Andreas Bjelland

Andreas Bjelland
Bjelland training with FC Twente in 2012.
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)
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 FC 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– FC Copenhagen 7 (0)
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 28 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:27, 2 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14:14, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Andreas Bjelland (born 11 July 1988) is a Danish professional football centre back who plays for FC 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.[3]

Club career

Lyngby

A centre back, Bjelland began his career in his homeland with Fredensborg BI and BSV,[4] before moving into the youth system at Superliga side Lyngby in 2001.[5] 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,[6] they had risen back to the 1. division.[5] Winning the 1.division championship in the 2006–07 season saw Bjelland start his first full season with Lyngby as a first team regular, starting the club's opening 9 games.[7] He dropped out of contention and finished the 2007–08 season with 11 appearances and no goals.[7] Back in the 1.division after relegation from the Superliga, Bjelland was a regular in the 2008–09 season, making 24 appearances and scoring one goal.[7] He made five appearances in the opening month of the 2009–10 season,[7] before departing on 31 August 2009.[8] Bjelland made 47 appearances and scored one goal for the club.[7]

FC Nordsjælland

Bjelland returned to the Superliga to sign for FC Nordsjælland on 31 August 2009.[8] He quickly established himself in the team and had a successful first season, making 26 appearances and scoring one goal.[7] His campaign was capped by success in the DBU Pokalen, with Nordsjælland beating Midtjylland 2–0 in the final after extra time.[7] Despite missing out on Nordsjælland's short-lived Europa League campaign, Bjelland had another successful season in 2010–11,[7] being named vice-captain and again winning the DBU Pokalen at the expense of Midtjylland.[9]

Bjelland finally made his European debut at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, playing in both legs as Nordsjælland crashed out in the qualifying stages to Sporting Lisbon for the second successive season.[7] Bjelland made 29 appearances and scored one goal in a season which saw Nordsjælland win the Superliga title for the first time in the club's history.[6][7] He departed the club in June 2012, after making 84 appearances and scoring three goals during three seasons at Farum Park.[7]

FC Twente

On 6 November 2011, it was announced that Bjelland had signed a four-year contract (with an optional further year) with Dutch Eredivisie side FC Twente, effective from the beginning of the 2012–13 season.[10] He had a debut season to forget at De Grolsch Veste,[11] spending six months out with a broken metatarsal and making only 14 appearances.[7] 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.[7] Bjelland was named as captain for the 2014–15 season,[9] though he was in and out of the team, missing matches through suspensions and four separate injuries.[7] He left the club on 2 July 2015,[12] after making 79 appearances and scoring three goals during his three seasons in Enschede.[7]

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 side Brentford on a three-year deal for a club-record €3 million fee.[12][13] A groin injury suffered in pre-season saw Bjelland only fit enough for the bench for the first match of the 2015–16 season versus Ipswich Town and he made his first start for the club three days later in the League Cup first round versus Oxford United.[14][15] He was at fault for Oxford's first goal of the 4–0 defeat and was withdrawn at half time after suffering a knee ligament injury.[16][17] He returned to full-contact training in late April 2016 and entered the 2016–17 pre-season fully fit and played his first match for 11 months versus Boreham Wood on 9 July 2016.[18][19]

Despite missing part of the 2016–17 pre-season with an abductor strain,[20] Bjelland broke into the starting lineup in an unfamiliar left back role in mid-September 2016.[21][22] He returned to his natural centre back position after the team's formation was switched to 3–5–2 three months later.[23] Bjelland missed much of March and April 2017 through injury and finished the season with 29 appearances.[21][24] 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.[25] After Dean's departure at the end of the summer transfer window,[26] Bjelland continued as an automatic pick for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.[27] Despite suffering from an achilles problem during the final two months of the season,[28] Bjelland finished the campaign with 35 appearances and one goal.[25] After failing to agree a new contract, he was released on 30 June 2018.[29] In three seasons at Griffin Park, Bjelland made 65 appearances and scored one goal.[30]

FC Copenhagen

On 9 July 2018, Bjelland returned to Denmark to sign a four-year contract with Superliga club FC Copenhagen on a free transfer.[31]

International career

Bjelland prior to a Denmark U21 match in 2011.

Youth

Despite being eligible to represent Norway,[32] Bjelland represented Denmark at U16, U18, U19 and U21 level,[33] captaining the latter team and making three appearances at the 2011 European U21 Championship,[34] hosted in Denmark.[35]

Full

Bjelland made his full international debut in a 0–0 friendly draw with the Czech Republic on 17 November 2010, playing the full 90 minutes.[36] He failed to receive a call-up for another 11 months, when he was drafted in for a pair of Euro 2012 qualifiers against Cyprus and Portugal, starting both matches and helping the team to wins.[36] Bjelland scored his first international goal with penalty to seal a 2–0 friendly win over Australia on 2 June 2012.[36] 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.[36]

