Andreas Bjelland

Andreas Bjelland (born 11 July 1988) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for F.C. Copenhagen. He has represented Denmark at international level and was part of the Danes' Euro 2012 squad. He is also adept as a full back or defensive midfielder.[4]

Andreas Bjelland
Bjelland with Copenhagen in 2018
Personal information
Full name Andreas Bjelland[1]
Date of birth (1988-07-11) 11 July 1988
Place of birth Fredensborg, Denmark[2]
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Copenhagen
Number 5
Youth career
Fredensborg BI
0000–2001 BSV
2001–2006 Lyngby
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2009 Lyngby 46 (1)
2009–2012 FC Nordsjælland 72 (3)
2012–2015 FC Twente 65 (3)
2015–2018 Brentford 62 (1)
2018– Copenhagen 51 (1)
National team‡
2004 Denmark U16 1 (0)
2006 Denmark U18 1 (0)
2006 Denmark U19 3 (0)
2009–2011 Denmark U21 16 (0)
2010– Denmark 29 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:29, 11 August 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:49, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

Club career

Lyngby

A centre back, Bjelland began his career in his homeland with Fredensborg BI and BSV,[5] before moving into the youth system at Superliga club Lyngby in 2001.[6] Financial problems at the stricken club saw the Royal Blues relegated to the Danmarksserien, but by the time Bjelland made his senior debut in September 2006,[7] they had risen back to the 1. division.[6] He made 9 appearances during the 2006–07 and after promotion to the Superliga, he made 11 appearances in 2007–08.[8] After an immediate relegation back to the 1.division, Bjelland finally broke into the team and during the 2008–09 season made 24 appearances and scored one goal.[8] After five early-2009–10 season appearances,[8] Bjelland departed Lyngby on 31 August 2009.[9] He made 47 appearances and scored one goal for the club.[8]

FC Nordsjælland

Bjelland returned to the Superliga to sign for FC Nordsjælland on 31 August 2009.[9] He quickly established himself in the team and made 26 appearances, scoring one goal.[8] His season was capped by success in the DBU Pokalen, with Nordsjælland beating Midtjylland 2–0 in the final after extra time.[7] Bjelland had another successful season in 2010–11,[8] being named vice-captain and again winning the DBU Pokalen at the expense of Midtjylland.[7][10] He made 29 appearances and scored one goal in a 2011–12 season which saw Nordsjælland win the Superliga title for the first time in the club's history.[7][8] Bjelland departed the club in June 2012, after making 85 appearances and scoring three goals during three seasons at Farum Park.[8]

FC Twente

On 6 November 2011, it was announced that Bjelland had signed a four-year contract (with the option of a further year) with Dutch Eredivisie club FC Twente, effective from the beginning of the 2012–13 season.[11] He had a debut season to forget at De Grolsch Veste,[12] spending six months out with a broken metatarsal and making only 14 appearances.[8] He came back fit for the 2013–14 season and was a virtual ever-present as Twente managed a third-place finish in the Eredivisie.[8] Bjelland was named as captain for the 2014–15 season,[10] but he was in and out of the team, due to injuries and suspensions.[8] He left the club on 2 July 2015,[13] after making 79 appearances and scoring three goals during his three seasons in Enschede.[8]

Brentford
Bjelland (right) contesting a Brentford corner kick with Chelsea's Nathaniel Chalobah in January 2017.

On 2 July 2015, Bjelland moved to England to sign for Championship club Brentford on a three-year contract for a club-record €3 million fee.[13][14] After recovering from a groin injury suffered in pre-season,[15] Bjelland made his debut for the club with a start in a League Cup first round match versus Oxford United on 11 August.[16] He was at fault for Oxford's first goal of the 4–0 defeat and suffered a knee ligament injury on the stroke of half time.[17][18]

Bjelland returned to full-contact training in late April 2016 and despite missing part of the 2016–17 pre-season with an abductor strain,[19] he entered the regular season fit.[20][21] He broke into the starting lineup in an unfamiliar left back role in mid-September 2016.[22][23] After the team's formation was switched to 3–5–2 three months later, he reverted to his usual centre back position.[24] Bjelland missed much of March and April 2017 through injury and finished the season with 29 appearances.[22][25]

