Aalborg Boldspilklub
Aalborg Boldspilklub (LSE: 0JIT) is a Danish professional sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as Aalborg BK or AaB for short. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis and basketball, but currently controls teams in football, ice hockey, floorball and handball. All teams are competing in the top-flight Danish league in their respective sport. The kit sponsor for the club is Adidas, and the principal sponsor for the football and handball team is the regional bank Spar Nord.
AaB was founded on May 13, 1885 by English engineers who were building Jutland's railway system, and the first years was concentrated on the game of cricket. It was initially named Aalborg Cricketklub (Aalborg Cricketclub) but the name of the club was changed to Aalborg Boldklub (Aalborg ballclub) in 1899. Football was adopted on an amateur basis in 1902, and has since been the main sport, as the name was changed to the current Aalborg Boldspilklub af 1885 (Aalborg ballgameclub of 1885) in 1906.[1]
Football
The club established a men's football team in 1902. The team has been a part of the Danish Superliga championship since 1987, winning three championships in 1995, 1999 and in 2008.
They qualified for the 2008/2009 UEFA Champions League and were part of Group E along with Manchester United F.C., Villarreal CF and Celtic F.C.. Aalborg came away from Celtic Park with a point from their 0-0 draw against Celtic FC. The second game against Manchester United in Aalborg was lost 0-3. And the third game against Villarreal in Spain they lost 6-3. Then Villarreal came to Denmark and Aalborg got a 2-2 draw, thanks to a freekick by Anders Due. They then beat Celtic at the Aalborg Stadion and finished third in their group sending Celtic out of the competition. They then had a 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on December 10 2008.
After finishing third they were transferred to the UEFA cup round of 32 where they were drawn against Spanish team Deportivo La Coruna. AaB secured a spot in the round of 16 with a 3-0 win at home and a 3-1 win at Riazor. In the following round they faced English Premier League team Manchester City who had already eliminated two other Danish clubs in the competition. After losing the first match against Manchester City 0-2 away from home and winning 2-0 at home at Energi Nord Arena, Aab eventually lost 4-3 on penalty shootouts.
Other sports
Handball was adopted by AaB in 2003, when the local men's team Aalborg HSH was bought and renamed AaB Håndbold (AaB handball). Since then, the club has played in the Danish top-flight handball league, though they have never won the league title. In May 2007, AaB published the plans to take over the women's handball team of Aalborg DH, as a part of the AaB Håndbold brand, as Aalborg DH did not pass a due diligence test, the takeover was never completed. With the expanded handball section, the men's team have moved their games to Aalborg DH's venue, Gigantium Arena. AaB also owns the professional ice hockey team of AaB Ishockey, which builds on the amateur youth development of Aalborg Ishockey Klub (AIK), which built on two merged clubs AaB Ishockey and IK Aalborg. AaB Ishockey won the 1981 Danish championship. From 2004 to 2007, AaB Ishockey has won four sets of silver medals in a row. In 2005, AaB coorporated with Aalborg Basketball Klub (ABK) in order to build the AaB Basket team.[2] The basketball team was no success, and was dismantled in March 2007,[3] reverting the team to its ABK roots. AaB also has a Floorball division, which in 2007/08 has secured promotion to the best league in Denmark. The team is located and plays matches at Hornevej where the rest of AaB's training facilities are located. AaB 89ers is an american football team started in 1989, they play at semi-professional level in National League (the best Danish league). AaB Tennis plays at amateur level.
Management
Aalborg Boldspilklub af 1885 [1]
- Chairman of the board Jesper Møller
- Managing director Poul Sørensen
- Finance director Lars Vadsholt Jørgensen
- Chairman of the board Lars Søndergaard Pedersen
- Sports director Lynge Jakobsen
- Sports director Jan Larsen
- Manager Karsten Arvidsen
References
- ^ AaB at Onside.dk
- ^ Template:Da icon Anders Laursen, AaB - nu også som basketballklub, Danmarks Radio, June 27, 2005
- ^ Template:Da icon Anders Laursen, AaB opgiver satsning på basketball, Danmarks Radio, March 28, 2007
External links
- Template:Da icon AaB A/S (professional branch)
- Template:Da icon Aalborg Boldspilklub af 1885 (football amateur foundation)
- Template:Da icon Aalborg Ishockey Klub (ice hockey amateur foundation)
- Template:Da icon Aalborg Basketball Klub (basketball amateur foundation)
- Template:Da icon AaB Floorball (Floorball amateur foundation)
- UEFA football profile
- Template:Da icon Aalborg Support Club (Official fanclub of AaB)
