Martin Laursen (; born 26 July 1977) 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 in the
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 ...
position. He played three seasons for Italian club
A.C. Milan
(), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
, with whom he won the 2003
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 ...
and the 2004
Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
championship. He also played for Italian clubs
Hellas Verona
Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...
and
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
, and was the
team captain
In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...
of English club
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
. He was most recently the manager of
Søllerød-Vedbæk.
Laursen was
capped 53 times and scored two goals for the
Denmark national team from 2000 to 2008, and he was named 2008
Danish Football Player of the Year. He represented Denmark at the
2000 European Championship,
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, and
2004 European Championship tournaments.
Club career
Youth career and Silkeborg
Born in Fårvang near
Silkeborg
Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).[Silkeborg
Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).][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 ...]
championship. Laursen made his Silkeborg debut in October 1995,
under Silkeborg manager
Preben Elkjær
Preben Elkjær Larsen (; born 11 September 1957) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping the club to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie ...
.
Laursen helped steer Silkeborg to second place in the
1997–98 Superliga season, under new Silkeborg manager
Sepp Piontek
Josef Emanuel Hubertus "Sepp" Piontek (born 5 March 1940) is a German former football player and manager.
Playing career
Born in Wrocław during World War II, Piontek started his playing career with VfL Germania Leer. Between 1963 and 1972, the ...
,
as he played 22 games and scored one goal during that season.
Laursen played 35 games and scored one goal for Silkeborg in the Superliga from his debut until his last game in June 1998.
Verona
After three seasons at Silkeborg, Laursen moved to Italy in August 1998, to play for
Hellas Verona
Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...
in the second-tier
Serie B
The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...
league. The contact with Verona was mediated by former Verona player and Silkeborg manager Preben Elkjær. Laursen was plagued by a knee injury for the majority of his first season at Verona, where the club won
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
to the top-flight
Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
championship.
Laursen established himself in the Verona
starting lineup
In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are substitutes or b ...
during his second season in Italy. He became known as Lionheart Laursen among the Verona fans, describing his courage and great ability to time his headers.
Seeking a high-profile move,
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
made a successful bid of 9,000 million Italian lire (€4,648,112)
[Hellas Verona FC SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2001]
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
to sign
half of the registration rights of Laursen in June 2000,
in a deal including Parma-owned player
Anthony Šerić remaining at Verona on loan. Laursen played a further season with Verona.
[ Jacob Teilmann, "Martin Laursen klar til Koller – og Parma", Ritzaus Bureau, 27 March 2001] After the
2000–01 Serie A
The 2000–01 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 99th season of top-tier Italian football, the 69th in a round-robin tournament. It was contested by 18 teams, for the 13th consecutive season since 1988–89.
Rom ...
season, Laursen moved to join Parma who acquired the remaining 50% of his registration rights for another 9,000 million Italian lire (€4,648,112), while Šerić in turn made a
co-ownership deal with Verona in June 2001, for 2,500 million lire (€1,291,142).
[ Following only three weeks of training at the club, Parma loaned Laursen out before he would play any games for the club.][ Steen Uno, "Martin Laursen begyndte for blot tre uger siden hos", B.T., 27 July 2001]
A.C. Milan
In July 2001, Laursen was loaned out to Serie A rivals A.C. Milan
(), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
, who needed depth in their squad. He started out strong for his new club, scoring two goals in the first four rounds of the 2001–02 Serie A
The 2001–02 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 100th season of top-tier Italian football, the 70th in a round-robin tournament. It was composed by 18 teams, for the 14th consecutive time from season 1988–89.
T ...
season, and played 22 league games in his first season with Milan. Milan decided to buy him in the middle of the season for a fee
A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...
of 21.5 billion lire (€11,103,823). In the summer 2002, Milan bought Italian international defender Alessandro Nesta, and Laursen's playing time diminished to a combined 20 league games in the next two seasons.
Though winning silverware with Milan in 2003, Laursen did not play in the UEFA Champions League final
The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of Europe ...
. He won the Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since.
Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
, 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 ...
and European Super Cup
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...
in 2003, and the 2004 Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
championship. Due to the presence of Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian football executive and former professional footballer who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greates ...
and Alessandro Nesta, Laursen failed to establish himself in Milan's first team in the long run. When Milan bought Dutch international
The Dutch International is an open international badminton tournament held in the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories i ...
defender Jaap Stam
Jakob "Jaap" Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of all-time. Stam was part of the Manchester United team that w ...
in May 2004, Laursen left the club shortly thereafter.
Aston Villa
On 21 May 2004, Laursen was bought by FA 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 ...
side Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
for a fee of £3 million, on a four-year contract. His debut with Villa came against Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
on 14 August, a match which ended 2–0 in Villa's favour. Laursen's time at Villa initially proved frustrating. He put in a few encouraging performances on and off, during the 2004–05 season, but the knee injury that plagued him earlier in his career returned and kept Laursen at playing only one Premier League game for Aston Villa during the 2005–06 season. After a re-occurrence of the knee injury during the summer 2006 off-season, his playing future at club and international level was seen to be in doubt. He underwent a full rehabilitation in Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, and returned to the Villa side in August 2006. Villa hired Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...
as manager in August 2006, and he and Laursen came to an understanding of giving Laursen the freedom to train as he wanted, which helped prevent further injuries. Laursen became an integral part of O'Neill's plans, and the physical English playing style proved to suit Laursen perfectly. Laursen became an effective goalscorer for Villa during the 2007–08 season, scoring six goals from his position of centre-back. This included three goals against Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
, two of which came in a thrilling 4–4 draw at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...