Bjelland deputised for the absent Harlee Dean early in the 2017–18 season scored his first Brentford goal in a 4–3 defeat to Nottingham Forest 12 August 2017.[26] After Dean's departure at the end of the summer transfer window,[27] Bjelland continued as an automatic pick for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.[28] Despite suffering from an achilles problem during the final two months of the season,[29] Bjelland finished the campaign with 35 appearances and one goal.[26] After failing to agree a new contract, he was released on 30 June 2018.[30] During three seasons at Griffin Park, Bjelland made 65 appearances and scored one goal.[2]

FC Copenhagen

On 9 July 2018, Bjelland returned to Denmark to sign a four-year contract with Superliga club F.C. Copenhagen on a free transfer.[31] He made 41 appearances and scored one goal during the club's 2018–19 Superliga-winning season.[8][32] During a 2019–20 season which featured a run to the quarter-finals of the Europa League and a runners-up finish in the Superliga, Bjelland made 30 appearances.[8]

International career
Bjelland prior to a Denmark U21 match in 2011.

Youth

Despite being eligible to represent Norway,[33] Bjelland represented Denmark at U16, U18, U19 and U21 level,[34] captaining the latter team and making three appearances at the 2011 European U21 Championship,[35] hosted in Denmark.[36]

Full

Bjelland made his full international debut in a 0–0 friendly draw with the Czech Republic on 17 November 2010 and played the full 90 minutes.[34] He received his second call up 11 months later, when he was selected for a pair of Euro 2012 qualifiers against Cyprus and Portugal, in which he started and helped the team to wins.[34] Bjelland scored his first international goal with penalty to seal a 2–0 friendly win over Australia on 2 June 2012.[34] He was called into Denmark's squad for Euro 2012,[37] but failed to make an appearance before the team crashed out in the group stage.[34]

Following Euro 2012,[12] a metatarsal injury suffered on club duty with Twente saw Bjelland miss a year of international football and he made his return in a 2–1 friendly win over Georgia on 5 June 2013.[12][34] He scored his second international goal in a 6–0 2014 World Cup qualifying win over Malta on 15 October 2013.[34] Bjelland made regular appearances through 2014, but a knee ligament injury meant that failed to appear for Denmark between June 2015 and 11 November 2016,[18] when he made his comeback playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–0 2018 World Cup qualifying win over Kazakhstan.[34] He was included in Denmark’s preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup,[38] but was not named in the final squad, due to injury.[39]

Personal life

Bjelland was born to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother.[33] His younger brother Thomas was also a footballer for BSV and Hellerup.[40][41] He has two daughters.[10] In 2018, Bjelland invested a reported amount of DKK 200,000 (approximately £25,000) in his former club Lyngby and consequently became a minority owner of the club.[42]

Honours

FC Nordsjælland

FC Copenhagen

Career statistics
As of match played 10 August 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lyngby 2006–07[43] 1.division 9 0 0 0 — — — 9 0
2007–08[8] Superliga 11 0 0 0 — — — 11 0
2008–09[8] 1.division 22 1 2 0 — — — 24 1
2009–10[8] 4 0 1 0 — — — 5 0
Total 46130——— 471
FC Nordsjælland 2009–10[8] Superliga 22 1 5 0 — — — 27 1
2010–11[8] 24 1 5 0 — 0 0 — 29 1
2011–12[8] 26 1 1 0 — 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 27 1
Total 723110— 2 0— 853
FC Twente 2012–13[8] Eredivisie 8 0 0 0 — 4[lower-alpha 1] 0 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 14 0
2013–14[8] 33 0 1 0 — — — 34 0
2014–15[8] 26 3 4 0 — 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 31 3
Total 67350— 5 020793
Brentford 2015–16[44] Championship 0 0 0 0 1 0 — — 1 0
2016–17[22] 28 0 1 0 0 0 — — 29 0
2017–18[26] 34 1 0 0 1 0 — — 35 1
Total 62 1 1 0 2 0 — — 65 1
F.C. Copenhagen 2018–19[8] Superliga 30 1 0 0 — 11[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 41 1
2019–20[8] 21 0 1 0 — 8[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 30 0
Total 51 1 1 0 — 19 0 — 71 1
Career totals 289921020 26 0203409
  1. Appearances in Europa League
  2. Appearances in Eredivisie European competition play-offs
gollark: I really hate typing on phones. I can do 100 WPM or so on a decent physical keyboard, but on phones I type very slowly and rely heavily on autocorrect.
gollark: Write the book, or *pay the price of failure*.
gollark: Write the book, ***or else***.
gollark: *Or else.*
gollark: Do they just expect stuff to cost the *same* despite the same demand and lower supply?

