Dan Vesterby Thomassen (born 24 March 1981) 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 ...

and current coach. He has played for

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 ...

side

AGF Aarhus Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ) is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country where gymnastics and fencing were featured as its main sports. How ...

, Norwegian side

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

and Danish champions

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 ...

Playing career

Thomassen came to FCK from

Calcio Padova Calcio Padova, commonly referred to as Padova, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Padua, Veneto. Founded in 1910, Padova currently play in , having last been in Serie A in 1996. The team's official colours are white and red. ...

where he played for five years. In his youth years, he played in AGF. He signed for Vålerenga IF on 1 July 2007. Since he signed with AGF in 2008, he has been dealing with many injuries, which meant that he missed some vital matches for his team. He moved back to Italy in 2011 and retired in 2018.

Coaching career

After retiring from active football, Thomassen took on a career as a youth coach, joining

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

, and being appointed in charge of the Under-19 team in 2022. On 16 March 2023, following the dismissal of

Francesco Modesto Francesco Modesto (born 16 February 1982) is an Italian football coach and a former player. As a player, he was a wing-back or winger on the left flank. Playing career Cosenza Modesto began his career at fellow Calabrian club Cosenza. Palerm ...

, he was promoted to head coach of Vicenza in the

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

league for the remainder of the season. Just a month later, on 11 April 2023, he guided Vicenza to win the

Coppa Italia Serie C Coppa Italia Serie C (), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the competition. It begins i ...

after defeating Juventus F.C. Next Gen in a two-legged final. In July 2023, Thomassen was announced as the new assistant coach of

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

, working alongside his brother-in-law, head coach

Daniele Gastaldello Daniele Gastaldello (; born 25 June 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Gastaldello was bought by Juventus in 2002 from Serie C2 side Calcio Padova; in that season, he played in the Primaver ...

. Both Gastaldello and Thomassen were dismissed from their roles on 10 November 2023, following a negative string of results in the Serie B league. In March 2024, following the appointment of Luca Gotti in charge of Serie A relegation-fighting club

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

, Thomassen joined the ''Giallorossi'' from Salento as their new assistant coach. He left later that year, following Gotti's dismissal from his role.

Personal life

Thomassen is currently residing in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, and is married to Michela Gastaldello, sister of Italian professional football coach and former player

Honours

Player

;

* 2005–06, 2006–07: Champions ;

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

2000–01 Serie C2 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

: Champions *

2014–15 Serie D The 2014–15 Serie D was the sixty-seventh edition of the top level Italian non-professional football championship. It represented the fourth tier in the Italian football league system. It consisted of 167 teams, including the admitted Arzachena, ...

: Champions

Manager

;

: 2022–23

References

External links

* *
Dan Thomassen
official

statistics at danskfodbold.com 1981 births Living people Danish men's footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers Fuglebakken KFUM Århus players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Calcio Padova players F.C. Copenhagen players Vålerenga Fotball players Ravenna FC players US Triestina Calcio 1918 players Danish Superliga players Eliteserien players Serie C players Serie D players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Footballers from Aarhus Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders Abano Calcio players ASD Albignasego Calcio players Serie C managers Danish football managers LR Vicenza managers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Danish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Italy 21st-century Danish sportsmen {{Denmark-footy-defender-stub