Esbjerg fB
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| Full name | Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber | ||
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| Short name | EfB | ||
| Founded | 23 July 1924 | ||
| Ground | Blue Water Arena, Esbjerg | ||
| Capacity | 16,942 | ||
| Chairman | Brian Knudsen | ||
| Manager | John Lammers | ||
| League | Danish Superliga | ||
| 2017–18 | Danish 1st Division, 2nd (promoted) | ||
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Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (EfB; pronounced [ˈɛsbjæɐ̯ˀ]) is a professional Danish football club from the port city of Esbjerg in West Jyland. The club was formed in 1924, as a merger between Esbjerg Boldklub af 1898 and Esbjerg Amatørklub af 1911. The club has training facilities and stadium at Gl. Vardevej in Esbjerg, and plays in blue and white striped shirts. Esbjerg fB is one of the more successful clubs in Denmark in terms of trophies. They have won the Danish championship five times (1961, 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1979) and three Danish cup titles (1964, 1976 and 2013). The main sponsor is Stofa and the club's kit sponsor is Nike. The official fanclub of Esbjerg fB is Blue Knights. In 2005 EfB took over the management of the elite ice hockey club, Esbjerg Ishockey Klub (EIK), which is now called EfB Ishockey.
History
Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber was officially established in 1924 as a merger between Esbjerg Boldklub af 1898 (E.B. 98) and Esbjerg Amatørklub af 1911 (EAK) after 12 years of competition between the two clubs. The new club was driven by ambition for something bigger, which already produced results the day after when the club's best start-up team defeated Kolding IF with 7–0.
The club's golden years was in the first half of the 1960s with the Austrian coach Rudi Strittich throughout most of the decade. The club won the Danish Championship in 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965 and won the DBU national Cup for men in 1964. In the 2010–11 Danish Superliga season EfB finished 12th and was relegated to the Danish 1st Division for the first time since the 1999–00 season.
Stadium
Esbjerg fB plays at Blue Water Arena, which is the name of Esbjerg Stadion at Gl. Vardevej and part of Esbjerg Sports Park. In 2004 a new stand was built on the eastern side of a stadium. A new stadium with seating for 16,942 spectators, was completed in August 2009. It is currently the second biggest stadium in Jutland, and the fourth biggest in Denmark.
- Location: Gl. Vardevej 62, 6700 Esbjerg
- Year built: 1955
- Extended / renovated: 1999, 2004, 2008–09
- Capacity: 16,942 (11,451 seats)
- Pitch Size: 105 x 68 meters
- Lighting: 1200 lux.
- Record attendance: 22,000 (Esbjerg fB – KB, 1961)
- Address: Gl Vardevej 82, 6700 Esbjerg
Honours
Achievements
- 45 seasons in the Highest Danish League
- 24 seasons in the Second Highest Danish League
- 5 seasons in the Third Highest Danish League
Players
Current squad
- As of 31 August 2018[1]
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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Staff
- Head Coach: John Lammers
- Assistant Coach: Johnny Mølby
- A + Coach: Lars Vind
- Goalkeeper Coach: Lars Winde
- Physical Coach: Torben Nielsen
- Assistant Physical Coach: Søren Nielsen
- Physio: Christian Søborg
- Masseur: Lars Kikkenborg
- Scout: Jimmi Nagel Jacobsen
- Kit Manager: Kaj Schmidt
Former coaches
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Denmark national football team players
The following 32 Esbjerg football players has been picked and had their debut on the Danish national football team (debut/matches/goals):
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Former notable foreign players
Esbjerg has a list of former notable foreign players of which some have represented their national team. Some of the most memorable are listed here:
Player of the year
Player of the year Esbjerg fB
- 1999–00: Henrik Ibsen
- 2000–01: Joakim Persson
- 2001–02: Christian Karlsson
- 2002–03: Jan Kristiansen
- 2003–04: Tommy Bechmann
- 2004–05: Fredrik Berglund
- 2005–06: Jerry Lucena
- 2006–07: Niki Zimling
- 2007–08: Martin Vingaard
- 2008–09: Søren Rieks
- 2009–10: Nicolai Høgh
- 2010–11: Jesper Lange
- 2011–12: Søren Rieks
- 2012–13: Lukáš Hrádecký
- 2013–14: Kian Hansen[2]
- 2014–15: Jonas Knudsen[3]
- 2015–16: Jeppe Højbjerg
- 2016–17: Victor Pálsson
- 2017–18: Anders Dreyer[4]
Player of the year Denmark
- 1963: Jens Petersen
- 1978: Ole Kjær
- 1979: Jens Jørn Bertelsen
Recent history
Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 1999–2000 SL 12 33 8 4 21 40 70 28 Quarter-final relegated 2000–01 1D 1 30 19 8 3 79 29 65 5th round promoted 2001–02 SL 7 33 13 6 14 42 44 45 Semi-final 2002–03 SL 5 33 12 11 10 65 57 47 Quarter-final 2003–04 SL 3 33 18 8 7 71 44 62 5th round 2004–05 SL 5 33 13 10 10 61 47 49 5th round 2005–06 SL 6 33 12 6 15 43 45 42 Runner-up 2006–07 SL 7 33 10 10 13 46 51 40 4th round 2007–08 SL 7 33 13 6 14 59 54 45 Runner-up 2008–09 SL 9 33 7 11 15 32 41 32 3rd round 2009–10 SL 4 33 13 11 9 48 43 50 4th round 2010–11 SL 12 33 7 12 14 36 49 33 Semi-final relegated 2011–12 1D 1 26 21 3 2 60 19 66 3rd round promoted 2012–13 SL 4 33 13 8 12 38 32 47 Winner 2013–14 SL 5 33 13 9 11 47 38 48 4th round 2014–15 SL 8 33 10 10 13 47 45 40 Semi-final 2015–16 SL 11 33 7 9 17 38 64 30 3rd round 2016–17 SL 14 32 6 12 14 32 54 30 3rd round relegated 2017–18 1D 2 33 18 6 9 61 36 60 1st round promoted