Bent Christensen Arensøe, formerly known as Bent René Christensen, (born 4 January 1967) is a Danish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. During his active career he earned the nickname "Turbo" for his speed. He played in a string of clubs, most notably Danish club Brøndby, where he scored a combined 116 goals in 208 games and won five Danish championships. He played 26 games and scored eight goals for the

Denmark national football team The Denmark national football team ( or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark and Greenland in men's international Association football, football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing body for ...

, and was a part of the Danish 1992 European Championship winning side.

Playing career

Club career

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 ...

, Christensen started his career with

Brønshøj Brønshøj, part of the municipality of Copenhagen, forms, together with Husum, the administrative city district (''bydel'') of Brønshøj-Husum, in Denmark. History The first mention of the village Brønshøj (Brunshoga), is in a letter dated ...

in 1985, under manager

Ebbe Skovdahl Ebbe Skovdahl Hansen (5 July 1945 – 23 October 2020) was a Danish football manager. He most prominently was a successful manager at Brøndby, for whom he had also played in his active years. He helped turn the side into the most dominant Danis ...

. He moved abroad in the same year, 17 years old, to play for

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

club

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

. With Servette, he won the 1985

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

. He wanted away from the club, and was initially loaned out to Danish club

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality (''Municipalities of De ...

in 1987. He moved permanently to Brøndby, under manager Ebbe Skovdahl, later that year. He was a part of the team that won the 1988 and 1989 Danish championships. In his time for Brøndby, he was Danish league top goalscorer three times, in the 1988 season, 1990 season and 1991 season tournaments. He was part of the Brøndby team who, under manager

Morten Olsen Morten Per Olsen (; born 14 August 1949) is a Danish former Association football, football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding ...

, reached the semi-finals of the European 1991 UEFA Cup tournament, and he was sold to

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

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

later that year. The

transfer deal In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can only ...

was a race for Christensen's signature between Schalke and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

, and was worth DEM 5 million, which made Christensen the most expensive Danish footballer at the time, with a monthly wage of DKK 400,000. He did not find playing success at Schalke, where he scored eight goals in 49 games, and he earned the nickname "

Trabi Trabant () is a series of B-segment, small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East Germany, East German car manufacturer HQM Sachsenring GmbH, VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. Four models were made: the Trabant P 50, Trabant 50 ...

-Bent". He moved to Greek club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

for the

1993 season The General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its calendar advanced 24 hours to th ...

, where he found playing success. In July 1994, he moved on to Compostela in Spain. He remained three seasons at Compostela with good success, before moving to Gençlerbirliği in Turkey in 1997. Christensen returned to Brøndby in March 1998, under manager

, and was a part of Brøndby's 1998 Danish Superliga and 1998

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 ...

wins. He also took part in Brøndby's campaign in the European

1998–99 UEFA Champions League The 1998–99 UEFA Champions League was the 44th season of the UEFA Champions League, Europe's premier club football tournament, and the seventh since it was renamed from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competition was w ...

tournament. After the 1999–00 season, he ended his professional career, and played his last games with childhood club

in 2000.

International career

Christensen made his international debut with the Denmark under-19 national team in July 1983. He scored a combined five goals in 28 games for the under-19 and under-17 teams until June 1985, scoring one goal at the

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 ...

UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual Association football, football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-19 foot ...

. He made his Danish under-21 debut in October 1986, and scored two goals in six games for the team until September 1987. He made his senior debut for the Danish national team in the February 1989

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. He scored six goals in four games in Denmark's

UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 1992 was a series of parallel association football competitions to be held over 1990 and 1991 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 1992, to be held in Sweden. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held ...

campaign. He was selected to represent the Danish national team at the

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 ...

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 ...

. Christensen played Denmark's first two games in the tournament without scoring, but was injured and travelled home while the rest of the squad went on to win the tournament. Christensen didn't take part in the Danish public celebrations of the trophy, and did not really feel a part of the winning team. While at Compostela, Christensen played his last national team match in November 1994, against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and ended his national team career after 26 matches and 8 goals.

International goals

Coaching career

In January 2003, he started as head coach of

Værløse Værløse () is a town in Furesø Municipality in the northwestern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. As of 1 January 2025, it has a population of 13,200. Situated on the west side of the Hillerød Motorway, between Farum Lake to the north and Søn ...

, which he led to the

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division () is a professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Football Association (Danish FA; DBU) as part of the nation-wide Da ...

. In October 2005, he was hired as head coach of the Brøndby youth team, and in June 2010, he was additionally named coach in charge of special training of attackers for the first team. In 2011, Christensen was named as assistant coach in Brøndby. When

Thomas Frank Thomas Carr Frank (born March 21, 1965) is an American political analyst, historian, and journalist. He co-founded and edited '' The Baffler'' magazine. Frank is the author of the books '' What's the Matter with Kansas?'' (2004) and '' Listen, L ...

was named new manager of Brøndby in June 2013, Christensen succeeded him as manager of the Danish national under-19 football team. In February 2016, Christensen returned 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 ...

, where he was hired as A+ coach at the club's academy. He later became transition coach at the club before being promoted to assistant coach of the club's first team in early January 2025, under the newly appointed manager, Frederik Birk. Brøndby-legende bliver en del Frederik Birks stab
tipsbladet.dk, 11 January 2025

Career highlights

Club statistics

Total number of goals for Brøndby (1987–1991 and 1998–2000): *

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 ...

: 80 goals *

: 16 goals *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

: 10 goals *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

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 ...

: 10 goals * Total score in 208 games: 116 goals

Honours

: 1984–85 * Danish Championship:

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 ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

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 ...

, 1997–98 *

: 1988–89, 1997–98 * European Football Championship:

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

References

External links

*
Bent Christensen Arensøe
– official

statistics at danskfodbold.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen Arensoe, Bent 1967 births Living people Men's association football forwards Danish men's footballers Denmark men's international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Servette FC players Vejle Boldklub players Brøndby IF players Danish football managers FC Schalke 04 players Olympiacos F.C. players SD Compostela footballers Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers La Liga players Danish Superliga players Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Danish expatriate men's footballers UEFA Euro 1992 players UEFA European Championship–winning players Brønshøj Boldklub players Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Danish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Danish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Danish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brøndby IF non-playing staff Footballers from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish sportsmen