Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ) is a professional

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country where

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

and fencing were featured as its main sports. However, AGF is mostly known for its

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

department, which was established in 1902. Currently, the club's first team plays in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

, the top flight of the

Danish football league system The Danish football league system, also known as the football league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league structure for association football in Denmark, in which all divisions are bound together by the principle of promotio ...

. AGF has won five Danish Football Championships and a shared record nine

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

s. In 1961, AGF reached the quarter-finals of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

where they were knocked out by later winners, Benfica. In 1989, AGF again reached a European quarter-final, this time in the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

, where they lost 1–0 on aggregate to later winners

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. They won the Atlantic Cup twice, in 2018 and 2020.

History

AGF played its first football match against Aarhus Idrætsklub Olympia in November 1902, a 5–2 loss. Six years later, the club won the Jutland Football Championship by winning 3–2 over Ringkøbing IF in the final. AGF won the Jutland Football Championship seven times and was in three finals of the

Danish Football Championship The Danish football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in Denmark. The title has been contested since 1913, in a varying form of competitions. Since 1991, the winners have been found through the Danish Superliga championsh ...

before AGF became a member of the newly founded Denmark Tournament in 1927. In 1911, AGF got its own clubhouse after which the club bought the pitches at Dalgas Avenue. In 1920, AGF began to play its home matches at the newly built Aarhus Stadium, where the club has played ever since. In 1941, the club moved from the clubhouse at Dalgas Avenue to Fredensvang in the suburb of

Viby J Viby J (or just Viby) is a former town and now a district, in the southwestern part of Aarhus in Denmark. The district has almost 30,000 inhabitants. The "J" stands for Jutland, as there is another town called Viby on the island of Zealand (Denmar ...

. For three consecutive seasons (1949 to 1951) AGF finished in third place in the top division. After spending the 1952–53 season in the 2nd Division, AGF returned strongly to the 1st Division and in the next 12 seasons won four Danish Football Championships and five

s. AGF also participated in the first edition of the

, where they lost 4–2 on aggregate to French club

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

with three goals scored by Léon Glovacki. In 1961, AGF reached the quarter-final in the same tournament where they lost to eventual tournament winners Benfica. AGF were relegated to the 2nd Division in 1968 and in 1973 but returned to the 1st Division in 1976. This was the start of 30 continuous years in the top division. The introduction of professional football in Denmark had a major influence on the success AGF experienced from the late 1970s and forward until 1998. With former

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

star Henning Jensen on the team, AGF were close at winning the Danish Football Championship in 1982. AGF drew 2–2 against B.93 in the last game of the season which sent the championship to OB. In 1984, AGF were again close to clinching the championship but lost by a single point to the rivals from

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

. Finally in 1986, AGF won their fifth

. Flemming Povlsen, Jan Bartram and

John Stampe John Stampe Møller (16 February 1957 – 29 July 2012) was a Danish football player and coach. He played 444 games (and scored 12 goals) for AGF Aarhus and 1 game for the Denmark national team. He later managed his former club AGF.

were the key players of the team these years. In 1987, 1988 and 1992 AGF also won the

. In 1996, with players such as Stig Tøfting and

Håvard Flo Håvard Flo (born 4 April 1970) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Stryn and Sogndal, before he left Norway in 1994 and played for AGF, SV Werder Bremen and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He returned ...

, AGF were again close to winning the

, but lost the title to

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

in dramatic fashion on the second to last matchday when opposing goalkeeper

Mogens Krogh Mogens Krogh (; born 31 October 1963) is a Danish former professional football player who was most recently manager of Næstved BK. In his playing career, Krogh was the first choice goalkeeper of Ikast fS between 1981 and 1991 and of Brøndby ...

headed in the 3–3 equaliser. AGF would, however, win the

that season by beating Brøndby. In 1998, AGF finished third in the

but financial problems resulted in poor results the following years. In 2000, Peter Rudbæk was fired after seven years as manager. From 2000 onwards, the club experienced some of its worst ever results, which led to relegations in the 2005–06, 2009–10 and 2013–14 seasons. Each time, however, the club secured a quick return to the top-flight. In the summer of 2014, AGF appointed Jacob Nielsen as their new director. Nielsen had been successful as director of

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().Morten Wieghorst Morten Wieghorst (; born 25 February 1971) is a Danish association football manager and former player. He is currently the assistant manager of the Denmark national football team. He is the former head coach of the Denmark national under-21 foot ...