References
  1. "EFL: Retained list: 2015/16" (PDF). English Football League. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. Andreas Bjelland at Soccerbase
  3. "Andreas Bjelland – Defender – First Team – Brentford FC". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  4. "Brentford transfer news: FC Twente defender Andreas Bjelland on Marinus Dijkhuizen's radar". Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  5. "Blue Vikings – Official Lyngby BK Supporters". www.bluevikings.dk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  6. "Spelersprofiel: Andreas Bjelland – FC Twente". Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  7. "Andreas Bjelland – UEFA.com". Uefa.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  8. Andreas Bjelland at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  9. "FCN henter Andreas Bjelland". bold.dk. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  10. "Bjelland over het aanvoerderschap, zijn gezin en het leven in Nederland » FC Twente". www.fctwente.nl. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  11. Blond, Mikael (6 November 2011). "Bjelland solgt til Twente" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  12. Moore, Tom (10 November 2016). "Andreas Bjelland speaks to GetWestLondon about his career so far". getwestlondon. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  13. Wickham, Chris. "Danish international defender Andreas Bjelland signs for Brentford from FC Twente". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  14. "Brentford sign Denmark's Bjelland". BBC. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  15. Moore, Tom. "Brentford defender set to shrug off injury to face Ipswich". Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  16. "Andreas Bjelland Player Profile – ESPN FC". www.espnfc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  17. "Matchday Centre: Oxford United". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  18. Moore, Tom. "Brentford to find out extent of Andreas Bjelland's injury". Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  19. Moore, Tom (26 July 2016). "Brentford boss Dean Smith gives injury update after Peterborough friendly". Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  20. Moore, Tom (28 April 2016). "Who's fit? Who's out? The latest injury news from Brentford". getwestlondon. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  21. Brett, Ciaran. "Andreas Bjelland speaks to Bees Player after making his Brentford return against Boreham Wood". Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  22. "Games played by Andreas Bjelland in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  23. Brett, Ciaran. "Andreas Bjelland on Brentford's 0–0 draw with Wigan Athletic and his Denmark International call-up". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  24. Baldwin, James. "Our look at City's upcoming opponents for Saturday's Sky Bet Championship match at home to Brentford". Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  25. Nugara, Jordan (12 April 2017). "Brentford boss gives injury update ahead of Derby County clash". getwestlondon. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  26. "Games played by Andreas Bjelland in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  27. "Harlee Dean leaves Brentford". Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  28. "Andreas Bjelland Player Profile – ESPN FC". www.espnfc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  29. Wilmot, Lee (6 June 2018). "Defender involved in war of words with national team boss after World Cup snub". footballlondon. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  30. "Andreas Bjelland leaves Brentford". Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  31. "FCK henter Andreas Bjelland | F.C. København". F.C. København (in Danish). Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  32. "Summary – Superliga – Denmark – Results, fixtures, tables and news – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  33. "Bjelland kunne have spillet for Norge". Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  34. "Landsholdsdatabasen spiller information". www.dbu.dk. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  35. "Under-21 – News – UEFA.com". uefa.com. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  36. "Under-21 2011 – History – Denmark – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  37. "UEFA Euro 2012 - History - Denmark – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  38. "Hariede udtager 35-mands bruttotrup". www.dbu.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  39. "Bendtner vraget til VM: Her er Danmarks endelige trup". www.b.dk (in Danish). 3 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  40. "BSV-træner fremhæver lillebror Bjelland". Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  41. "Thomas Bjelland". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  42. "Ejer en del af Superliga-modstander: – Ikke et problem". ekstrabladet.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  43. "Andreas Bjelland". www.ronaldzwiers.0catch.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  44. "Games played by Andreas Bjelland in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
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