Mathias Peter Greve Petersen (; born 11 February 1995) is 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 plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

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 ...

club

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 ().Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

(OB) academy, Greve was promoted to their first team in 2014. He grew into an established player for ''de Striwede'' over the following seasons, making more than 150 appearances for the club. In January 2020, he moved to league rivals

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 ().left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politic ...

, helping the club to a

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 ...

win in the 2020–21 season. His performances earned him a transfer to defending

champions Brøndby in August 2021. Greve represented Denmark at under-20 and under-21 levels. He earned seven total caps for the youth national teams.

Early life and career

Mathias Greve was born on 11 February 1995 in

Langeskov Langeskov is a town in central Denmark, with a population of 4,456 (1 January 2025),Kerteminde Municipality, on the eastern part of the island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

, Denmark. Greve's introduction to

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

occurred when he was four years old. During one of his initial training sessions at local club Langeskov IF, an incident where he slipped in a puddle left him disinterested in the sport for the next couple of days. However, his father was persistent in giving football another chance. Sports ran deep in Greve's family, and his relatives played football,

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, and

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

which shaped their daily lives. Greve quickly grew into a talented footballer, and during school recesses he was recognised as someone who could easily dribble past four or five classmates, displaying a finesse that set him apart. When Greve turned twelve, he joined

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

's (OB) academy, the main club on the island of Funen. Despite the move, which confirmed him as one of the most talented players of the region, it was equally important for Greve to evolve beyond the football pitch. Greve talked about his focus on a career beyond football: The combination of increased training volume and the 18-kilometer distance from his home in Langeskov to

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, ...

meant that just over a year after joining OB, Greve decided to enroll in an elite sports class at Hjalleseskolen in the southern part of Odense and later move to the city with his family. Here, Greve could continue his education, which, after completing his primary schooling, led to earning a high school diploma and later, a degree in

financial economics Financial economics is the branch of economics characterized by a "concentration on monetary activities", in which "money of one type or another is likely to appear on ''both sides'' of a trade".William F. Sharpe"Financial Economics", in Its co ...

Club career

OB

Greve's initial period at OB saw a promising start followed by a challenging phase. As an under-15 player, he was considered a national talent, but a

growth spurt Human height or stature is the distance from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head in a human body, standing erect. It is measured using a stadiometer, in centimetres when using the metric system or SI system, or feet and inches when u ...

eluded him during the under-17 year, leaving him among the smaller players. However, his eventual growth surge rekindled his talent, as he was able to become more dominant physically, and during his under-19 years, both Greve and OB noticed significant development. This progress led to an offer of a part-time contract that swiftly transitioned to a professional one in April 2014 due to his ability to excel among more experienced players. He was also promoted to the first team ahead of the 2014–15 season. During this period, he has mentioned that he looked up to

Rasmus Falk Rasmus Falk Jensen (born 15 January 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Danish Superliga club Copenhagen. Club career Falk started his career at Middelfart G&BK and moved to Odense Boldklub (OB) alongside fu ...

and

Emil Larsen Emil Larsen (born 22 June 1991) is a Danish former professional footballer. He has gained seven caps for the Denmark national team, and represented Denmark at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. Club career In his first season as a profession ...

, both midfield profiles at the club. Greve made his professional debut for ''Striwerne'' on 25 July 2014. Greve started on the bench, but replaced

Darko Bodul Darko Bodul (; born 11 January 1989) is an Austrian professional Football player, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Austrian amateur side TSU Obergänserndorf. He began his career in the Netherlands, where he p ...

in the 78th minute in a 3–1 defeat against

Vestsjælland West Zealand County () is a former counties of Denmark, county (Danish language, Danish: ''Amt (subnational entity), amt'') in the west-central part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The county was f ...

in the

. On 19 January 2015, he extended his contract until 2018, after having made five appearances for the club. Upon extending, he was praised by 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 ...

: "He has demonstrated a fantastic attitude, and it's even more impressive as he has delivered results both in practice and matches, even when he has occasionally been sent down to the under-19 squad." Greve experienced in first breakthrough in the second half of the season, starting his first game for OB in a 2–0 away loss against Brøndby on 15 March 2015. After becoming a more integral part of the team, he scored his first goal for OB on 31 May 2015 in the 79th minute of a 2–2 draw against

Hobro Hobro () is an old market and railway town in Region Nordjylland on the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. It has a population of 12,360 (1 January 2025). The town is situated in a hilly terrain at the head of Mariager Fjord, close to the f ...

in the domestic league. Greve started the 2015–16 season as a substitute, as players such as

Mikkel Desler Mikkel Desler Puggaard (born 19 February 1995) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a right-back or right midfielder for Major League Soccer club Austin FC. Club career OB In February 2014, Desler attracted interest from several clu ...

and

Kenneth Zohore Albin Kenneth Dahrup Zohore (; ); born 31 January 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Danish 2nd Division side Fremad Amager. He began his career in his native Denmark, making his professional debut for Copenha ...

were preferred in his position under new head coach

Kent Nielsen Kent Nielsen (born 28 December 1961) is a Danish professional football manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Silkeborg IF. He was named coach of the year by the Danish Football Association in 2014 after winning both the Da ...

