Jess Thorup (born 21 February 1970) is a Danish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. He was most recently the head coach of

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

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

Playing career

Thorup progressed through the youth academy of

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

(OB). He made his professional debut for the club in 1989, and won the Danish league title the same year. In both 1991 and 1993, Thorup was also part of the team winning the

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 ...

. In 1996, he moved to Germany and joined Uerdingen 05, who competed in the 2. Bundesliga. After just three goals in 39 league games, he moved to Austrian football halfway through the 1997–98 season, where he joined

Tirol Innsbruck FC Tirol Innsbruck was an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol which existed between 1993 and 2002, when bankruptcy was declared. History Tirol Innsbruck was formed after the dissolvement of FC Swarovski Tirol in 1992 which w ...

. He returned to Denmark in the summer of 1998, and played for

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 ...

until 2005. He then signed with

HamKam Hamarkameratene (), often abbreviated to HamKam or Ham-Kam, is a Norwegian professional football club based in the town of Hamar. The club was founded in 1918, originally under the name Freidig. HamKam were most recently promoted to the Elites ...

in Norway, before returning to Esbjerg where he retired in 2006.

Managerial career

Esbjerg

In 2006, Thorup returned to

as assistant coach to

Troels Bech Troels Bech (born 29 July 1966) is a Danish professional football manager and former player, who managed Odense Boldklub (OB) to the 2002 Danish Cup trophy. He was the manager of Danish club Esbjerg fB until November 2008 and took over Danish clu ...

. After the dismissal of his boss in November 2008, he took over the team as caretaker manager for three games, but then returned to the role of assistant to new head coach

Ove Pedersen Ove Pedersen (born 30 August 1954) is a Danish football manager and a former player. He works as an assistant to the sporting director in FC Midtjylland, Svend Graversen. He previously managed FC Midtjylland and Esbjerg fB to bronze medals in t ...

. After his resignation on 14 March 2011, he was promoted to head coach, but could not prevent 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 ...

. After achieving direct promotion the following year, the team placed themselves in middle regions of the league table and won the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, beating

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 ().Denmark under-21 national football team, thereby leaving

. As the coach of the under-21 team, he took part in the

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 20th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international association football, football competition for men's under-21 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tourn ...

, in which the Danish team reached the semi-finals. There, they lost to eventual winners

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 ...

Midtjylland

After the European Championship, Thorup returned to club football and took over

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

as the successor to

Glen Riddersholm Glen Riddersholm (born 24 April 1972) is a Danish football manager. Coaching career Riddersholm started as youth coach at Ikast fS and continued in this job, when the club merged with Herning Fremad to form Midtjylland. In 2006, he replaced Ha ...

, who had resigned after winning the league title – Midtjylland's first. After they were eliminated from qualifying for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

by Cypriot club

APOEL APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

, the team survived the group stage of the

2015–16 UEFA Europa League The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League was the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the seventh season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played between Liverpoo ...

under Thorup's leadership. In the round of 16, the club caught the eye with a 2–1 first leg win over

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

giants

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, but were eliminated from the competition after a 5–1 defeat in the second leg.

Gent and Genk

On 10 October 2018, Thorup was recruited to succeed

Yves Vanderhaeghe Yves Vanderhaeghe (; born 30 January 1970) is a Belgian football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Known for his tackling, hard-working approach and stamina, he played for five clubs during his 22-year professional ...

as coach of the Belgian club

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

off the back of a 5-1 home defeat to

Racing Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk or Racing Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four championship title ...

leaving the Buffalos seventh in the league table, one place off the title play-offs. Under Thorup, Gent rallied to qualify for the Champions play-offs, finishing fifth, and reached the Belgian Cup Final, losing 2-1 to second-flight

KV Mechelen Yellow Red Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen (), often called KV Mechelen (, KVM) or simply by their former French name Malinois /ˌmalɪˈnwɑː/, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Mechelen in the Antwerp (pr ...

for only the second occasion a club outside the top division had won the Cup in Belgium. The result also denied Gent a place in Europe, with the top three in the league plus the winners of the Cup Final and the European Play-Off Final qualifying. But an investigation into events from the previous season, where Mechelen were determined to have made an attempt to fix the result of an end-of-season game against

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

on 11 March 2018 to try and prevent their relegation. Mechelen were allowed keep the Cup and their newly-secured top-flight status, after winning the Division 1B title in tandem with winning the Cup, but were banned from Europe for a season as part of the

2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal In Belgian football, the ''Operation Zero'' investigation, known informally as ''Operation Clean Hands'' (Dutch: '), was conducted by the examining magistrate of Limburg on behalf of the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor's Office from 2017 to 2019. ...

