| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Schjønberg Christensen | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1967-01-19)19 January 1967 (age 59) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Esbjerg, Denmark | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1987–1990 | Esbjerg fB | 89 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1994 | Hannover 96 | 123 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | OB | 64 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–2001 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 117 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 393 | (53) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1995–2000 | Denmark | 44 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern (youth) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Herfølge BK | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Hannover 96 (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Hannover 96 (caretaker) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Hannover 96 II | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern (Director of Sport) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2011 | FC Vestsjælland (Director of Sport) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | FC Vestsjælland | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Vålerenga (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Nest-Sotra | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | FC Svendborg | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Aarup BK | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Vendsyssel FF | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | 07 Vestur | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | AGF (women) | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Michael Schjønberg Christensen (Danish pronunciation:[ˈmi.kʰæːlˈsjønˌpɛɐ̯]; born 19 January 1967) is a Danishfootball manager, club official, and former player. He is currently in charge of the women's team ofAGF.
During his active career, he played more than 100 games for both German clubsHannover 96 and1. FC Kaiserslautern, winning the1991–92 DFB-Pokal with Hannover and the1997–98 Bundesliga championship with Kaiserslautern. He also represented Danish clubsEsbjerg fB andOB. He played 44 games and scored three goals for theDenmark national team, and was a participant at the international1995 King Fahd Cup,Euro 1996,1998 FIFA World Cup, andEuro 2000 tournaments.
After suffering a career-ending injury in 2001, he became a football coach in 2003. He first became manager of Danish clubHerfølge BK in 2004, alongsideAllan Nielsen. He has held a number of coaching and club official positions in his former German clubs, and wascaretaker manager of Hannover 96 in 2006.
Born inEsbjerg, Schjønberg started his career as anattacking midfielder for hometown clubEsbjerg fB, playing in 103 first team matches in total. He and Esbjerg teammateJesper Kristensen went to a training session with Esbjerg nativeAllan Nielsen at Nielsen's German clubFC Bayern Munich in the winter of 1989.
When Bayern's amateur team coachHans-Dieter Schmidt later became manager of German club Hannover 96, he remembered Schjønberg and offered him a contract.[3] In 1990, Schjønberg moved abroad to play for the2. Bundesliga side.
At Hannover, he was converted to a defensive player, and eventually settled in asleft wingback.[3] He won his first trophy as a senior player, when the club surprisingly beat top flightBorussia Mönchengladbach, to win the1991–92 DFB-Pokal. The game ended in apenalty shoot-out, where Schjønberg scored the deciding kick to secure the triumph for Hannover 96.[4] Unhappy with the new contractual offer from Hannover 96, Schjønberg looked ready to move back to Denmark to play forOB in summer 1992. After the DFB-Pokal win, he received an improved contract, and becameteam captain. However, he had a hard time getting into the Danish national team. After 123 league games and 12 goals for Hannover 96, he looked around for a new club in the summer of 1994.
Schjønberg moved toOB in 1994, in a transfer deal worthDKK 700,000. The transfer came, as Schjønberg felt more likely to secure a place in the Danish national team when playing for a Danish club.[5] He was called up for the national team in January 1995. With OB, he reached the quarter-final of the1994–95 UEFA Cup. It was OB's greatest European result, as the club eliminated Spanish giantsReal Madrid (against whom Schjønberg scored in the first leg)[6] before being narrowly defeated by Italian sideAC Parma in the quarter-finals.
AfterUEFA Euro 1996, he moved back to Germany, to play for2. Bundesliga team1. FC Kaiserslautern in a transfer deal worthDEM 1.35 million.[7] In his first year at the club, 1. FC Kaiserslautern won promotion to theBundesliga. His success continued, as the club remarkably went on to win the title upon their return to the top flight.
Schjønberg was an important part of this achievement. He scored the club's very first goal of the 1997–98 season, in the opening game against defending championsBayern Munich. Ten minutes before the final whistle, Schjønberg headed the ball in after a cross from Swiss midfielderCiriaco Sforza and secured a 1–0 win. This victory was the beginning of Kaiserslautern's fairytale, and Schjønberg went on to play 32 of 34 league games and to score four goals, as the club became the first ever 2. Bundesliga promotees to immediately win the Bundesliga title. Returning to Kaiserslautern after the1998 FIFA World Cup, Schjønberg was heavily injured early in the 1998–99 season. In September 1998, Schjønberg collided withVfL Bochum goalkeeperThomas Ernst, and broke his shinbone. He underwent a seven-month period of rehabilitation and returned in April 1999.
