Randers FC
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| Full name | Randers Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Hestene (The horses) | |||
| Short name | RFC | |||
| Founded | 1 January 2003; 13 years ago | |||
| Ground | AutoC Park Randers Randers, Denmark | |||
| Capacity | 10,300 | |||
| Chairman | Svend Lynge Jørgensen | |||
| Manager | Ólafur Kristjánsson | |||
| League | Danish Superliga | |||
| 2015–16 | Danish Superliga, 6th | |||
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Randers FC is a Danish professional football team based in Randers, which plays in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship. Founded on 1 January 2003, the club builds upon the license of Randers Freja, a former three-time Danish Cup winning team. Following the founding of Randers FC the club has won the Danish Cup one time. Randers FC play their games at AutoC Park Randers, which has a 10,300 spectator capacity.
Notable players that have played for the club includes Yura Movsisyan, David Ousted, and Djiby Fall.
History
The club was formed on 1 January 2003, as a collaboration between six local Randers-clubs; Dronningborg Boldklub (founded 1928), Hornbæk Sportsforening (founded 1945), Kristrup Boldklub (founded 1908), Randers Freja (founded 1898), Randers KFUM (founded 1920) and Vorup Frederiksberg Boldklub (founded 1930), continuing Randers Freja's (at the time) 1st division-team.[1]
First years and Cup success
In the first season as a newly created club Randers FC ended in fourth place in the Viasat Sport Division with 51 points. The captain of the Danish national team that won the European Football Championships in 1992, Lars Olsen, was coach of the team. The following year the team ended in second place with 66 points and was promoted to the country's best league, the SAS Liga.
With only 24 points in 2004–05 season in the SAS Liga Randers FC finished last.
In the 2005–06 season, Randers FC redeemed themselves. The club secured promotion back to the SAS League with 61 points and also won the Danish Cup with a 1–0 victory over Esbjerg in the final at Parken Stadium on 11 May 2006. Randers was the first team since 1974 who managed to win the Danish Cup although playing in the second highest league in Denmark.
In mid 2005, they brought in former Danish national team midfielder Stig Tøfting on a free transfer, after Aarhus GF, his childhood-club, refused to let Tøfting play for them (even for free), because of his violent background with several sentences.[2] Tøfting was appointed Assistant Coach in November 2006.[3]
In the 2006–07 SAS Ligaen Randers FC achieved an 8th place with 38 points and great adventures in the UEFA Cup trophy victory over the season before. The club met IA Akranes of Iceland, FBK Kaunas of Lithuania and major club SC Fenerbahce from Turkey.
Before the start of the new season (2007–08) Randers signed former English National player Colin Todd as new manager. Randers started the season in great fashion by winning their first four matches (most notably a 5–0 win against Aalborg Boldspilklub).
In the second half of the 2007–08 season Randers continued to improve in the Danish league. With new signings Marc Nygaard and Søren Berg expectations grew as the season progressed. Randers improved on last season's 8th place by securing a 6th place following a 2–1 win against Brondby IF in the last match of the season.
The 2008/2009 season started in promising fashion for the club as they started off with a 3–1 win against the local rivals AGF. Randers continued the good start and went to play 1–1 a draw with FC Copenhagen. In the third round Randers was to play Brondby IF away. The club had never defeated Brondby IF away before. Randers won the game 0–3 following goals from Carsten Fredgaard, Bedi Buval and Tidiane Sane. After the five first rounds Randers was still undefeated. However at the winter break Randers was placed mid-table.
Up and Down Years
On 4 November 2008 Randers announced that former Danish international John Jensen (aka John "Faxe" Jensen) would become new manager from 1 July following the ending of Colin Todd's contract.[4] However Colin Todd expressed his frustration about how Randers had dealt with the situation and openly criticised the club for putting him in a difficult situation.[5][6]
Jensen ended up taking the place as manager six months before schedule due to the Club having reached an agreement with the then present manager Colin Todd. Jensen was officially announced new manager on 5 January. Jensen started his time in Randers FC in great fashion, winning the first league game of the season against local rivals AGF 2–1. However, the club failed to sustain the winning form when they went to draw against Vejle BK and thereafter lost the following 3 games to the top three sides OB, FCK and BIF. The team's losing streak reached a culmination point when they lost 1–6 to FC Nordsjaelland.
However, the club responded well to the bad figures and went to win their following five games and thereby reached a new club record for most won games in a row. The season ended with a 3–3 draw away against Danish Champions FC Copenhagen, and 5th place (highest league rank in the club's history). Marc Nygaard claimed the golden boot for 16 goals during the season. Morten Nordstrand was later credited for a goal on penalty in the final match, and also had a goal tally of 16, but Nygaard was awarded the title as he was the first to reach the 16 goals.[7]
Randers FC and Faxe decided that Tøfting was not the right choice as assistant manager, and on 1 May 2009 the club announced that the contract of Tøfting would not be extended. On 2 June the club announced two of Jensen's former colleagues from the European Champions of 1992 team, Henrik Larsen and Flemming Povlsen as the new assistant managers. Larsen as 1st assistant manager and Povlsen as assistant focused on the attack.
