	Win %
Faroe Islands	1994	2001	&&&&&&&&&&&&&052.&&&&&052	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&08.&&&&&08	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&07.&&&&&07	&&&&&&&&&&&&&037.&&&&&037	&&&&&&&&&&&&&015.38000015.38
Luxembourg	13 February 2002	17 November 2004	&&&&&&&&&&&&&027.&&&&&027	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&00.&&&&&00	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&04.&&&&&04	&&&&&&&&&&&&&023.&&&&&023	&0&&&&&&&&&&&&&&00.&&&&&00.00

Honours

Vejle Boldklub

• Danish championship: 1971, 1972, 1984
• Danish Cup: 1972

Borussia Mönchengladbach

• Bundesliga: 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77
• DFB-Pokal: 1972–73
• DFL-Supercup: 1977
• UEFA Cup: 1974–75, 1978–79; runner-up: 1972–73
• European Cup runner-up: 1976–77

Barcelona

• Copa del Rey: 1980–81
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1981–82

Individual

• Ballon d'Or: 1977
• Onze de Bronze: 1977
• kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77
• Sport Ideal European XI: 1977
• European Cup Top Scorer: 1977–78
• UEFA Cup Top Scorer: 1978–79
• La Liga Team of The Year: 1982
• Danish Football Hall of Fame

See also

In Spanish: Allan Simonsen para niños