, the other coming in a 2–1 home victory. Laursen agreed terms on a new two-and-a-half-year deal with Aston Villa in January 2008. He played all Villa's matches, except for League Cup games, during the 2007–08 season and he was voted the Supporters' Player of the Year in 2008.
Laursen replaced Gareth Barry
Gareth Barry (born 23 February 1981) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mid Sussex League Championship side Hurstpierpoint. He made 653 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and ...
as club captain for Villa on a permanent basis for the 2008–09 season. In Aston Villa's first game of the 2008–09 season, Laursen captained the side in the UEFA Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...
, and continued his goal-scoring record from set pieces by scoring Villa's second goal in the 2–2 draw against Danish team 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, ...
. Laursen also managed to get onto the scoresheet in a UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
match with Hafnarfjörður
Hafnarfjörður, officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður, is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region, on the s ...
, and against Stoke City in the Premiership. On 23 October 2008, Laursen gave Aston Villa the lead in the UEFA Cup game against Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
with a header from close-range. Villa went on to win the match 2–1. He was named 2008 Danish Football Player of the Year in November 2008.
In December 2008, Laursen was injured again. He returned for the game against West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
in January 2009, but suffered an injury relapse. In April 2009, O'Neill expressed his fears that Laursen's career might be over due to the injuries which, even if treated, would require ten months of reconvalescence. In May 2009, Laursen announced his decision to retire from football rather than undergo major surgery. 24 May saw Aston Villa's final game of the season at home to Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
. Prior to kick-off, Laursen appeared in front of the Villa Park crowd and gave a speech where he thanked the fans and wish them well for the future. Following this, he was inducted into the "Villa Legends" section of Aston Villa's official website.
International career
While playing for Silkeborg, Laursen played one game for the Denmark under-19 national team in December 1996. He was called up for the Denmark under-21 national team in February 1997, and went on to play 14 games for the under-21s until June 1999. Laursen made his debut for the senior Denmark national team in a friendly match
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...
against Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
in March 2000. He was a part of the Denmark squad at the UEFA Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe.
The finals tournament was ...
, though he did not play a single game at the tournament due to injury.
Laursen's breakthrough with the national team came at the 2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, when he played full-time in all four Denmark games before elimination. Laursen scored his first goal for his country in September 2003, in the UEFA Euro 2004 qualification, an all-important goal in injury time of the penultimate qualification match. His goal levelled the game with Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
to 2–2, and kept Denmark in the race for a place at the final competition. Laursen and the Denmark team secured qualification when they drew the last game, thus winning their qualification group. Laursen played full-time in Denmark's four games at the tournament, playing impressively.
After the March 2005 game against Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
, Laursen's national team career went on a hiatus, due to a knee injury. After his absence from the Danish national team for more than one and a half years, he was called up in November 2006, but had to withdraw from the team before the game due to yet another knee injury. In June 2007, Laursen returned to Denmark's starting line-up in a 2–0 win against Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
. He played his last international game on 11 October 2008 against Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
. In January 2009, Laursen announced his retirement from international football, as he found it physically straining to play for both club and country.
Retirement
Laursen returned to Denmark following his retirement, settling in Vedbæk. He worked as a football pundit
A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...
for Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
briefly, and also as a co-commentator for Danish broadcaster TV2. The former defender told the website of previous club Aston Villa that his primary focus was to spend time with his family; a career in the football media allows him to remain active in the game whilst not taking up too much time. However, he refused to rule out a career in coaching or management in the future.
Managerial career
In September 2011, Martin Laursen took the job as head coach of Søllerød-Vedbæk in the Danish 2nd Divisions in order to start a managing career. He resigned on 14 June 2012 after steering the club clear of relegation.
Career statistics
International goals
:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Laursen goal.''
Honours
Milan
*Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
: 2003–04
*Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since.
Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
: 2002–03
*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 ...
: 2002–03
*UEFA Super Cup
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...
: 2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
Individual
* Danish Football Player of the Year: 2008
* Aston Villa Supporters' Player of the Year: 2008
References
External links
*
Aston Villa profile
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laursen, Martin
1977 births
Living people
People from Silkeborg Municipality
Danish men's footballers
Men's association football central defenders
Denmark men's international footballers
Denmark men's youth international footballers
Denmark men's under-21 international footballers
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
UEFA Champions League–winning players
Serie A players
Serie B players
Premier League players
Danish Superliga players
Silkeborg IF players
Hellas Verona FC players
Parma Calcio 1913 players
AC Milan players
Aston Villa F.C. players
Danish expatriate men's footballers
Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
Danish expatriate sportspeople in England
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Footballers from the Central Denmark Region