 | |||
| Full name | Svendborg forenede Boldklubber-Oure Fodbold Akademi | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 25 January 2018; 7 years ago (2018-01-25)[1] | ||
| Ground | Høje Bøge,Svendborg | ||
| Capacity | 7,000 | ||
| Chairman | Jesper Jensen | ||
| Manager | Thune Holm | ||
| League | Denmark Series | ||
| 2023–24 | 3rd Division, 11th of 12 (relegated) | ||
| Website | sfb | ||
SfB-Oure FA (Danish pronunciation:[ˈesefpe̝ˀˌoːɐˌefɛˀ]) is a Danish professionalassociation football club based in the town ofSvendborg, that competes inDenmark Series, the fifth tier of theDanish football league system. Founded in 2018 as an elite superstructure ofSvendborg fB andOure FA, it is affiliated toDBU Funen. The team plays its home matches atHøje Bøge Stadium where it has been based since its foundation.
The club has roots dating back to 1900 where the cricket club"Phoenix", which would since become Svendborg fB, was founded, while the first professional superstructure in the South Funen region was established in 2008 withFC Svendborg. In 2017, the professional department of SfB known as FC Svendborg was declared bankrupt. Six months later, however, an elite structure was established between Svendborg fB and Oure FA, the football department of Skolerne i Oure which is the largestboarding school environment in Denmark. The new club, named SfB-Oure FA took over the licence of Oure FA and was therefore placed in theDenmark Series, the fourth tier of Danish football. They reached promotion to theDanish 2nd Division, the third tier, in June 2020.
Founded on 25 January 2018, SfB-Oure FA is the superstructure ofOure Fodbold Akademi, a football academy which is part ofSkolerne i Oure, the largestboarding school environment in Denmark, andSvendborg fB, which has a long-standing history as anassociation football club in theDanish football league system.
The main parent club of this merger, Svendborg fB has a history dating back to thedawn of the 20th century. In the spring of 1900, a group of young men decided to establish a cricket club,"Phoenix", which in 1901 was renamed"Union", its founding date set to 2 April 1901 to commemorate thecentennial of theBattle of Copenhagen of 1801.[2][3] Following the formation of the club, the side started to playassociation football as one of the first clubs inSvendborg, which gradually suppressed the interest in cricket.[3] The Svendborg club joinedDBU Funen (FBU) in 1906, two years after the foundation of the local football federation, which officially made football a part of the club. Their first match under the FBU, in which they wore a kit consisting of black shorts and red and white striped jerseys and had their home ground at Nyborgvej Stadium, resulted in a 5–0 win overNorth Funen sideStart Otterup fromOtterup.[3] In the summer of 1915, the club changed its name toSvendborg Boldklub (SB). By winning the local rounds organised by the local football federation, the Svendborg-based club managed to qualify as FBU's only representative to participate in the1925–26 season of theDenmark Tournament, aDanish FA-organised club football tournament between the championship clubs from each of the six regional football associations. Here, Svendborg Boldklub only made one appearance, on 30 May 1926, a match which was played inVejle during the second round of the tournamentDBU Jutland (JBU)'s representativeHorsens fS, which they lost 3–1.[4]
In 1954, another Svendborg-side was founded,Kammeraternes Boldklub (KB), who became a direct competitor to Svendborg Boldklub, a rivalry emanating from the clubs'table tennis departments. KB was formed through a merger between the sports clubsFremad (Est. 1938) andFrem (Est. 1926 asArbejdernes Boldklub (AB), name change toFrem in 1932), and had its home ground at Skovsbovej Stadium.[5][3] Svendborg Boldklub had for years been close to reaching promotion to the 3rd Division (then Denmark's third highest tier) via its predecessorKvalifikationsturneringen (Qualification Tournament; popularly called the "4th Division", today known as theDenmark Series). Meanwhile, Kammeraternes Boldklub only competed in the regional divisions, theFunen Series at the fifth highest tier.[3] Between 1961 and 1962, the "bourgeoisie" club Svendborg Boldklub and the so-calledworking-class side Kammeraternes Boldklub merged and continued under the new name,Svendborg forenede Boldklubber (Svendborg fB or SfB), keeping Svendborg Boldklub's original founding date.[2][6] In 1970, the new sports facility,Høge Bøge Stadium, was made the club's new official home ground.
