Morten Bisgaard (born 25 June 1974) is a Danish football coach and former professional player, who played as a midfielder. He played eight games and scored one goal for the Denmark national team, and represented his country at the 2000 European Championship. At club level he played for Randers Freja, OB, Viborg FF and F.C. Copenhagen in Denmark, as well as for Udinese in Italy and Derby County in England. He now works as a commentator and expert on football on the Danish TV channel TV2 Denmark.

Morten Bisgaard
Bisgaard in 2006
Personal information
Date of birth (1974-06-25) 25 June 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Hadsten, Denmark
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Denmark U/17 (assistant)
Youth career
Hadsten GF
Randers Freja
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1992 Randers Freja
1992–1998 OB 121 (35)
1992Randers Freja (loan)
1993Viborg FF (loan)
1998–2001 Udinese Calcio 36 (1)
2001–2004 F.C. Copenhagen 74 (10)
2004–2007 Derby County[A] 101 (10)
2007–2009 OB 24 (1)
International career
1990 Denmark U-17 9 (0)
1990–1993 Denmark U-19 12 (2)
1993–1996 Denmark U-21 8 (0)
1996–2000 Denmark 8 (1)
Managerial career
2017– Denmark U/17 (assistant)
2018– Vejle Boldklub (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Born in Hadsten, Bisgaard started playing football with his local club Hadsten Gymnastikforening at the age of 6. He moved to Randers Freja at the age of 12. While playing for Randers Freja, he debuted for the Danish under-19 national team in October 1990, 16 years old. He made his senior debut for Randers Freja in the Danish 2nd Division West during the 1991–92 season. In July 1992, he moved to OB in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship.[1] He stayed another half year with the Randers Freja, while finishing his education. In January 1993, Bisgaard was loaned out to Viborg FF in the Danish 1st Division, and helped the club win promotion for the Superliga in the summer 1993.

Bisgaard started his OB career in the summer 1993. He was a part of the OB team that eliminated multiple European Cup winners Real Madrid from the international 1994–95 UEFA Cup tournament. OB had lost the first match 3–2 at home in Odense. In the second game, Bisgaard came on as a substitute for wingback Steen Nedergaard. 15 seconds before the game ended, Bisgaard scored the final goal in OB's 2–0 win, and secured the club advancement in the tournament.[2] OB was then eliminated by Italian club A.C. Parma in the quarter-finals.

Bisgaard got his national breakthrough in the 1996–97 Superliga season, when he played all 33 league games and scored 16 goals for OB. He was called up to the first Denmark national team match of new national manager Bo Johansson, and Bisgaard made his international debut in the August 1996 game against Sweden. He played an additional national team game in April 1997, before he was sold to Italian club Udinese in the summer 1998. In his first year at Udinese, Bisgaard only played three games in the Italian Serie A championship, and was dropped from the national team. He played 20 games and scored one goal in his second season at Udinese, and was included in the Danish squad for the 2000 European Championship. He played two games at the tournament, both Denmark losses. Bisgaard played a further three national team games, before his national team career ended in October 2000.

He eventually moved back to Denmark, to play for defending Superliga champions F.C. Copenhagen (FCK) in the summer 2001. He helped guide FCK to the 2003 and 2004 Superliga championships, as well as the 2004 Danish Cup trophy. In the summer 2004, he moved to England to play for Derby County in the Football League Championship. In 2005, he lost his regular place in the first team squad. He managed 104 appearances and scored ten goals in his three years at the club, from an attacking midfield position. As his Derby contract expired in the summer 2007, speculation had him joining a Superliga team. Especially Randers FC would be an obvious bid as future employer, as his previous coach Colin Todd will manage them from the summer 2007,[3] but on 23 July 2007, his old club OB signed him on a two-year contract. He left the club in the summer of 2009, and subsequently retired from football.

Post-playing career

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Bisgaard started studying journalism at the University of Southern Denmark. He finished his bachelor in January 2013.[citation needed]

Oure Fodbold Akademi

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In 2016, he started working as a football coach at Oure Fodbold Akademi. He was coach for the U19 team playing in the 2 division.[4]

Denmark U17

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In April 2017 he was appointed the assistant coach of the Danish U17 national team.[5]

Honours

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Udinese

FC Copenhagen

References

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  1. ^ Torben Larsen, "B1909s bedste spiller til OB", B.T., 8 July 1992
  2. ^ Leif Rasmussen, "Grønskollingernes triumf", Ekstra Bladet, 7 December 1994
  3. ^ Færch Kvist, Thomas (2007). "Øst eller vest? Eller er hjemme bedst?". Tipsbladet Weekend. No. Week 18. pp. 14–15.
  4. ^ "Morten Bisgaard snører igen fodboldstøvlerne – nu som træner på Oure -". Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  5. ^ DBU hyrer Bisgaard og Flemming Nielsen‚ bold.dk, 27 April 2017
  6. ^ "Udinese 4 – 2 Sigma (Aggregate: 6 – 4)". UEFA. 22 August 2000. Archived from the original on 23 June 2004. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Sunday 07/10 2001 at 19:05". fck.dk. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Thursday 20/05 2004 at 15:00". fck.dk. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
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