Schjønberg made a memorable appearance in the penultimate match of the 1999–2000 season. In the game againstSC Freiburg, first-choice goalkeeperGeorg Koch was injured and the substitute goalkeeperUwe Gospodarek replaced him. By the half-time break, Gospodarek had suffered an injury of his own, and with no more goalkeepers selected for the match squad, Schjønberg took over the keeper's gloves. In the 59th minute,Levan Kobiashvili scored against Schjønberg to giveSC Freiburg a 2–1 lead, but Schjønberg otherwise kept his sheet clean. He crowned his achievement with a saved penalty kick, when he held the shot fromAlexander Iashvili in the 84th minute.[8]
In Kaiserslautern's 2000–01 season, he suffered another injury in just the second game, againstVfL Wolfsburg. He returned in December that year, and eventually regained his place back in the starting line-up. Such injuries caught up with him though, and due to old injuries and acute knee problems, he had to promptly terminate his football career after the 2000–01 season. He played 117 league games and scored 13 goals in his time for 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Schjønberg made his debut for theDenmark national team in the1995 King Fahd Cup in January 1995. He played all three of Denmark's matches at the tournament, which they eventually won. He was also selected for the1996 European Championship, where he played in Denmark's last two group games before elimination.
After this memorable domestic season, Schjønberg was selected to play for Denmark at the1998 World Cup in France, where he played four of Denmark's five matches before elimination. He began the tournament as Denmark's starting left wingback, but eventually lost the place toJan Heintze as the tournament progressed. He was called up to represent Denmark atEuro 2000, and started in Denmark's three matches before elimination. The last group match against theCzech Republic on 21 June 2000, would be Schjønberg's last game for the national team.
After ending his active football career, Schjønberg changed into the coaching business when he became youth coach at 1. FC Kaiserslautern in July 2003. He moved to Denmark in July 2004, to coachDanish Superliga clubHerfølge BK, alongside his good friendAllan Nielsen.Herfølge BK wererelegated to theDanish 1st Division, but Schjønberg kept his job. In November 2005, he became assistant coach ofHannover 96 to managerPeter Neururer. When Neururer was fired in September 2006, Schjønberg deputised as head coach for a singleDFB-Pokal match, where Hannover 96 eliminatedDynamo Dresden. When Hannover 96 hiredDieter Hecking as new head coach, he broughtDirk Bremser with him as assistant coach, and Schjønberg became the coach of the amateur ranks of the club.
From 4 April 2007 until 7 November 2007 he was sports director of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
In the summer of 2008, he was appointed new sporting director of Danish clubFC Vestsjælland and was named as the head coach of the club on 1 April 2009, Schjønberg replacedJeppe Tengbjerg. He was sacked on 29 June 2011 due to a poor finish to the 2010–11 season.
In January 2013, he was appointed as first-team coach with the Norwegian sideVålerenga Fotball.[9] Vålerengas manager, Kjetil Rekdal, knew Schjønberg from his time at Kaiserslautern where he had worked under him.[10] In November 2014, he was appointed manager ofNest-Sotra Fotball in theNorwegian First Division.[11] He was sacked already in May 2015.[12]
In the summer of 2016, he became manager ofFC Svendborg in theDanish 2nd Division.[13] However, due to financial problems the club could not afford his salary, and he left the club in December 2016.[14] In June 2018 he became new manager of lower league clubAarup Boldklub.[15]
On 16 December 2020, he was named new manager ofVendsyssel FF in theDanish 1st Division.[16] At the end of the season, where Vendsyssel only barely escaped relegation, Schjønberg decided to reject Vendsyssel's two-year contract extension due topersonal reasons and therefore left the club.[17]
On 13 January 2022, Schjønberg was appointed manager of Faroese club07 Vestur.[18]
In July 2023, Schjønberg became new manager of the women's team ofAGF.[19]
Hannover 96
1. FC Kaiserslautern
Denmark
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