as manager. On 6 December 2015, however, Nielsen announced that Wieghorst was fired and that former Danish champion Glen Riddersholm was hired as his replacement. With Riddersholm as manager AGF finished the 2015–16 season in tenth place having won three games, drawn seven, and lost five in the remainder of the season. AGF qualified for 2016 cup final, in which they lost 2–1 to FC Copenhagen. In the 2016–17 season, AGF finished 11th after having played relegation play-off matches in the new league structure introduced that season. On 30 September 2017, Riddersholm was fired due to inconsistent results. At that point AGF was seventh in the league having started the 2017–18 season with four wins, five defeats, and two draws. Riddersholm's last match was a 5–1 win against FC Helsingør. New manager was

David Nielsen David Jean Nielsen (born 1 December 1976) is a Danish professional football manager, and former player. He played for a number of Danish clubs, as well as Fortuna Düsseldorf in Germany and English clubs Grimsby Town, Wimbledon and Norwich City ...

who started with four consecutive league defeats but finished the season in seventh place after losing a European play-off final against

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklu ...

4–1. After reaching eighth place in 2018–19 season, the club managed to win the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the 2019–20 season.

Stadium

Their home ground is Aarhus Stadium, renamed Ceres Park for sponsorship reasons since 2015, which has a capacity of 19,433.

Honours

National honours

** Winners (5): 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

** Runners-up (8): 1920–21, 1922–23, 1924–25, 1944–45,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, 1995–96 ** Bronze (13): 1932–33, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51,

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, 1996–97, 2019–20, 2022–23 *

** Winners (9) (shared record): 1954–55, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1995–96 ** Runners-up (4): 1958–59, 1989–90, 2015–16, 2023–24 Sources:

International honours

* European Cup/UEFA Champions League ** Quarter-finalists (1): 1960–61 *

** Quarter-finalists (1): 1988–89 * The Atlantic Cup ** Winners (2):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Players

Current squad

''As of 3 February 2025''

Youth players in use 2024-25

Out on loan

Retired numbers

12 – AGF Fanclub Aarhus

Former Notable players

* Leon Andreasen * Tom Bonde * Henning Enoksen; silver at

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Benny Feilhaber Benny Feilhaber (; born January 19, 1985) is an American soccer coach for the Oakland Roots and a former professional player. A midfielder, Feilhaber played for clubs in Germany, Denmark, England, and the United States. Born in Brazil but raise ...

* Per Frimann * Henry From; silver at

* Peter Graulund * Aage Rou Jensen * Henning Jensen; formerly

* Mads Jørgensen *

Martin Jørgensen Lars Martin Jørgensen (; born 6 October 1975) is a Danish former professional footballer who currently works as a scout for AGF. Starting his career as a full-back, he eventually spent most of it in midfield. In his 20-year playing career, ...

* Bjørn Kristensen * Søren Larsen * Aksel Nielsen * Hans Christian Nielsen; silver at

* Kent Nielsen; winner

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

Brian Steen Nielsen Brian Steen Nielsen (born 28 December 1968) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. During his 16-year professional career, he had three stints at Odense Boldklub, and also played abroad for football clu ...

* Petri Pasanen * Torben Piechnik * Jakob Poulsen * Flemming Povlsen; winner

Troels Rasmussen Troels Rasmussen (born 7 April 1961) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Danish clubs Vejle Boldklub and AGF. He played 391 games for AGF, and scored five goals from penalty kick A penalty shot or penalt ...

Marc Rieper Marc Jensen Rieper (; born 5 June 1968) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for AGF and Brøndby in Denmark, West Ham United in England and Celtic in Scotland. He was also a regular player in the Denmark ...

* Casper Sloth * Stig Tøfting * John Sivebæk *

Claus Thomsen Claus Thomsen (born 31 May 1970) 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 fo ...

* Thomas Thorninger * Kevin Diks *

Jack Wilshere Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere (born 1 January 1992) is an English Association football, football coach and former professional Association football, player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the interim head coach of EFL Championshi ...

