Jim Larsen (born 6 November 1985) 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
centre-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
.
Club career
Early years
Larsen was born in
Korsør
Korsør is a town in Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. It is located in Slagelse Municipality. Until 2007 Korsør was the seat of Korsør Municipality. The town is located west of Slagelse, north-west of Skælskør and connects to Nyborg thr ...
, West Zealand, Denmark, and from an early age joined the AGF academy of Hessel Gods Fodboldkostskole in
tenth grade
Tenth grade (also 10th Grade or Grade 10) is the tenth year of formal or compulsory education. It is typically the second year of high school. In many parts of the world, students in tenth grade are usually 15 to 16 years of age.
Australia
In ...
, where he was coached by the likes of
Flemming Povlsen
Flemming Søgaard Povlsen (born 3 December 1966) is a Danish football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Aarhus and a youth product of Viby IF, Povlsen also played in The Netherlands, Spain and Germany, u ...
Jutland Series
Jutland Series () is the highest division for men organized by the regional association DBU Jylland and one of the fifth-highest divisions overall in the Danish football league system. The Jutland Association Football Championship () was introduc ...
and
Denmark Series
The Denmark Series () is the fifth tier in the Danish football league system. Teams are divided into four groups of ten. The top team in each following promotion group is promoted to the Danish 3rd Division. The bottom three teams in each group ...
. He then left AGF and followed Lundkvist to
Brabrand
Brabrand () is a postal district of Aarhus Municipality, Denmark. South of Brabrand, in the Aarhus river-valley, is the largest recreational area of Aarhus Municipality, comprising the Brabrand Lake and the meadow-lake of Årslev, with surroundi ...
, where he played for two years in the second-tier
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 ...
, before signing with
Silkeborg
Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).
Rosenborg
On 12 March 2011, Larsen signed a four-year contract with
Tippeligaen
Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...
club Rosenborg. In his debut season at the club, he scored six goals as Rosenborg finished in a disappointing third place.
Club Brugge
In July 2012, Larsen moved to
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 ...
. His stay in Belgium was unsuccessful—after only 17 appearances and one goal, Larsen left the club due to recurring injuries.
Midtjylland
On 15 August 2014, it was announced that Larsen had signed a one-year contract with
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 ...
. He made his debut on the same day as replacement for the injured Erik Sviatchenko in a 2–1 victory against
FC Copenhagen
Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklu ...
. In January 2015, he signed a one-year contract extension with the club until July 2016. In his first season at the club, Larsen made 18 appearances for Midtjylland and scored three goals, as the team won their first Superliga title.
After struggling with injuries during large parts of the 2015–16 season, Larsen announced that he was retiring from football at the age of 30.
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, after
Per Krøldrup
Per Billeskov Krøldrup (; born 31 July 1979) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender.
He has played 33 games for the Denmark national team, and was part of their squad for the 2004 European Championship.
Club car ...
was injured.
Honours
Midtjylland
*
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 ...