Frederik Riis Rønnow (; born 4 August 1992) is a Danish 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 plays as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
for
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
club
Union Berlin
1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin.
The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...
Horsens
Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...
club Stensballe IK before he at the age of 16 years joined
AC Horsens
Alliance Club Horsens (), commonly referred to as AC Horsens () or simply Horsens, is a Danish professional football club based in Horsens, Central Denmark Region. Founded in 1994, as a superstructure on Horsens fS (founded 1915), Stensballe ...
. He made his first team debut on 7 September 2011 in a
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 ...
match against
Holstebro
Holstebro is the main town in Holstebro Municipality, Denmark. The town, bisected by Storå, Denmark, ''Storåen'' ("The Large Creek") and has a population of 37,487 (1 January 2025).Danish U21 team, and having been awarded the Horsens
Player of the Year Award
Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award.
Association football
In association football, this award is held on b ...
for the 2012–13 season, Rønnow's agent, former Danish international John Sivebæk, expressed his reluctance for his client to be playing in the
Danish 1st Division
The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...
following Horsens' relegation from 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 ...
. As a consequence, on 5 July 2013, Rønnow moved to Superliga club
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 ...
on a season-long loan following the departure of
Lukáš Hrádecký
Lukas Hradecky (; born 24 November 1989) is a Finnish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for and captain (association football), captains both Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverk ...
.
Brøndby
In July 2015, Rønnow signed a four-year contract with
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 ...
. He made two appearances in the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
in which Brøndby were knocked out by
PAOK
PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
. In the league he played 33 gamed as the team finished in fourth place.
In the 2016–17 season, Rønnow played seven games in the Europa League qualifiers in which he was sent off once, as Brøndby were eliminated by Panathinaikos. He also played three times in the Danish Cup tournament and appeared in 34 total matches in regular season as well as the championship round.
In his final season with Brøndby, the 2017–18 season, the team finished second in the league and won the cup by beating
Silkeborg IF
Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...
In April 2018 it was announced that Rønnow would join
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 ...
in July 2018, again mirroring the movements of Hrádecký. He made his debut in the
German Super Cup
The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (English: German Footbal ...
on 12 August 2018. He was brought in to be the starting goalkeeper and appeared in Eintracht's first three competitive games. Due to insecure performances, Eintracht loaned
Kevin Trapp
Kevin Christian Trapp (; born 8 July 1990) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club Eintracht Frankfurt, whom he Captain (association football), captains, an ...
from
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...
shortly before the end of the summer transfer window, and Rønnow lost his starting spot. During his first season he made a total of two appearances in the league and in Europa League, in which Frankfurt reached the semi-finals. Trapp signed a permanent deal after the 2018–19 season, but suffered an injury and was sidelined for large parts of the first half of the 2019–20 season. Rønnow replaced him in goal and was able to convince with strong performances.
Loan to Schalke 04
On 30 September 2020, he joined
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 ...
on a year-long loan. Rønnow first replaced
Ralf Fährmann
Ralf Fährmann (; born 27 September 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.
Club career
Fährmann made his professional debut for Schalke 04 on 13 September 2008 in 3–3 draw away to Borussia Dortmund. On 16 Septem ...
as the starting goalkeeper and made 7 Bundesliga appearances. Then, he fell out with an injury; Schalke's managers Manuel Baum,
Huub Stevens
Hubertus Jozef Margaretha "Huub" Stevens (; born 29 November 1953) is a Dutch former professional Manager (association football), football manager and player.
Playing career
Stevens was born in Sittard. While active, he played for Fortuna Sittar ...
,
Christian Gross
Christian Jürgen Gross (born 14 August 1954) is a Swiss football manager and former player. He played as a sweeper and central midfielder.
Gross was manager of Basel from 1999 to 2009, winning four Swiss Super Leagues and four Swiss Cups.
As ...
and Dimitrios Grammozis relied on the services of Fährmann again after his recovery, which meant that Rønnow only came to four more appearances by the end of the season after Fährmann was sidelined with an injury. With Schalke, he suffered relegation to the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the season and he then subsequently returned to Frankfurt.
Union Berlin
On 20 July 2021, Rønnow joined
Union Berlin
1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin.
The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...
on a three-year contract, and would initially start his stint with the club as a backup to starter Andreas Luthe. He made his debut on 27 October in a
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...
match against
Waldhof Mannheim
SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of ove ...
, which ended in a 3–1 win.
International career
After playing for several Danish youth teams, he was called up to represent the senior Denmark national team on 9 March 2016 by new head coach
Ã…ge Hareide
Åge Fridtjof Hareide (born 23 September 1953) is a Norwegian former football coach and player who last managed the Iceland national team. In his playing career, he played for Hødd and Molde in Norway as well as Manchester City and Norwich Cit ...
, for friendly matches against
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
In June 2018 he was named in Denmark's squad for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
in Russia.
In June 2021, he was included in the national team's bid for 2020 UEFA Euro, where the team reached the semi-finals, but did not play in a single match.
Rønnow retired from international football on 5 November 2024, making the announcement on his personal Instagram.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Brøndby
*
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 ...
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 ...