* Yann Bisseck

Coaches

* A. G. Pettersson (1919–22) * Mr. Brown (1922–24) * Harald Hansen (1925–27) * Alfred Rasmussen (1927–31) * Fritz Molnar (1932–35) * William von Würden (1936–37) * Søren Jensen (1938–39) * Knud Aage Andersen (1939–40) * Gerhard Müller (1941–51) * Peter Vesterbak (1952–54) * Géza Toldi (1954–56) * Peter Vesterbak (1956–58) * Walther Pfeiffer (1959–60) * Géza Toldi (1960–64) * Henry From (1965–66) * Erik Kuld Jensen (1967–68) * Kaj Christensen (1969–73) * Jimmy Strain (Denmark) (1974) * Henry From (1974–75) * Jørn Bjerregaard (1976) * Erik Christensen (1977–79) * Poul Erik Bech (1980–83) * Jürgen Wähling (1984–86) * Jens Harmsen (1986) * Allan Hebo Larsen (1987–88) * Jens Harmsen (1989) * Ole Brandenborg (1990) * Lars Lundkvist (1990–93) * Peter Rudbæk (1993–00) * Lars Lundkvist & Kent Nielsen (2000) * Ove Christensen (2000–01) *

(2001–02) * Hans Petersen (2002) *

Poul Hansen Hans Christian Poul Hansen (27 February 1913 – 13 August 1966), simply known as Poul Hansen, was a Danish politician, who served as Defence Minister of Denmark from 1956 to 1962 and Danish Minister of Finance from 1962 to 1965. He represente ...

(2002–03) * Sören Åkeby (1 January 2004 – 31 December 2005) *

& Jesper Tollefsen (2005) * Ove Pedersen (1 January 2006 – 31 December 2008) * Erik Rasmussen (1 January 2009 – 20 May 2010) * Peter Sørensen (1 July 2010 – 26 February 2014) * Jesper Fredberg (27 February 2014 – 30 May 2014) *

Morten Wieghorst Morten Wieghorst (; born 25 February 1971) is a Danish association football manager and former player. He is currently the assistant manager of the Denmark national football team. He is the former head coach of the Denmark national under-21 foot ...

(30 May 2014 – 5 December 2015) * Glen Riddersholm (6 December 2015 – 30 September 2017) *

(2 October 2017 – 21 May 2022) * Uwe Rösler (14 June 2022 – 31 May 2025)

Seasons

Some matches is regular seasons were played as knockout matches, as a result these are shown in the regular league columns instead of the cup column and with position replaced with win/loss. AGF Performance Graph

Records

Since 1927, AGF has played 68 seasons at the highest level in Danish football, which is a record.

Other records

* Biggest victory: 13–1 against Fremad Amager, 28. October 1934 * Biggest defeat: 0–9 against B 93, 7. April 1946, 0–9 against B 1913 20. October 1940 and 0–9 against KB, 15. September 1968. * Most consecutive undefeated games: 26 (4. November 1985 – 9. November 1986) * Most consecutive undefeated home games: 26 (19. March 1995 – 16. August 1996) * Most consecutive home victories: 15 (7. September 1952 – 10. May 1953) * Most consecutive games without a victory: 16 (9. June 1968 – 7. April 1969) * Most consecutive lost games: 11 (22. August 1968 – 3. November 1968) * Attendance record: 23.990. AGF –

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

0–4, (23. October 1962) * Most matches:

444 matches (1977–1991) * Most seasons: Aage Rou Jensen 19 seasons (1943–1961) * Most titles: John Amdisen, 4 Danish Football Championships and 5 Danish Cups (1955–1965) * Youngest player: Navid Dayyani, 16 years 244 days, (19. October 2003) * Oldest player: Erik Boye, 39 years 59 days, (6. April 2003)

AGF in European Competition

AGF's first competitive European match was on 21 September 1955 in the

1955–56 European Cup The 1955–56 European Cup was the first season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. It was won by Real Madrid, who defeated Reims 4–3 in the final at Parc des Princes, Paris, on 13 June 1956. UEFA had been officially ...

, losing 0–2 at home to France's

Stade Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mos ...

& eventually losing on aggregate 2–4 in the first round. Since then, the club has participated in numerous UEFA competitions, advancing as far as the quarter-finals of the

1960–61 European Cup The 1960–61 European Cup was the sixth season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Benfica, who beat Barcelona 3–2 in the final at Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, on 31 May 1961. It was the first ...

and 1988–89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

References

External links

Official website in English

Official website for the football department
{{Authority control Football clubs in Denmark Athletics clubs in Denmark Association football clubs established in 1880 Sports clubs and teams established in 1880 Multi-sport clubs in Denmark 1880 establishments in Denmark Sport in Aarhus