 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin Laursen[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1977-07-26)26 July 1977 (age 48)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Fårvang, Denmark | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Horn/Fårvang | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1998[2] | Silkeborg | 35 | (1) |
| 1998–2001[3] | Hellas Verona | 58 | (3) |
| 2001–2002 | Parma | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2002[3] | →Milan (loan) | 22 | (2) |
| 2002–2004[3] | Milan | 20 | (0) |
| 2004–2009[4] | Aston Villa | 84 | (8) |
| Total | 219 | (14) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996[5] | Denmark U-19 | 1 | (0) |
| 1997–1999[5] | Denmark U-21 | 14 | (0) |
| 2000–2008[5] | Denmark | 53 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2012 | Søllerød-Vedbæk | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Martin Laursen (Danish pronunciation:[ˈmɑːtsʰn̩ˈlæwˀsn̩]; born 26 July 1977) is a Danish former professionalfootballer who played in thecentre-back position. He played three seasons for Italian clubA.C. Milan, with whom he won the 2003UEFA Champions League and the 2004Serie A championship. He also played for Italian clubsHellas Verona andParma, and was theteam captain of English clubAston Villa. He was most recently the manager ofSøllerød-Vedbæk.
Laursen wascapped 53 times and scored two goals for theDenmark national team from 2000 to 2008, and he was named 2008Danish Football Player of the Year. He represented Denmark at the2000 European Championship,2002 FIFA World Cup, and2004 European Championship tournaments.
Born in Fårvang nearSilkeborg, Laursen started playing football with local amateur club Horn/Fårvang. He started his senior career with nearby top-flight clubSilkeborg in theDanish Superliga championship. Laursen made his Silkeborg debut in October 1995,[2] under Silkeborg managerPreben Elkjær.[6] Laursen helped steer Silkeborg to second place in the1997–98 Superliga season, under new Silkeborg managerSepp Piontek,[6] as he played 22 games and scored one goal during that season.[2] Laursen played 35 games and scored one goal for Silkeborg in the Superliga from his debut until his last game in June 1998.[2]
After three seasons at Silkeborg, Laursen moved to Italy in August 1998, to play forHellas Verona in the second-tierSerie B league. The contact with Verona was mediated by former Verona player and Silkeborg manager Preben Elkjær.[7] Laursen was plagued by a knee injury for the majority of his first season at Verona, where the club wonpromotion to the top-flightSerie A championship.[8] Laursen established himself in the Veronastarting lineup during his second season in Italy. He became known as Lionheart Laursen among the Verona fans, describing his courage and great ability to time his headers.[9]
Seeking a high-profile move,Parma made a successful bid of 9,000 million Italian lire (€4,648,112)[10] to signhalf of the registration rights of Laursen in June 2000,[11] in a deal including Parma-owned playerAnthony Šerić remaining at Verona on loan. Laursen played a further season with Verona.[12] After the2000–01 Serie A season, Laursen moved to join Parma who acquired the remaining 50% of his registration rights for another 9,000 million Italian lire (€4,648,112), while Šerić in turn made aco-ownership deal with Verona in June 2001, for 2,500 million lire (€1,291,142).[10][13] Following only three weeks of training at the club, Parma loaned Laursen out before he would play any games for the club.[14]
In July 2001, Laursen was loaned out to Serie A rivalsA.C. Milan,[15] who needed depth in their squad.[16] He started out strong for his new club, scoring two goals in the first four rounds of the2001–02 Serie A season,[17] and played 22 league games in his first season with Milan.[3] Milan decided to buy him in the middle of the season for afee of 21.5 billionlire (€11,103,823). In the summer 2002, Milan boughtItalian international defenderAlessandro Nesta, and Laursen's playing time diminished to a combined 20 league games in the next two seasons.[3]
Though winning silverware with Milan in 2003, Laursen did not play in theUEFA Champions League final. He won theCoppa Italia,[18]UEFA Champions League andEuropean Super Cup in 2003, and the 2004Serie A championship.[19] Due to the presence ofPaolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta,[8] Laursen failed to establish himself in Milan's first team in the long run.[20] When Milan boughtDutch international defenderJaap Stam in May 2004, Laursen left the club shortly thereafter.[21]
On 21 May 2004, Laursen was bought byFA Premier League sideAston Villa for a fee of £3 million,[22] on a four-year contract. His debut with Villa came againstSouthampton on 14 August, a match which ended 2–0 in Villa's favour. Laursen's time at Villa initially proved frustrating. He put in a few encouraging performances on and off, during the2004–05 season, but the knee injury that plagued him earlier in his career returned and kept Laursen at playing only one Premier League game for Aston Villa during the2005–06 season.[3] After a re-occurrence of the knee injury during the summer 2006 off-season, his playing future at club and international level was seen to be in doubt.[23] He underwent a full rehabilitation inBologna, and returned to the Villa side in August 2006. Villa hiredMartin O'Neill as manager in August 2006, and he and Laursen came to an understanding of giving Laursen the freedom to train as he wanted, which helped prevent further injuries.[24] Laursen became an integral part of O'Neill's plans, and the physical English playing style proved to suit Laursen perfectly.[24] Laursen became an effective goalscorer for Villa during the2007–08 season, scoring six goals from his position of centre-back.[4] This included three goals againstTottenham Hotspur, two of which came in a thrilling 4–4 draw atWhite Hart Lane, the other coming in a 2–1 home victory.[4] Laursen agreed terms on a new two-and-a-half-year deal with Aston Villa in January 2008.[23] He played all Villa's matches, except forLeague Cup games, during the 2007–08 season and he was voted the Supporters' Player of the Year in 2008.[22]