Three years after uniting with the local rivals, the merger club managed to qualify for the Danish divisions for the first time in Svendborg fB's history by securing promotion to the Danish 3rd Division ahead of the1964 season.[3][7] Divisional status was lost after relegating to the newly created Denmark Series, the fourth tier, which was the tier below the three divisions, where the club played in the 1967, 1968 and 1970 seasons. In 1969,Richard Møller Nielsen was appointed head coach for Svendborg fB. Under him, the side claimed the Danish 3rd Division West championship and reached promotion to theDanish 2nd Division in the 1972 season, the first time appearance at this level in club history.[2][8] Møller Nielsen would later coach theDenmark national team to victory at the1992 European Championship.[9] From the 1971 season until the2002–03 season the club had an uninterrupted run in the Danish divisions, with, among others,strikerJohn Eriksen (1975–1977, 1991–1993). Led by head coachViggo Jensen (1982–1987), the club experienced its third-best season in the1986 Danish 2nd Division.[4] At the onset of this stretch the club's spectator record also occurred, with over 8,000 spectators present atHøje Bøge Stadium on 9 November 1975 – the end of the1975 Danish 2nd Division – where the club faced eventual promotee and regional rivalsOdense Boldklub (OB).[10] Svendborg fB never managed to participate in thehighest tier ofDanish football, but played in the second tier for 15 seasons the third tier for 26 seasons.[4] Svendborg fB reached the greatest achievement its league history in the1996–97 season, finishing third, only six points from promotion to theDanish Superliga. In a direct match for promotion at Høje Bøge Stadium against eventual promotees,Aarhus Fremad, on 9 June 1997, the Funen club lost 1–3.[11]
After suffering relegation from the third tier following the 2002–03 season, another successive relegation saw Svendborg fB compete in the fifth tier, the formerKvalifikationsrækken, in the autumn season 2004 as a result of a last place finish in the 2003–04Denmark Series. To make matters worse the club faced financial issues after the relegations, effectively ending their venture into professional football which saw most players leave.[3][12][13][14][15] However, the finances and equity of SfB Prof ApS, the professional division of Svendborg fB, were normalised at an extraordinary general meeting on 26 November 2004 through a capital injection from the club's amateur division, retaining the majority shareholding, and businesses in southFunen, which meant that Svendborg fB would once again be eligible to receive a license from theDanish Football Union to conduct professional football in the event of a promotion to the Danish divisions.[16] The club eventually won their group in the fifth division during the spring of 2005, and immediately returned to theDenmark Series. In their first season back in the fourth tier, Svendborg ended fifth in the table after having competed for promotion throughout most of the season under head coaching duo Ole Pedersen andplayer-coachGraham Easter.[13] After a five-year absence from the divisions, the team managed to reach promotion to the third tier again in the 2007–08 season, ending in second place of Group 1 of the Denmark Series.[17][13][18]
In theDanish Cup, "the whites from South Funen" managed to advance to two quarterfinals: in the1976–77 season, where they were knocked out of the tournament by recently promotedsecond tier clubVanløse IF after a 3–0 away defeat; and in the1989–90 season, where they lost 0–3 atHøje Bøge Stadium toVejle Boldklub from the highest tier.[19][20] Kammeraternes Boldklub never became a regular participant in the Danish Cup unlike Svendborg Boldklub, who in the early years of the tournament reached the main rounds through qualification in the regional rounds underDBU Funen.[fn 1] Svendborg Boldklub's first match in the cup was played in the fall of 1954 and ended in a 1–2 away defeat to the then lower division sideViborg FF.[20] Kim Hansen, with his 378 official appearances during the 1970s and 1980s in the first team, is the record-holder of appearances for Svendborg fB.[21][22]
