Jonas Bruun Knudsen (born 16 September 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Malmö FF and the Denmark national team. He played for Esbjerg fB from 2009 before signing with Ipswich Town in 2015. He is known for his long throws and in Denmark his throws have been compared to

Rory Delap Rory John Delap (born 6 July 1976) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in England, he made 11 appearances for the Republic of Ireland national team. Delap started his career at Carlisle United and impressed en ...

's.

Club career

Esbjerg fB

In November 2009 he signed his first professional contract with Esbjerg, and following the winter break of the Danish Superliga, he made his professional debut in a 0–4 home loss against Randers FC, becoming the second youngest Esbjerg debutant ever second only to Andreas Sørensen who made his debut aged 16 years. Following the departure of

Kevin Conboy Kevin Conboy (born 15 October 1987) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a left-back or centre-back. Career Esbjerg fB Conboy is the son of a Danish father and an English mother and holds Danish and British citizenship. He joined Je ...

to NEC, Knudsen established himself as the first choice left back for the club. In the 2012–13 season, the Esbjerg team finished fourth in the Danish Superliga and won the Danish Cup, and Knudsen was given a new contract in April 2013.

Ipswich Town

Knudsen signed for Ipswich Town on 31 July 2015 on a three-year deal. He debuted for the club on 8 August 2015, in a 2–2 draw with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. He scored his first goal on 19 April 2016, scoring a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

at Portman Road. He went on to make 43 appearances during his first season at Portman Road, scoring once. He continued to feature as a first-team regular during his second season at the club, making his first appearance on the opening day of the season in a 4–2 win over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. During the season he memorably scored in both East Anglian derbies, which both finished 1–1. He made 36 appearances over the course of the season, scoring twice. His first appearance of the 2017–18 season came on the opening day of the season in a 1–0 win over Birmingham City. On 21 December 2017, Ipswich took up the option to extend Knudsen's contract until 2019. He scored his first goal of the season on 10 April, netting the winner in a 1–0 home win over Barnsley. Knudsen took on the captain's armband for the final few games of the season, following injuries to club captain Luke Chambers. He made 44 appearances during the season, scoring once. After returning from the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, Knudsen was linked with moves from multiple clubs including

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and Middlesbrough. He kept his place in the team once again, featuring as a first-team regular throughout the season. In January 2019 he informed the club that he would not be signing a new contract, and he was released at the end of the 2018–19 season following the expiration of his contract. Despite rejecting a new contract, Knudsen posted a farewell message on social media, thanking the fans for their support during his tenure.

Malmö FF

On 20 June 2019, Knudsen signed for Swedish club Malmö FF on a free transfer. He made his debut on 21 July 2019 in a 1–1 draw with IK Sirius.

International career

Knudsen has represented Denmark at various youth levels. He made his senior international debut as a substitute in a 1–0 friendly win over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on 28 June 2014. In May 2018 he was named in Denmark's preliminary 35-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

in Russia. On 17 June, the Danish squad allowed Knudsen to fly home to meet his newborn daughter, as the Danish squad clubbed together to pay for a private flight as a paternity present for their team-mate. Following his return to Russia, he made his first and only appearance of Denmark's World Cup campaign on 1 July, starting and playing the full 120 minutes as Denmark drew 1–1 with Croatia, before exiting the tournament on penalties after extra time, with Knudsen playing his part in creating Denmark's opening goal following a long throw into the Croatian box. He was included in Denmark's squad for the

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

, featuring in the Dane's 0–0 draw with the Republic of Ireland in the group stages on 13 November 2018 at the Aarhus Idrætspark,

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Esbjerg fB * Danish Cup:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

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 forma ...

: 2011–12 Malmö FF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

2020 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 events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* Svenska Cupen: 2021–22 Individual * Esbjerg fB Player of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

Danish national team profile Jonas Knudsen
at Soccerbase {{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, Jonas 1992 births Living people People from Esbjerg Danish men's footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Esbjerg fB players Ipswich Town F.C. players Malmö FF players Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players English Football League players Allsvenskan players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Sweden Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Sportspeople from the Region of Southern Denmark