Jakob Kjeldbjerg

Jakob Kjeldbjerg
Personal information
Full name	Jakob Kjeldbjerg Jensen
Date of birth	21 October 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Frederiks, Denmark
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team
–1986	Viborg FF
1987	Holstebro Boldklub
1988–1990	Viborg FF
1991–1993	Silkeborg IF
1993–1997	Chelsea
International career
1989–1992	Denmark under-21
1992–1994	Denmark
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jakob Kjeldbjerg Jensen (born 21 October 1969) is a Danish television host and former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Kjeldbjerg won 14 caps and scored one goal for the Danish national team, and represented Denmark at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Club career

Kjeldbjerg started playing football lower-league clubs Holstebro Boldklub and Viborg FF, before moving to Danish top-flight team Silkeborg IF.

In August 1993, he moved abroad in England. He was bought by Chelsea in the FA Premier League, in a transfer deal worth £485,000. Eighty years after Nils Middelboe made his Chelsea debut in 1913, Kjeldbjerg became the second Dane to play for the club. He stayed with Chelsea for four years, and featured in the side which lost to Manchester United in the 1994 FA Cup final. In a game against Millwall in February 1995, Kjeldbjerg dislocated his shoulder, the first incident in a long list of injuries. He injured a ligament in his left knee, and was unable to fully recover. He ended his professional football career in 1997, only 28 years old.

International career

He was selected team captain for the Danish under-21 national team which competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and won the 1992 Danish under-21 Player of the Year award. He made his national team debut in November 1992, and scored his only national team goal in a 2–2 draw with the United States in January 1993. He played in the 1993 Artemio Franchi Trophy game against Argentina, where he was praised for his effective marking of Argentinian playmaker Maradona.

Media career

In May 1998, he began hosting football matches from the Danish Superliga and UEFA Champions League, for the Danish television channel TV3. In 2004, he became the host in TV3's Danish version of the Survivor-concept reality show: Robinson Ekspeditionen. In August 2007, he became the new host for Onside, a popular football TV magazine.

In 2003, Kjeldbjerg hosted the Danish version of Gladiators, Gladiatorerne.

In 2012 and 2013 Kjeldbjerg hosted the realityshow Divaer i Junglen (a Danish version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!), where participants from other reality shows participate in the South-American jungle.

External links