Claus Thomsen

Claus Thomsen (born 31 May 1970 in Aarhus) is a Danish former professional footballer. He won the Danish Cup with AGF Aarhus and played in England for top level teams Ipswich Town and Everton, as well as Wolfsburg in Germany. He played 20 matches for the Danish national team, and represented Denmark at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 European Championship.

For the Danish Olympic diver, see Claus Thomsen (diver).

Claus Thomsen
Personal information
Date of birth (1970-05-31) 31 May 1970
Place of birth Aarhus, Denmark
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1994 AGF Aarhus 142 (21)
1994–1997 Ipswich Town 81 (7)
1997–1998 Everton 24 (1)
1998 AB 20 (2)
1998–2002 VfL Wolfsburg 54 (3)
Total 321 (34)
National team
1986–1988 Denmark U19 19 (0)
1989–1992 Denmark U21 18 (3)
1995–1999 Denmark 20 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Born in Aarhus, Thomsen started his career at local top-flight club AGF Aarhus,[1] where he initially played as a midfielder.[2] Thomsen made his debut for the Danish under-21 national team in May 1989, where under-21 national team coach Richard Møller Nielsen used the 6' 3" Thomsen as a central defender.[3] Thomsen was named under-21 national team captain in 1990. In December 1990, Thomsen signed a new contract with AGF, rejecting interest from Brøndby IF and B1903.[4]

In November 1991, Thomsen was scouted by Celtic FC manager Liam Brady,[5] but the deal fell through due to "too many intermediaries" according to Claus Thomsen himself.[6] He was injured in an under-21 national game against Poland in March 1992, but recovered in time to help AGF win the 1992 Danish Cup. He also captained Denmark at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he played all three of Denmark's matches, and scored a goal against Mexico. In the fall of 1992, he lost his place in the central defence in AGF's starting line-up, and he was used in a number of different positions.[6] He went on trial at Werder Bremen in December 1992, but was not signed by Werder manager Otto Rehhagel.[6]

Ipswich Town

In June 1994, he moved abroad to play for English club Ipswich Town,[7] in a transfer deal worth £250,000.[7] He was called up for his Danish national team début, by national coach Richard Møller Nielsen, in April 1995. Thomsen was also called up to the Danish national squad for the 1996 European Championship, and played in all of Denmark's three matches before elimination. He made a total 97 appearances and scored 8 goals for Ipswich, and was one of the stronger players in the weakest side in Ipswich Town's history. In his first season, he was relegated with Ipswich in 1994/95, and was a key player in the team that missed out on the First Division play-offs in 1995–96; however, as Ipswich were looking to improve their side, he was sold to Everton,[7] for £900,000, in January 1997.[7]

Everton

At Everton, Thomsen notably scored an own goal in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on 16 April 1997, meaning that Everton were held to a 1–1 draw by Liverpool, although they still achieved Premier League survival in 15th place.[8] He scored once at the right end for Everton, his side's only goal in a 2–1 defeat to Derby County.[9]

Akademisk Boldklub

After little more than a year at Everton, marred by poor performances, he moved back to Denmark for £500,000 in March 1998, to play for Akademisk Boldklub[1] (AB).[7] He stayed at AB for six months, before moving abroad once again.

VfL Wolfsburg

Thomsen joined German club VfL Wolfsburg in September 1998. In April 1999, he ended his Danish national team career, citing a lacking energy surplus. Struggling with injuries, he remained at Wolfsburg for four years, but saw little playing time during this period,[10] retiring in April 2002.

Career statistics

[11][12]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
AGF Aarhus
1988 Danish 1st Division 5100——51
1989 Danish 1st Division 23600—2[lower-alpha 1]0256
1990 Danish 1st Division 25500——255
1991 Danish Superliga 18100——181
1991–92 Danish Superliga 22000——220
1992–93 Danish Superliga 29500—2[lower-alpha 1]0295
1993–94 Danish Superliga 20300——203
Total 1422100004014621
Ipswich Town 1994–95 Premier League 3351020—365
1995–96 First Division 37230213[lower-alpha 2]0453
1996–97 First Division 1101040—160
Total 817508130978
Everton 1996–97 Premier League 160000000160
1997–98 Premier League 8110000091
Total 241100000251
AB 1997–98 Danish Superliga 12100—00121
1998–99 Danish Superliga 8100—0081
Total 202000000202
VfL Wolfsburg 1998–99 Bundesliga 26240——302
1999–00 Bundesliga 24021—6[lower-alpha 3]0261
2000–01 Bundesliga 4120—4[lower-alpha 4]0261
Total 5438100100724
Career total 321341418117036036
  1. Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  2. Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  4. Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup

International
Source:[11]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Denmark
199530
199690
199740
199820
199920
Total200

Honours

AGF Aarhus

References
  1. "Thomsen, Claus". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  2. (in Danish) Flemming Kjellerup, "AGF på indkøbs-tur til DDR", Berlingske Tidende, 11 January 1990.
  3. (in Danish) Birger Hilstrøm, "Forsigtig fynbo", Berlingske Tidende, 5 March 1990.
  4. (in Danish) Ib Pilegaard, "Claus vælger AGF og mindre løn", B.T., 7 December 1990.
  5. (in Danish) Jens-Carl Kristiansen & Harvy Hansen, "Frank og Risom i spansk søgelys", Berlingske Tidende, 18 November 1991.
  6. (in Danish) Bjarne Nielsen, "Nu håber Claus på et gyldent fodboldår", Ekstra Bladet, 2 January 1993.
  7. Claus Thomsen at SoccerBase.com
  9. "Ferguson compounds misery". The Independent. 16 February 1998. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  10. (in German) Claus Thomsen at FussballDaten.de
  11. Claus Thomsen at National-Football-Teams.com
  12. "Claus Thomsen profile". Soccerbase. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  13. "Danish Cup Winners 1955-2008" (in Danish). Danish Football Association. Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
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