After a catastrophic start to the 2009–10 season with only 2 points from 11 games in the league, John Jensen and his assistants were released from their contracts.[8]
Ove Christensen was appointed new head coach for Randers FC for the remaining of the 2009/2010-season.[9] He was given the objective to save Randers FC from relegation.
Randers was counted as relegated in the winter break by the media and experts. However a historic comeback with 16 games without defeat,[10] meant that their topflight status was to be decided on the final day of the season. A loss to Brøndby IF would mean, that if AGF won their game against OB, the best team of the spring season would be relegated. OB won 0–3 and Randers lost their first match in the second half of the season 1–3, so Randers kept their status, and Ove Christensen delivered, what most people thought was impossible – a save from relegation. Yura Movsisyan was the key in Rander's survival as he scored 7 goals in 13 games.
When Ove Christensen arrived he gave the squad an overhaul and 9 players were released or sold in the winter break of 2009–10 season. He also made some signings:Anders Egholm from SønderjyskE, Morten Karlsen from FC Nordsjælland and Søren Jensen on loan from Odd Grenland.
Ove Christensen signed a new one-year contract as head coach on 17 May 2010.
However, in the following season Ove Christensen could not follow up un the success and was fired after a loss to Brøndby IF. Peter Elstrup and Allan Kuhn was taken in as caretakers but could not prevent Randers FC from being relegated at the end of the season. Michael Hemmingsen was named new head coach with the first task to bring Randers FC back to the Superliga.
With Hemmingsen as head coach, Randers ended the 2011–12 season in second place in the Danish 1st division and thereby earned promotion to the Danish Superliga.
League success and europa league-qualification
Despite having earned promotion to the Danish Superliga Hemmingsen was replaced as head coach by former Randers-coach Colin Todd who thereby returned to the club that he coached in the period 2007–2009. Randers did well in their first season after being promoted, and ended their 2012–13 league campaign in third place – the best league league-result in the history of the club. The team also reached the final in the Danish cup tournament but lost 0–1 to Esbjerg FB.
The league result meant that Randers was to play in the Europa League-qualification. Randers entered the qualifiers in the third round and met Rubin Kazan. Randers lost the home game 1–2 and the away game 0–2 and was there by eliminated from the qualifiers.
European record
The 2006–07 season Randers FC managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup as National Cup winners. The 2009–10 season the club was invited to participate in the Europa League due to 2nd place in the Danish league Fair Play ranking – behind 2008–09 champions FC Copenhagen, who claimed the Champions League spot. The 2010–11 season the club was invited to participate in the Europa League due to 2nd place in the Danish league Fair Play ranking – behind 2009–10 champions FC Copenhagen, who claimed the Champions League spot.
| Season | Competition | Round | Opposition | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07[11] | UEFA Cup | First qualifying round |  ÍA
|
1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 (a) |
| Second qualifying round |  Kaunas
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3–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | ||
| First round |  Fenerbahçe
|
0–3 | 1–2 | 1–5 | ||
| 2009–10[12] | UEFA Europa League | First qualifying round |  Linfield
|
4–0 | 3–0 | 7–0 |
| Second qualifying round | Sūduva
|
1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | ||
| Third qualifying round |  Hamburg
|
0–4 | 1–0 | 1–4 | ||
| 2010–11[13] | UEFA Europa League | First qualifying round |  F91 Dudelange
|
6–1 | 1–2 | 7–3 |
| Second qualifying round |  Gorica
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1–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | ||
| Third qualifying round |  Lausanne-Sport
|
2–3 | 1–1 | 3–4 | ||
| 2013–14 | UEFA Europa League | Third qualifying round |  Rubin Kazan
|
1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | First qualifying round |  UE Sant Julià
|
3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Second qualifying round |  Elfsborg
|
0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
Stadium
Randers Stadium
Randers Stadium was founded in 1961. It was built to hold 18,000 spectators and in 1969 a record of 16,500 people attended the UEFA Cup loss against 1. FC Köln.
AutoC Park Randers
AutoC Park has a capacity of 10,300 spectators. It was built by C. F. Møller Architects and is established on the former Randers Stadion.
The current stadium attendance record is 11.824, set against Brøndby IF on 16 May 2010.
BioNutria Park Randers
The 22nd of September 2015 it was announced that the local company BioNutria had bought the name rights of the stadium until the 31st of October 2018.