. However, as the season progressed, he saw his chances increase as he would also receive his first call-up for the Denmark national under-21 team. On 1 November 2015, Greve signed a four-year contract extension keeping him in Odense until 2019. In January 2018, Greve extended his contract with OB until 2021, after having grown into a starter for the club in the previous seasons. However, in the 2018–19 season, he played less and only made 12 starts in 24 appearances. The limited playing time continued into the 2019–20 season, and in January 2020 he stayed home from OB's training camp in

Belek Belek is a neighbourhood in the Serik district in Turkey's Antalya Province. As of 2022, it had a population of 9,102. Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganization, it was a town (''Belde''). Belek is one of the centers of Turkey' ...

, Turkey, to negotiate with other clubs. During his time at the club, he scored 12 goals in 151 total appearances.

Randers

On 27 January 2020, Greve joined

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 ().left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politic ...

for Saba Lobzhanidze, who had left for

MKE Ankaragücü MKE Ankaragücü or fully Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü (), is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Ankara. The football team wears a yellow and navy kit and plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium following the ...

. On 23 February, he made his debut for the club in a 0–0 home draw against his former side OB, replacing Tosin Kehinde in the 66th minute. He made his first start for ''Hestene'' on 1 March, helping his team to a 2–1 away victory against

AC Horsens Alliance Club Horsens (), commonly referred to as AC Horsens () or simply Horsens, is a Danish professional football club based in Horsens, Central Denmark Region. Founded in 1994, as a superstructure on Horsens fS (founded 1915), Stensballe ...

. He scored his first goal on 16 June in a 4–0 win over Hobro after an assist by

Simon Piesinger Simon Piesinger (born 13 May 1992) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Austrian Bundesliga club Wolfsberger AC. Club career Piesinger, whose father is former professional footballer Gerald Piesinger, started p ...

. After six months at Randers, where he had quickly grown into a starter, he shared in an interview with local newspaper ''Randers Amtsavis'' that the main contrast between OB and Randers was his ability now to stand out within a physically oriented team: Greve had his best season yet in the 2020–21 season, scoring eight goals in 39 total appearances and helping Randers to their second ever

win.

Brøndby

After a strong start to the 2021–22 season with two assist and one goal in the first three games of the campaign for Randers, Greve was sold to

2020–21 Danish Superliga The 2020–21 Danish Superliga (officially the 3F Superliga for sponsorship reasons) was the 31st season of the Danish Superliga. The season began on 11 September with reigning champions FC Midtjylland playing against the winners of the Danish C ...

champions Brøndby on 4 August 2021, signing a deal until June 2025. He made his debut against rivals

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 ...

on 8 August in a 4–2 away loss.

Return to Randers

On 30 August 2024, Greve returned to

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 ().Danish Football Association The Danish Football Association (; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues, alongside the men's and women's national teams. Based ...

(DBU) in a friendly on 2 September 2014, for the under-20 national team. He started on the bench but came on in the 52nd minute for Mathias Hebo in a 1–0 victory over the United Arab Emirates U20 at

Slovenský Grob Slovenský Grob (; ) is a village and municipality in western Slovakia in Pezinok District in the Bratislava region The Bratislava Region (, ; (until 1919); ) is one of the Regions of Slovakia, administrative regions of Slovakia. Its capital ...

, Slovakia. This marked his only appearance for the under-20s. On 27 March 2015, he made his debut for the Denmark national under-21s, simultaneously earning his first international start. However, after 64 minutes, he was replaced by Hebo in a 2–0 friendly defeat to Turkey U21. He made six total appearances for the national under-21 team.

Career statistics

Honours

Randers *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greve, Mathias Living people 1995 births Men's association football midfielders Danish men's footballers Danish Superliga players Odense Boldklub players Randers FC players Brøndby IF players Denmark men's youth international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers People from Kerteminde Municipality Footballers from the Region of Southern Denmark 21st-century Danish sportsmen