When it became a fact that theDanish 2nd Division team fromSvendborg could not avoid relegation from the Danish divisions in the2002–03 season, local media and members of the parent club began suggesting the option of establishing a closer cooperation on a professional level with the surroundingassociation football clubs of Svendborg andSouth Funen in general. These plans had already been voiced before the 2002–03 season, and were meant to provide an opportunity to attract better sponsorship deals from local businesses. The executive board of Svendborg fB eventually met the board of its professional department on 14 May 2008 with the initial idea of a possible joint South Funen professional elite team on their agenda.[23] The idea of a common merger of elite teams – rather than a partial or complete merger of clubs in South Funen – were at a very early stage prior to the meeting, and a committee was formed in order to continue working on the idea.[23] The committee was assigned to, amongst others, contact representatives from smaller clubs in the area:Thurø Boldklub af 1920 andTved Boldklub inSvendborg Municipality, who had their first teams in lower-tier regional divisions, to investigate possibilities for a large scale superstructure. However, further plans for cooperation did not come to fruition during the following months, as the regional clubs had not shown interest in the establishment of a merger project.
As Svendborg fB reached promotion from theDenmark Series back into theDanish 2nd Division in the2008–09 season, a number of organisational changes decided by the executive board were implemented aimed at meeting new challenges associated with returning to the divisions.[16][17][24] To successfully reintroduce professional football in Svendborg fB for the first time since their relegation from the third tier in the2002–03 season, club management had planned a financial goal of raisingDKK 3 million in sponsor revenue as well as expanding the staff handling sponsorship deals in the professional department of Svendborg fB ahead of the following season.[25][26] In order to cover salaries of the players in the first team, an external sponsorship manager, aphysical therapist joining the team for home and away matches, and a coaching staff for the senior team, under-19s and under-17s, respectively, were added to the staff.[27]
Among the strategies to achieve the necessary increase in revenue was to change the name of the first team as well as three youth teams, who would go under the name ofFC Svendborg.[12] The foundation of the elite superstructure would include the club's four best teams: a divisional team at the men's first team on senior level, an under-21 team, an under-19 team and an under-17 team; all under the helm of the club's previous affiliate elite department,SfB Elite ApS, who would continue to work closely with the parent club, so that FC Svendborg could continue to utilise the club's best amateur players.[26][28] The teams representing the FC Svendborg name would have their home ground at Høje Bøge Stadium.[28] At that point, the club's team competing in theFunen Series, the highest regional level under theDBU Funen governing body and one of the fifth highest levels of theDanish football league system, became the reserve squad for the FC Svendborg team and would continue under the name ofSvendborg fB and play its home matches at Hellegårdsvej in the traditional white kits.[25][7] The final decision on Svendborg fB's elite football bet – FC Svendborg – for the divisional team, U21, U19 and U17 was finally taken at the annual general assembly of the affiliate department of the parent club,SfB Elite ApS, on 30 May 2008. Thereby, it took place shortly before the first team of the future FC Svendborg reached promotion to theDanish 2nd Division.[17] The youth teams were included in the plans for the superstructure, as they were considered a "very important part" of a future top tier first team, which would largely be assembled through its youth products serving as a "food chain" for the senior first team.[26]
TheAnpartsselskab (private limited company) behind the professional department of Svendborg fB was registered withErhvervsstyrelsen (Danish Business Authority) on 19 December 1984 under the nameSfB non-amatør ApS with the purpose of running the professional football department and was since transformed intoSfB Prof. ApS, before being changed toSfB Elite ApS in the spring of 2007.[14][29][30] In the summer of 2001, theAnpartsselskab representing the professional team struggled financially due to a lack in equity and thus struggled to have player contracts approved by theDanish FA. A new board of directors, with attorney Jens Bertel Rasmussen as new chairman and a number of business people, were brought in August 2001 to assist in both the financial and the football-related.[15] Jens Bertel Rasmussen, who had become the chairman and was also a practicing lawyer in sports in Svendborg, had been practicing law for 25 years and had a past in the Danish FA's disciplinary committee.[31] Svendborg fB's former tenuredgoalkeeper andcaptain of the first team, René Sundstrøm, retired his playing career in the fall of 2005, after which he was appointed the newsporting director in the professional department starting 1 January 2006. Sundstrøm replaced the outgoing sporting director Ulrik Sand Larsen, who had joined the club in August 2001 alongside the rest of the prior board.[32]