Supporters
The official supporters are The Blue Horses, however there are more factions within the fanculture of Randers FC.
Honours
- Superligaen
- 3rd Place (1): 2013
- Danish Cup
- UEFA Fair Play League
- Winners: (2) 2009, 2010
Records
Most games played: 223 
Mads Fenger
Most goals: 41 Ronnie Schwartz
Biggest league win: 5–0 Randers FC – AAB[14]
Biggest league loss: 1–6 Randers FC – FC Nordsjælland, SønderjyskE – Randers FC[15]
Highest attendance(home): 11.824 Randers FC – Brøndby IF[16]
Longest run without defeat: 16 (29.11.2009–05.05.2010)
Longest winning streak: 5 (13.04.2010–03.05.2010)
Longest run without a win: 18 (31.05.2009–29.11.2009)
Current squad
As of 15 July 2016[17]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Managers
Lars Olsen (1 Jan 2003 – 24 Jan 2007)
Colin Todd (1 July 2007 – 5 Jan 2009)- John "Faxe" Jensen (5 Jan 2009 – 6 Oct 2009)
- Ove Christensen (7 Oct 2009 – 26 April 2011)
- Peter Elstrup (interim) (27 April 2011 – 30 June 2011)
- Michael Hemmingsen (1 July 2011 – 5 July 2012)
- Colin Todd (5 July 2012 – 30 June 2016)
Ólafur Kristjánsson (1 July 2016–)
Staff
Management
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Chief Executive Officer | Michael Gravgaard |
| Head of Financials | Henrik Jørgensen |
| Sales | Kathrine Fisker |
| Administration Manager | Jesper Hansen |
| Press Officer | Kristian Fredslund Andersen |
| Press Officer | Ib Rasmussen |
| Team Services Manager | Jan Faurskov |
| Sponsor Coordinator | Anders Rasmussen |
| IT & Ticket Coordinator | Michael Møller Højfeldt |
| Sales Assistant | Lone Nikolajsen |
Team
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Director of Football | Ole Nielsen |
| Head Coach | Colin Todd |
| Assistant Coach | Thomas Thomasberg |
| Youth-Development Coach | Peter Elstrup |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Erik Boye |
| Fitness Coach | Peter Sand Sørensen |
| Chief Physio | Jens T. Møller |
| Team assistant | Peer Kam |
| Team assistant | Erik Jespersen |
| Team assistant | Lars Pedersen |
| Team assistant | Hans Kirkegaard |
| Medical | Dr. Lars Enevoldsen |
| Dr. Peter Faunø |
Shirt sponsors
2003-2005/6: Nike
2006/7-2009/10: Umbro
2010/11-2012/13: H2O[18]
2015/16-? Puma
League Stats
Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 2002–03 2D 4 30 15 6 9 65 49 51 Fourth round 2003–04 2D 2 30 21 3 6 85 43 66 Fourth round promoted 2004–05 1D 12 33 5 9 19 30 64 24 quarter-final relegated 2005–06 2D 2 30 19 4 7 64 30 61 winner promoted 2006–07 1D 8 33 10 8 15 41 53 38 quarter-final UEFA Cup 1st round 2007–08 1D 6 33 13 8 12 41 33 47 quarter-final 2008–09 1D 5 33 11 13 9 52 50 46 Fourth round 2009–10 1D 10 33 10 10 13 37 43 40 Fourth round Europa League – 3. Qualifying round 2010–11 1D 11 33 6 16 11 41 48 34 Semi Finals relegated/Europa League – 3. Qualifying round 2011–12 2D 2 26 15 4 7 38 22 49 3rd round promoted 2012–13 1D 3 33 15 7 11 36 42 52 runner up
References
- ^ "(In Danish)". Randersfc.dk. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
- ^ Michael Olesen. "Stig Tøfting til Randers | Sport | DR". Dr.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Randers FC – Stig Tøfting bliver i Randers FC". Randersfc.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Faxe præsenteret i Randers". Bold.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Colin Todd vil fyres". Bold.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Todd skuffet over håndteringen". Bold.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Nordstrand fik sit mål – Fodbold". Sporten.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Randers FC – John Faxe stopper i Randers FC". Randersfc.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Randers FC – Ove Christensen er den nye cheftræner". Randersfc.dk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "UEFA Europa League 2006/07 – History – Randers –". Uefa.com. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ "UEFA Europa League 2009/10 – History – Randers –". Uefa.com. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ "UEFA Europa League 2010/11 – History – Randers –". Uefa.com. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ [2] Template:Wayback
- ^ [3][dead link]
- ^ [4] Template:Wayback
- ^ Randers FC squad, Randers FC website
- ^ "Danish sportswear". H2O Sportswear. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Randers FC". Warrior Football. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
External links
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