Axel Andreas Jacob Andersen Byrval (13 March 1875 – 1957) was a Danish amateur

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 ...

player and manager. He played for

Boldklubben Frem Boldklubben Frem (also known as Frem, BK Frem or BK Frem Copenhagen) is a Danish sports club based in the Valby- Sydhavnen area of Copenhagen. It is best known for its semi-professional football team and its youth academy. Since its foundation ...

, where he was also a

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. Byrval was the manager of the Denmark national team for 16 matches in the years 1913–1915 and 1917–1918.

Biography

Born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Byrval started playing football with Boldklubben Frem. In 1895, several players left Frem, and Byrval and Peter Mikkelsen went on to play for B 93. They returned to Frem in 1897, and were the first two players to represent Frem at an international level, when they were a part of the first Denmark national selection, composed solely of players from the Copenhagen clubs. He participated in at least one international game for the Danish selection, against a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

team in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. The match was won 5–0 by the Danish team and had 5,000 spectators. Although it was a de facto international organized by the

Danish Football Association The Danish Football Association (; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues, alongside the men's and women's national teams. Based ...

(DBU), the game is not a sanctioned Denmark national team match, as DBU did not register games as official until the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

. Byrval coached both B 93 and Frem, before he was appointed Denmark national team coach in May 1913. He managed the Danish team to victory in his first eight games until October 1915, including 8–0 and 10–0 defeats of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The Danish team played four games without an official coach appointed in 1916, before Byrval once again coached the team from June 1917 to October 1918, including a 12–0 defeat of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. In all, he coached 16 national team games, winning 14, drawing one and losing one. In his civil life, Byrval was a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

with the

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

schools of

, a voluntary

Intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

with Korps Westenholz and a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

with the

Royal Life Guards The Life Guards (LG) is the most senior regiment of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry, along with Blues and Royals, The Blues and Royals. History The Life Guards grew from the four troops of Horse Guards Regiment, Horse Guar ...

.Dansk Biografisk Haandleksikon article
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Footnotes and references

External links

Danish national team manager statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrval, Axel Andersen 1875 births 1957 deaths Footballers from Copenhagen Danish football managers Danish men's footballers Boldklubben Frem players Boldklubben af 1893 players Boldklubben af 1893 managers Boldklubben Frem managers Denmark national football team managers Men's association football forwards