With the name change to FC Svendborg, chairman of the professional department, Jens Bertel Rasmussen, stated that it was decided to "change the name to FC Svendborg to signal that it's the team of the entire municipality and for the benefit of the entireSouth Funen region" and to "ensure broad support from all ofSvendborg Municipality both in the area of sports but also financially."[17][25] The main reason for the name change and alterations in visual identity were attempts at distancing the new superstructure of FC Svendborg from its parent club Svendborg fB and in order to make the team more attractive to closer cooperation with the surrounding clubs fromRinge and others, and thereby secure better opportunities of bringing in talents other South Funen football clubs.[25][33] A fixed division license for the under-19 and under-17 sides was acquired with the intention of becoming an attractive club to the whole of theSouth Funen Archipelago, which in turn contributed to the youth department's development in terms of professionalism.[26] There was also a financial intention behind the move to employ the internationalabbreviation ofFootball Club ("FC") after the English model, as "[it] is easier to sell a single and significant brand such as FC Svendborg to sponsors."[25] Sponsors, the press and the first-team squad were presented for the future plans and a new website on 21 June 2008 at a sponsorship meeting at Hotel Svendborg by the chairman of the professional department and vice-chairman of the new FC Svendborg, Henrik Thulesen.[25] The initial goal set in 2007 was for the club's first team to compete in the higher divisions (tier 1–3 of the Danish football league system with the reserve team competing in theFunen Series, the highest regional tier and one of the fifth tiers of Danish football. As promotion was secured, the objective became establishing and remaining in theDanish 2nd Division, the third tier. The management did not make a definite demand for further promotion to theDanish 1st Division – the highest level which parent club Svendborg fB reached – in the near future, unless an occasion of this suddenly arose. In the long term, the club's goal was playing in Danish 1st Division, but the main priority was to "be a permanent component of divisional football (D) in Denmark" through the development of the organisation at management level, sponsorship networks, academy and first-team squad.[34][13][35][26][36][37] That same summer, other elite superstructures were established for the divisional clubsFC Amager,Blokhus FC,FC Vestsjælland andNordvest FC with foundation date of 1 July 2008.
In the2007–08 season, Svendborg fB managed to secure a direct promotion spot and return to the third tier with a second-place finish Group 1 of theDenmark Series; a second place which the team had maintained since the winter break. The promotion was secured by a 3–1 away win inHelsingør on 1 June 2008 overNorth Zealand sideElite 3000 – four rounds before the season ending – with a massive lead of 14 points to Nivå-Kokkedal FK in third place.[17] Beginning with a home match atHøje Bøge Stadium againstB.1921 (the reserve team ofLolland-Falster Alliancen) on 26 August 2007 until the home match againstAllerød FK on 8 June 2008, Svendborg fB did not suffer a single defeat in the league, which was a contributing factor to the team's promotion.[17][38] The successful promotion occurred under the helm of the parent club's former youth and under-21 coach,Kurt Hansen, who had been appointed as the club's head coach on 1 July 2007.[17][13][18] Hansen had previously made 72 appearances for Svendborg fB's first team and in 2006–2007 had coached the club's youth team, with many of the players having been promoted to the first team squad the year after.[39] Due to the positive results which the first team achieved after the promotion, Hansen signed a two-year contract extension in January 2009.[37][40] Assistant coach and under-21 coach, as well as former player,Lars Bech Petersen, was also included in the new superstructure's coaching team while René Sundstrøm became attached to the first team following the promotion as a goalkeeping coach alongside his position asdirector of football.[35] The longtime player and former coach in the Danish divisions, Svend Pedersen, assumed the position as striker coach.[41]