, resulting in all Belgian clubs moving up a place in terms of European qualification, with Gent next in line. The Buffalos qualified for 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 ...

, starting in the second qualifying round against Romanian club

Viitorul Constanța ''Viitorul'' ("The Future") was a daily newspaper published in the Kingdom of Romania, out of Bucharest, as a central organ of the National Liberal Party (PNL). It was formed just months after peasants' revolt of March 1907, being originally li ...

. Through the other qualifying rounds, the club finally reached the group stage, where they won Group I with three wins and three draws. Gent took part in the round of 32, where they were eliminated by

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. With eleven weeks still to play in the 2019–20 season, the league was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, with Gent lying second behind

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

. Unlike most other major leagues, the Pro League decided against restarting the current season, announcing Club as champions, with Gent as runners-up taking a third qualifying round place for the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defea ...

. After losing their first two games of the 2020–21 season to

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. With more than 41,500 inhabitants, it is on ...

and

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

, Thorup was suddenly dismissed as coach on 20 August 2020. By the time Thorup was hired by league rivals

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

as their new coach a month later on 24 September, his direct replacement at Gent, László Bölöni, would himself be fired after only three games in chanrge, with

Wim De Decker Wim de Decker (born 6 April 1982) is a Belgian football manager and a former player. International career He collected two caps with the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Honours Beerschot A.C *Belgian Cup: 2005 Belgian C ...

taking charge, until his firing in November . Thorup received a contract at Genk until the summer of 2023, but was at the helm for only six games before being tempted back into Danish football.

Copenhagen

In early November 2020, Thorup received an offer from

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 ...

to become their new head coach, after their former manager

Ståle Solbakken Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the Norway national team. During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, an ...

had been dismissed on 10 October. At Thorup's request, his contract was terminated by Genk. Thorup signed a contract in Copenhagen until the summer of 2024. In his first season as manager of Copenhagen he guided the club to a third place finish in the

. This meant that the club participated in the inaugural season of the

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

, and Thorup led his team to the Round of 16, in which they were defeated by

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

. His second season in charge of Copenhagen ended with the club being crowned as Danish champions after winning the

2021–22 Danish Superliga The 2021–22 Danish Superliga (officially the 3F Superliga for sponsorship reasons) was the 32nd season of the Danish Superliga. Brøndby were the defending champions. The season began on 16 July 2021 and ended on 29 May 2022. Teams Lyngby Bol ...

. The

2022–23 Danish Superliga The 2022–23 Danish Superliga (officially the 3F Superliga for sponsorship purposes) was the 33rd season of the Danish Superliga. Copenhagen were the defending champions. The season began on 15 July 2022 and ended on 9 June 2023. Teams Vejle an ...

started poorly for the club, but they managed to qualify for the

2022–23 UEFA Champions League The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League was the 68th season of Europe's premier club Association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions ...

after defeating

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

2–1 on aggregate. Howerver, on 20 September 2022, Copenhagen announced that the club had parted ways with Thorup as their head coach, due to the poor start to the Superliga season.

FC Augsburg

He was appointed as the new head coach of

on 15 October 2023. Thorup took over the club in 15th place and managed to guide them to an 11th place in his first season. In the

2024–25 Bundesliga The 2024–25 Bundesliga was the 62nd season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier men's Association football, football competition. The season began on 23 August 2024 and concluded on 17 May 2025. Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer Leverkusen were the def ...

season he guided the team to a 12th place. However, on 23 May 2025 he was sacked by the club citing "for the further development and direction of our club" as the reason.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

OB * 1st Division:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

: 1990–91, 1992–93

Manager

Esbjerg fB *

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 ...

: 2011–12 *

Midtjylland *

: 2017–18 Copenhagen *

: 2021–22 * The Atlantic Cup: Runner-up'' (2):

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 ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

EfB profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorup, Jess 1970 births Living people Footballers from Esbjerg Danish men's footballers Danish expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Danish Superliga players 2. Bundesliga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Eliteserien players Odense Boldklub players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Esbjerg fB players Hamarkameratene players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Danish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Danish football managers Danish expatriate football managers Danish Superliga managers Belgian Pro League managers Esbjerg fB managers FC Midtjylland managers K.A.A. Gent managers K.R.C. Genk managers F.C. Copenhagen managers FC Augsburg managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium FC Tirol Innsbruck players Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium