John Jensen

John Jensen (born 3 May 1965), nicknamed Faxe (Danish pronunciation: [ˈfɑksə]),[1] is a Danish football manager and former player.

For other people named John Jensen, see John Jensen (disambiguation).

John Jensen
Personal information
Full name John Jensen
Date of birth (1965-05-03) 3 May 1965
Place of birth Copenhagen, Denmark
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Youth career
Brøndby IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1988 Brøndby IF
1988–1990 Hamburger SV 47 (0)
1990–1992 Brøndby IF 44 (4)
1992–1996 Arsenal 99 (1)
1996–1999 Brøndby IF 90 (3)
1999–2001 Herfølge BK 40 (0)
Total 320 (8)
National team
1987–1995 Denmark 69 (3)
Teams managed
1999–2002 Herfølge BK
2002–2006 Brøndby IF (assistant)
2007–2008 Getafe CF (assistant)
2009 Randers FC
2011 Blackburn Rovers (assistant)
2012–2013 Brøndby IF (consultant)
2014–2018 Fremad Amager
2018 Denmark (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

A former midfielder, his playing career lasted almost two entire decades, including a stint with Arsenal in England and three stints with Brøndby IF in Denmark. He scored four goals in 69 caps for the Danish national team, entering Danish footballing folklore during the 1992 European Championship tournament, when he scored the opening goal in Denmark's 2–0 victory over Germany in the final.

Club career

Early career

He started his career at Brøndby IF, and was an important part of the team which won several Danish championships in the late 1980s, crowned by a call-up to the Denmark national team and the Danish Player of the Year award in 1987. Following a short stay with German team Hamburger SV in 1988, he was back with Brøndby in 1990 where he took part in the club's successful 1991 UEFA Cup campaign which reached the semi-final of the tournament.

Arsenal

After scoring in Denmark's 2–0 1992 European Championship final win over Germany, Jensen was signed by George Graham for Arsenal to succeed Leeds United bound David Rocastle in central midfield, after a bid to sign Geoff Thomas from Crystal Palace failed.[2]

He was part of the 1992–93 side that won the FA Cup, the 1993–94 side that won the European Cup Winners Cup (although he missed the final through injury)[3] and the 1994–95 side that lost in the Cup-Winners Cup final. He was one of only 12 foreign players to play on the opening weekend of the FA Premier League.

He scored his first goal for Arsenal on his 98th appearance, against Queens Park Rangers on 31 December 1994.

A few months later, it was revealed that Jensen's transfer to Highbury was at least partly motivated by George Graham's involvement with agent Rune Hauge, who had been giving Graham backhanders in exchange for signing players he represented. The first player involved in this 'bung' scandal was Norwegian defender Pål Lydersen, and the second was Jensen. Graham was sacked from his job two months after the story broke, and he was subsequently banned from football for 12 months.

Jensen played on for 18 months before he left Highbury in the summer of 1996, with one goal from 138 competitive appearances for the club. Officially, though, he also scored a shootout goal against his friend Peter Schmeichel of Manchester United in the 1993 FA Charity Shield.

Return to Denmark

After leaving Arsenal he rejoined his old club, Brøndby IF. In 1999, he moved on to Herfølge, where he was part of the squad that won the 1999–2000 Danish Superliga.[4]

International career

Jensen scored four goals in 69 appearances for the Danish national team between 1987 and 1995. He took at Euro 1992, and is noted for scoring the first goal in the Final of an eventual 2–0 victory against Germany.

During the years he spent at Arsenal, John Jensen scored two goals in 21 games for the Danish national team: one against Albania in 1993 and one against Belgium in 1994.

Coaching career

Jensen retired from full-time playing in 1999 and accepted the job of player/manager at Herfølge BK, a small Danish club, and immediately made a name for himself by winning the Danish Superliga on his first attempt. However, Herfølge's success was short-lived, and they were relegated from the Superliga in the 2001 season. Jensen's reputation with his old club was good enough to secure him a move back to Brøndby IF, as assistant manager to Michael Laudrup, a position he held until June 2006, when Jensen and Laudrup did not extend their contracts with the club.

When Laudrup in 2007 was named new manager at Spanish side Getafe, Jensen followed him as assistant manager. Laudrup quit Getafe after only one season, taking Jensen with him.[5] On 12 January 2009, Jensen started as manager of Danish Superliga side Randers FC. On 6 October 2009, Jensen was sacked from Randers FC after a series of nine losses and two draws in 11 matches.

On 12 January 2011, he signed a six-month contract with Blackburn Rovers to become assistant manager and work alongside Steve Kean.[6] On 23 May 2011, he signed a new deal one-year deal to remain as Steve Kean's assistant at Blackburn.

On 29 September 2011, he left Blackburn Rovers.

On 11 October 2012, he was appointed consultant for Brøndby IF by manager Auri Skarbalius.[7]

On 27 May 2014 he was named new manager of Danish club Fremad Amager replacing Tim Ilsø.[8]

In September 2018, it was announced that Jensen would take temporary charge of the Denmark national team for their replacement team's friendly match against Slovakia, following a dispute between the Danish Football Union and players, which also involved incumbent head coach Åge Hareide. "When I say yes to help it's because I feel very strongly for the national team as an institution, and because the most important thing must be that the games will be played after all", said Jensen.[9][10]

Career statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Denmark League Danish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1986Brøndby1st Division
1987
1988
Germany League DFB-Pokal Other Europe Total
1988–89Hamburger SVBundesliga320
1989–90150
Denmark League Danish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1990Brøndby1st Division172
1991Superliga171
1991–92272
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
1992–93ArsenalPremier League32020
1993–94270
1994–95251
1995–96150
Denmark League Danish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1995–96BrøndbySuperliga101
1996–97200
1997–98311
1998–99291
1999–00HerfølgeSuperliga160
2000–01240
Total Denmark
Germany 470
England 991
Career total

International goals
Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.[11]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.26 June 1992Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Germany1–02–0UEFA Euro 1992
2.2 June 1993Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark Albania1–04–01994 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.12 October 1994Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark Belgium2–13–1UEFA Euro 1996 qualification

Honours

Player

Club
Brøndby IF
Arsenal
Herfølge BK

International
Denmark

Individual

Manager
Herfølge BK
Brøndby IF (assistant)

References
  1. "John "Faxe" Jensen" (in Danish). DBU. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  2. "Football: Rocastle's move to Leeds leaves room for Thomas". independent.co.uk. 23 July 1992. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  3. "1993/94 Cup Winners' Cup". Arsenal. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  4. "Husker du...Herfølge 1999/2000?". bold.dk. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  5. "There's Only One: John Jensen". whoateallthepies.tv. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008.
  6. "Rovers appoint John Jensen as assistant manager". rovers.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  7. "Brøndby hyrer John Faxe som konsulent" (in Danish). dr.dk. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  8. "Fremad Amager henter træner med Premier League-erfaring" (in Danish). Politiken. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  9. "Jensen named temporary Hareide replacement as unknown Denmark players travel to Slovakia". AOL. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  10. "John Jensen takes charge of Denmark as row over players' rights goes on". The Guardian. Press Association. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  11. "Jensen, John 'Faxe'". National Football Teams. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.