Only a few changes were made in the first team composition ahead of FC Svendborg's maiden season, as the majority of players continued, includingclub captain and formerFaroe national team playerJulian Johnsson who had also been the team's top scorer with 19 goals.[42][17] Four new players joined the club from two other lower division clubs from Funen;Nyborg G&IF andBK Marienlyst, of whom three made their official debut as starters in the first match of the2008–09 season.[43][44][45]
FC Svendborg's season premiere, which was also the first local Funen matchup, was on 8 August 2008 at home atHøje Bøge Stadium againstOB II, the reserves ofOdense Boldklub, (a reserve side featuring formerDenmark national football team playerMorten Bisgaard andCosta Rica national football team playerChristian Bolaños in the squad) in theDanish 2nd Division West Group (with 16 clubs from west of theGreat Belt). The match ended in a 2–0 win in front of 693 spectators.[43][33] FC Svendborg's first goal was attributed tocentre-backJonas Bertel Rasmussen, who, in the 17th minute, headed the ball into the goal at the back post after acorner kick. The score remained 1–0 at the break and FC Svendborg extended their lead against OB II, whenstrikerJakob Udesen scored another header off a corner eight minutes before the final whistle after an assist byTheis P. Andersen.[46][43] In addition to matchups against OB II (2–0; 3–0), there were also local Funen derbies againstNæsby Boldklub (Næsby disqualified;[31] 0–3) and the fellow promoteesFC Fyn (0–3; 1–1), where the latter was the away team on 16 November 2008, where a season record of 2,838 spectators were present at Høje Bøge.[34][47][48] Ahead of the crucial matchup of the fall season against local rivals FC Fyn, who were in a temporary third place in the league table, FC Svendborg had a point average of 1,56 (8 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses), which had amounted to an impressive second place in the West Group in periods of the fall season.[49][50] Svendborg striker, Jesper Rasmussen, finished top on the league goalscorers list in the Danish 2nd Division West with 20 official goals to his name in 27 matches over the2008–09 season – despite more than a month due to injury in the spring season of 2009 – as well as scoring a goal which theDanish FA (DBU) did not credit him for.[fn 2][51][26]
In the same season, the DBU Licensing Committee and the Men's Elite Youth Committee awarded FC Svendborg a one-year "Wild Card" – rather than a permanent license – for divisional football for the club's main youth team, as they were deemed to have sufficient strength to participate in the higher divisions; the under-19 and under-17 teams both participated in the second tiers of their respective age groups.[52][53][54][55][26] The Svendborg side's youth team was not initially granted aCategory B license by the DBU, who subsequently met the club's appeal for their failure to grant a license – a new licensing system introduced in February 2008 focusing on training facilities which replaced a system with a focus on the promotion and relegation of youth teams.[56] The youth teams worked as a continuation of Svendborg fB's former U18 team, and the U16-team, which played in the highest nationwide U16-division during the spring season of 2008.[57] During the 2008–09 season, the DBU licensed the club, and on 23 April it was notified that the conditions and requirements for obtaining divisional status had been met. On this basis, aCategory B license was granted, which secured the youth teams' continued participation in their respective youth divisions for the 2009–10 season with a fixed division license.[26][58][59]
