Lars Elstrup
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lars Dahl Elstrup | ||
| Date of birth | 24 March 1963 | ||
| Place of birth | Råby, Denmark | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1980 | IF Fjorden i Havndal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1981–1985 | Randers Freja | 136 | (59) |
| 1986 | Brøndby IF | 7 | (2) |
| 1986–1988 | Feyenoord | 65 | (9) |
| 1988–1989 | Odense Boldklub | 28 | (17) |
| 1989–1991 | Luton Town | 60 | (19) |
| 1991–1993 | Odense Boldklub | 44 | (24) |
| National team | |||
| 1988–1993 | Denmark | 34 | (13) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Lars Dahl Elstrup (born 24 March 1963 in Råby) is a Danish former professional footballer, who played for a number of Danish clubs, as well as Dutch club Feyenoord and Luton Town in England. He played 34 matches and scored 13 goals for the Denmark national football team, and was a part of the Denmark team which won the 1992 European Championship.
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[edit] Club career
Born in the village of Råby, near Randers, Lars Elstrup made his senior debut for local club Randers Sportsklub Freja in 1981. Over the next five seasons, he became a proven goalscorer in Danish football's lower divisions, and before the 1986 season Elstrup moved to the defending champions Brøndby IF. He played just seven league games for Brøndby, scoring twice, before he moved abroad to play for Dutch club Feyenoord. He played there for two years, but only scored nine goals for the Rotterdam outfit.
In 1988, Elstrup moved back to Denmark to play for Odense Boldklub. He scored 14 goals in 16 games in his first season at Odense, and was called up for the Danish national team by national manager Sepp Piontek.
The 1989 Danish 1st Division saw Elstrup score three times, before he left to try his hand at English football. Elstrup signed for English First Division club Luton Town on 21 August 1989 in a £850,000 transfer deal, setting a club transfer record.[1] Playing at Kenilworth Road for two seasons, he soon settled and scored 18 goals to keep Luton up in 1990–91.
After only two years in England, Elstrup moved back to Denmark to rejoin Odense Boldklub. Odense only paid £200,000, despite having sold him to Luton only two years before for £650,000 more.[2] Sure enough, after selling Elstrup, Luton were relegated.[3] He played two more seasons for Odense, scoring 24 goals, before retiring in strange circumstances.
In 1993, Elstrup had doubts about his footballing future, as he felt he was living under the expectations of others.[4] He joined Solens Hjerte, a part of the Wild Goose Company sect, and changed his name to Darando - The River that Flows. He moved away from the sect in December 1999 after being arrested for indecent exposure, after dick-slapping a school child. He was completely naked wearing a rope around his waist and said 'In some respects,' he explained, 'I do this to provoke people. I like experiencing people's reactions. Some might take my message to be sod off and others an offer of sex. I am very aware of people's reactions and I love the fact that people recognise me as Lars Elstrup.' He placed a scarf on the pavement for contributions, and made 27 Danish Kroner (£ 2.25) in one afternoon. [5][6] and changed his name back to Lars Elstrup. In January 2000, Odense Boldklub gave Elstrup a chance to re-enter professional football, but he left the club after only a week, as he was not guaranteed a place in the first team squad.[7] He now lives in Vissenbjerg, and stays out of the public eye.
[edit] International career
Lars Elstrup made his national team debut in August 1988 against Sweden, and scored both Danish goals in a 2-1 victory.
Elstrup was part of the Denmark squad for the 1992 European Championship. He played in two matches at the tournament, and scored the winning goal in the 2-1 win against France in the group stages. He also scored one of Denmark's five penalties in the semi-final penalty shootout against Holland, though he watched from the bench as Denmark beat Germany 2-0 in the final.
[edit] Honours
[edit] References
- ^ "Luton Town all time records". Soccerbase. http://www.soccerbase.com/team_records.sd?teamid=1628. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ White, Clive (1991-08-14). "Pleat out to revive old hit". The Times.
- ^ Pike, Keith (1992-05-03). "Two goals from County deprive Luton of a late reprieve". The Sunday Times: 20.
- ^ Pierre Collignon, "Hvor blev de af: Lars Elstrup: Frigørelsen", Jyllands-Posten article, December 5, 1999
- ^ News in Brief, The Observer, August 20, 2000
- ^ Mads Glenn Wehlast, "Afklaret Elstrup: Klar til kone og børn", Ekstra Bladet, 3 January 2000
- ^ Kim Mikkelsen, "Storm står fast: Elstrup færdig i OB", B.T. article, January 26, 2000
[edit] External links
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- 1963 births
- Living people
- Danish footballers
- Randers FC players
- Brøndby IF players
- Feyenoord players
- Odense Boldklub players
- Luton Town F.C. players
- Eredivisie players
- Danish Superliga players
- Denmark international footballers
- UEFA Euro 1992 players
- UEFA European Football Championship-winning players
- Danish expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
- Danish expatriates in the Netherlands
- Expatriate footballers in England
