John Hartmann Eriksen (20 November 1957 – 12 February 2002) was 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 played as a striker. He scored 319 league goals over the course of 15 seasons. He played in four countries, namely his native Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland. Eriksen was a Danish international in the 1980s, appearing in the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

and

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France national football team, Fr ...

Early life

Eriksen was born on 20 November 1957 in Assens. In 1964 he moved with his family from Assens to

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,616 (1 January 2025), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Svendborg fB SfB-Oure FA () is a Danish professional association football club based in the town of Svendborg, that competes in Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. Founded in 2018 as an elite superstructure of Svendborg fB an ...

. Here he won the Funen boy Championship in 1968. He debuted for the club in June 1975, aged 17.

Club career

After two season with Svendborg, Eriksen switched to the largest club on Funen, OB, scoring 22 goals in each of his two seasons with the club. In January 1980, he moved to Roda in the Netherlands, never netting less than 16 goals in each of his four

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

seasons. In 1984–85, Eriksen joined

FC Mulhouse Football Club de Mulhouse (; commonly referred to as FCM or simply Mulhouse) is a Football in France, French association football club based in Mulhouse. The club was founded in 1893 and currently play in the Championnat National 3, the fifth le ...

in the French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

, finishing second in the goal scoring charts as the club narrowly missed on promotion, falling short in the playoffs. In the summer, he returned to the Netherlands and joined

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, again surpassing the 20-goal mark as the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

outfit ranked in third position. Aged almost 29, Eriksen moved to Switzerland where he continued to display solid scoring form, for both

Servette FC Servette FC is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on ...

(having played alongside

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge (; born 25 September 1955) is a German football executive and former professional player. Considered as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest German footballers ever, he was also the longt ...

) and

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (). It is best known for its professional association football, football team, which plays in the Swiss Super League, Super League, the top tier of the ...

. With the former, he led the scorers list in his first two seasons, notably scoring 36 in 34 games in 1987–88 (second position overall, only two points behind champions

Neuchâtel Xamax Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel. Since the fusion in 2021 of the municipalities of Neuchâtel, Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Peseux, and Valangin, the city has ap ...

). Eriksen ended his career at nearly 36 with his first club, hometown's

Svendborg fB SfB-Oure FA () is a Danish professional association football club based in the town of Svendborg, that competes in Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. Founded in 2018 as an elite superstructure of Svendborg fB an ...

International career

Eriksen won 17

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scored six goals for

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, his debut coming in 1981. He was selected for the squad that competed in the

, appearing as a substitute against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

(2–0 win, one goal) and

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 ...

(5–1 round-of-16 loss).Denmark – Spain 1–5 (1–1)
Planet World Cup, 18 June 1986 Eriksen was also picked for

, playing twice in an eventual group stage exit (two 2–0 losses), starting against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Death

After ending his career, Eriksen suffered

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, and lived his last three years in a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,616 (1 January 2025), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Stats at Voetbal International

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksen, John 1957 births 2002 deaths Danish men's footballers Men's association football forwards SfB-Oure FA players Danish Superliga players Odense Boldklub players Eredivisie players Roda JC Kerkrade players Feyenoord players Ligue 2 players FC Mulhouse players Swiss Super League players Servette FC players FC Luzern players Denmark men's international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Danish expatriate sportspeople in France Danish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland People from Assens Municipality Footballers from the Region of Southern Denmark 20th-century Danish sportsmen