Laursen replacedGareth Barry as club captain for Villa on a permanent basis for the2008–09 season.[22] In Aston Villa's first game of the 2008–09 season, Laursen captained the side in theUEFA Intertoto Cup, and continued his goal-scoring record from set pieces by scoring Villa's second goal in the 2–2 draw against Danish teamOdense.[4] Laursen also managed to get onto the scoresheet in aUEFA Cup match withHafnarfjörður,[4] and againstStoke City in the Premiership.[4] On 23 October 2008, Laursen gave Aston Villa the lead in the UEFA Cup game againstAjax with a header from close-range.[4] Villa went on to win the match 2–1. He was named 2008Danish Football Player of the Year in November 2008.[25]
In December 2008, Laursen was injured again.[22] He returned for the game againstWest Bromwich Albion in January 2009,[4] but suffered an injury relapse.[22] In April 2009, O'Neill expressed his fears that Laursen's career might be over due to the injuries which, even if treated, would require ten months of reconvalescence. In May 2009, Laursen announced his decision to retire from football rather than undergo major surgery.[26] 24 May saw Aston Villa's final game of the season at home toNewcastle United. Prior to kick-off, Laursen appeared in front of the Villa Park crowd and gave a speech where he thanked the fans and wish them well for the future. Following this, he was inducted into the "Villa Legends" section of Aston Villa's official website.[22]
While playing for Silkeborg, Laursen played one game for theDenmark under-19 national team in December 1996.[5] He was called up for theDenmark under-21 national team in February 1997, and went on to play 14 games for the under-21s until June 1999.[5] Laursen made his debut for the senior Denmark national team in afriendly match againstPortugal in March 2000.[5] He was a part of the Denmark squad at theUEFA Euro 2000, though he did not play a single game at the tournament due to injury.
Laursen's breakthrough with the national team came at the2002 FIFA World Cup, when he played full-time in all four Denmark games before elimination.[5] Laursen scored his first goal for his country in September 2003, in theUEFA Euro 2004 qualification, an all-important goal in injury time of the penultimate qualification match.[5] His goal levelled the game withRomania to 2–2, and kept Denmark in the race for a place at the final competition. Laursen and the Denmark team secured qualification when they drew the last game, thus winning their qualification group. Laursen played full-time in Denmark's four games at the tournament,[5] playing impressively.[22]
After the March 2005 game againstKazakhstan, Laursen's national team career went on a hiatus,[5] due to a knee injury. After his absence from the Danish national team for more than one and a half years, he was called up in November 2006, but had to withdraw from the team before the game due to yet another knee injury. In June 2007, Laursen returned to Denmark's starting line-up in a 2–0 win againstLatvia.[5] He played his last international game on 11 October 2008 againstMalta.[5] In January 2009, Laursen announced his retirement from international football, as he found it physically straining to play for both club and country.[27]
Laursen returned to Denmark following his retirement, settling inVedbæk.[24] He worked as a footballpundit forSky Sports briefly, and also as a co-commentator for Danish broadcasterTV2.[24] The former defender told the website of previous club Aston Villa that his primary focus was to spend time with his family; a career in the football media allows him to remain active in the game whilst not taking up too much time.[24] However, he refused to rule out a career in coaching or management in the future.[24]
Spending time with my family. That was important to me. It might not be enough in 10 years time though. Then I may want to be a manager – or something else – but as it is now it would be hard for me to be a football boss and go into training and have football on my mind 24 hours per day.
I am not ready for that yet. But you never know, in the future things might change. At the moment this is perfect for me.
In September 2011, Martin Laursen took the job as head coach ofSøllerød-Vedbæk in theDanish 2nd Divisions in order to start a managing career. He resigned on 14 June 2012 after steering the club clear of relegation.[28]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 September 2003 | Copenhagen, Denmark |  Romania | 2–2 | 2–2 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 2 | 12 September 2007 | Aarhus, Denmark |  Liechtenstein | 2–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualification |
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