Following Euro 2012,[11] 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.[36] He scored his second international goal in a 6–0 2014 World Cup qualifying thrashing of Malta on 15 October 2013.[36] Bjelland made regular appearances through 2014,[17] but a knee ligament injury meant that failed to appear for Denmark between June 2015 and 11 November 2016 and he made his comeback playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–0 2018 World Cup qualifying win over Kazakhstan.[36] 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.[32] His younger brother Thomas was also a footballer for BSV and Hellerup.[40][41] He has two daughters.[9]

Honours

FC Nordsjælland

Career statistics

As of match played 2 September 2018.
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lyngby 2006–07[42] 1.division 9 0 0 0 — — — 9 0
2007–08[7] Superliga 11 0 0 0 — — — 11 0
2008–09[7] 1.division 22 1 2 0 — — — 24 1
2009–10[7] 4 0 1 0 — — — 5 0
Total 46130——— 471
FC Nordsjælland 2009–10[7] Superliga 22 1 4 0 — — — 26 1
2010–11[7] 24 1 5 0 — 0 0 — 29 1
2011–12[7] 26 1 1 0 — 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 27 1
Total 723100— 2 0— 843
FC Twente 2012–13[7] Eredivisie 8 0 0 0 — 4[lower-alpha 1] 0 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 14 0
2013–14[7] 33 0 1 0 — — — 34 0
2014–15[7] 26 3 4 0 — 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 31 3
Total 67350— 5 020793
Brentford 2015–16[43] Championship 0 0 0 0 1 0 — — 1 0
2016–17[21] 28 0 1 0 0 0 — — 29 0
2017–18[25] 34 1 0 0 1 0 — — 35 1
Total 62 1 1 0 2 0 — — 65 1
FC Copenhagen 2018–19[7] Superliga 7 0 0 0 — 5[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 12 0
Career totals 245819020 12 0202808
  1. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in Europa League
  2. ↑ Appearances in Eredivisie European competition play-offs

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 – Football Stats – Brentford – Age 30 – Soccer Base". Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Brentford transfer news: FC Twente defender Andreas Bjelland on Marinus Dijkhuizen's radar". Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "Blue Vikings – Official Lyngby BK Supporters". www.bluevikings.dk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Spelersprofiel: Andreas Bjelland – FC Twente". Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Andreas Bjelland – UEFA.com". Uefa.com. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "Denmark – A. Bjelland – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  8. 1 2 "FCN henter Andreas Bjelland". bold.dk. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 "Bjelland over het aanvoerderschap, zijn gezin en het leven in Nederland » FC Twente". www.fctwente.nl. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Blond, Mikael (6 November 2011). "Bjelland solgt til Twente" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  11. 1 2 Moore, Tom (10 November 2016). "Andreas Bjelland speaks to GetWestLondon about his career so far". getwestlondon. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  12. 1 2 Wickham, Chris. "Danish international defender Andreas Bjelland signs for Brentford from FC Twente". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Brentford sign Denmark's Bjelland". BBC. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  14. ↑ Moore, Tom. "Brentford defender set to shrug off injury to face Ipswich". Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  15. ↑ "Andreas Bjelland Player Profile – ESPN FC". www.espnfc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  16. ↑ FC, Brentford. "Matchday Centre: Oxford United". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  17. 1 2 Moore, Tom. "Brentford to find out extent of Andreas Bjelland's injury". Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  18. ↑ Moore, Tom (28 April 2016). "Who's fit? Who's out? The latest injury news from Brentford". getwestlondon. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  19. ↑ Brett, Ciaran. "Andreas Bjelland speaks to Bees Player after making his Brentford return against Boreham Wood". Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  20. ↑ Moore, Tom (26 July 2016). "Brentford boss Dean Smith gives injury update after Peterborough friendly". Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 "Games played by Andreas Bjelland in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  22. ↑ Brett, Ciaran. "Andreas Bjelland on Brentford's 0–0 draw with Wigan Athletic and his Denmark International call-up". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  23. ↑ Baldwin, James. "Our look at City's upcoming opponents for Saturday's Sky Bet Championship match at home to Brentford". Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  24. ↑ Nugara, Jordan (12 April 2017). "Brentford boss gives injury update ahead of Derby County clash". getwestlondon. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  25. 1 2 3 "Games played by Andreas Bjelland in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  26. ↑ "Harlee Dean leaves Brentford". Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  27. ↑ "Andreas Bjelland Player Profile – ESPN FC". www.espnfc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  28. ↑ Wilmot, Lee (6 June 2018). "Defender involved in war of words with national team boss after World Cup snub". footballlondon. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  29. ↑ "Andreas Bjelland leaves Brentford". Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  30. ↑ "Andreas Bjelland | Football Stats | Brentford | Age 29 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  31. ↑ "FCK henter Andreas Bjelland | F.C. København". F.C. København (in Danish). Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  32. 1 2 "Bjelland kunne have spillet for Norge". Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  33. ↑ "Landsholdsdatabasen spiller information". www.dbu.dk. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  34. ↑ "Under-21 – News – UEFA.com". uefa.com. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  35. ↑ "Under-21 2011 – History – Denmark – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Landsholdsdatabasen spiller information". www.dbu.dk. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  37. ↑ uefa.com. "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. ↑ "Andreas Bjelland". www.ronaldzwiers.0catch.com. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  43. ↑ "Games played by Andreas Bjelland in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
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