The newly promoted merger side ofSvendborg went on winter break as seventh in the league table of the West Group; a group which was represented by six reserve teams forDanish Superliga clubs, including the aforementionedOB II team. FC Svendborg kicked off their 2009 spring campaign with a 2–1 home win on 22 Match 2009 against top team in the group and eventual promotees toDanish 1st Division,Brabrand IF from theAarhus region.[26][60] The main objective for the first team at the start of the Danish 2nd Division had initially been to establish themselves in the division by reaching the "34 point limit"; a goal which almost mathematically could save them from relegation. This feat was reached in the final away match of the season againstFC Fyn on 3 May 2009, which meant that the team was freed from the threat of relegation.[26][36][33] FC Svendborg ended the season in ninth place in the table after only gaining seven points from the play-off matches for promotion to the 1st Division, falling off from the strong showings of the fall.[61] Ahead of the 2009–10 season, 25 players were offered a contract during the initial contract negotiations with, among others, FC Svendborgdirector of football René Sundstrøm, without any new players being signed from other clubs.[28]
The biggest win of the season occurred on 16 May 2009 away againstAGF's Superliga-reserves, where FC Svendborg won 5–0, while the biggest loss (2–4) took place three times: againstBlokhus FC,Varde IF andAarhus Fremad, respectively.[62] The first team did not participate in theDanish Cup during its2008–09 campaign, after being knocked out in a 0–2 loss to Stige Boldklub from theFunen Series – from the regional fifth division – in the inaugural fourth round before the main rounds of the cup.[63]
In the2009–10 season, FC Svendborg consolidated themselves in the third tier after a strong spring season where the club from South Funen only lost two matches, which meant that they ended seventh in the league table; an improvement from the season before.[64]
After the following season, which ended in another satisfying seventh place, head coachKurt Hansen, who had led FC Svendborg from theDenmark Series and into a stable third-tier side, left the club to become manager ofFunen Series teamTved Boldklub.[65][66] Coach of the U19-team,Carsten Mikkelsen was appointed as his replacement, and stated that his long-term goal was reaching promotion to theDanish 1st Division with the club.[67] After a weak start to the2011–12 season, with no wins in four matches, Mikkelsen and Svendborg won their first match of the new campaign on 4 September 2011 againstAarup BK (3–1).[68] This proved to be a sign of better things to come, as the club managed to stabilise during the rest of the fall, and went on winter break a midtable-side.[69] Only one player left prior to the spring season:midfielder Jacob Mouritsen who left to local rivalsFC Fyn, where he had played before.[70][71]
Two seventh-place finishes in the 2nd Division West followed, but the team then managed a fifth place in the 2012–13 season under the helm of head coach Carsten Mikkelsen.[72] In December 2013,Carsten Hemmingsen took over as the new manager of the club, after Mikkelsen had left to focus on his civil career.[73][74] He left again in the winter break of the 2014–15 season toMiddelfart Boldklub, and the club hiredJulian Johnsson as his replacement.[75] Meanwhile, the team had an unremarkable stretch of results, mainly competing in the bottom half of the league table. In June 2016, following a season in which Svendborg once again managed survival in the 2nd Division, the club appointedMichael Schjønberg as the new head coach for the 2016–17 season.[76] His tenure only lasted a few months as he was fired in October 2016. The dismissal had been preceded by months of uncertainty within the club, tied to financial issues related to diminished sponsor income.[77] Bankruptcy was initially avoided in November 2016, and a new coaching team and club board was appointed, with many key players leaving during the winter transfer window.[78] On 10 June 2017, relegation to theDenmark Series became a fact after a 5–2 loss toOdder IGF.[79] The same day, the board decided to change the name back into Svendborg fB (SfB), as they meant that the club's image had been damaged by the financial troubles over the past season.[80] Only a week later, the club filed for bankruptcy and was placed in the sixth-tierDBU Funen Series 1.[81][82]
Svendborg fB quickly gained sportive foothold in the Series 1 and gained promotion to the fifth-tierFunen Series on 27 May 2018.[83] Ahead of the 2018–19 season, an elite structure was established between Svendborg fB and Oure FA, the football department of Skolerne i Oure which is the largestboarding school environment in Denmark. The new club, named SfB-Oure FA took over the licence of Oure FA and was therefore placed in theDenmark Series, the fourth tier of Danish football. They reached promotion to theDanish 2nd Division, the third tier, on 20 June 2020 after a 3–2 win overOtterup B&IK.[84]
