Troels Bech (born 29 July 1966) is a Danish professional

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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player, who managed

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) to the 2002

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 ...

trophy. He was the manager of Danish club

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

until November 2008 and took over Danish club

Silkeborg IF Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...

in January 2009. During his active career, he most prominently won the 1994

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 with Silkeborg IF. He was most recently managing

Biography

Born in

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 ...

in the secondary

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division () is a professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Football Association (Danish FA; DBU) as part of the nation-wide Da ...

under manager

Viggo Jensen Alexander Viggo Jensen (born 22 June 1874 in Copenhagen, Denmark; died 2 November 1930 in Copenhagen, Denmark) was a Danish weightlifter, sport shooter, gymnast, and athlete. He was the first Danish and Nordic Olympic champion, at the 1896 Sum ...

. In 1987, Bech moved to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to play for Greuther Fürth in the

Bayernliga The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Ob ...

. He played seven league games for Greuther Fürth 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 ...

, before he moved back to Svendborg. Jens Gjesse Hansen
Troels Bech ny træner i Esbjerg
''

Danmarks Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

'', November 23, 2005 In 1988, Bech was reunited with Viggo Jensen, when he moved to play for Danish top-flight club Silkeborg IF. In his first years at Silkeborg, Bech played as a central defender. He took most of Silkeborg's set pieces, and managed to score four goals in two games during the 1990 season; three

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

s and a goal directly on

corner kick A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

. Michael Ravn
4. december: Troels Bech
, ''

'', December 4, 2005 Still a part of the team, Bech eventually found himself as a left defender. He won the 1994 Danish Superliga championship with Silkeborg, before ending his playing career later that year. At 27 years of age, he was declared medically unfit to play football, due to a recurringly injured

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

. He soon began his coaching career, as assistant manager of

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening (), also known as Viborg FF or VFF for short, is a Danish professional association football, football club based in the Central Denmark Region, Central Jutland city of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg. They compete in the Danish ...

in the

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 ...

. Serving under manager Viggo Jensen, Bech helped Viborg win

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 Superliga in 1995. He became manager of women's team Hjortshøj-Egå, with whom he won the 1997 Danish Elitedivision championship. He went on to coach 1st Division club

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 ...

, before he signed with league rivals

Ikast FS Ikast FC is an association football club based in the town of Ikast, Denmark, that competes in the Jutland Series, the sixth tier of the Danish football league system and the first tier of the regional DBU Jutland. Founded in 2018 as a superst ...

. Shortly thereafter, Ikast merged with

Herning Fremad BK Herning Fremad is a Danish football club based in Herning, Jutland currently playing in the Jutland Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. History The club was founded in 1918. In 1999 FC Midtjylland Football Club Mi ...

to form

FC Midtjylland Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...

(FCM). Bech was deemed surplus, as Herning manager Ove Pedersen went on to coach FCM. In 2000, he became the manager of Superliga club

Odense BK 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 ...

, which he guided to the 2002

trophy. He moved back to FCM in 2002, and managed the club to the 2003 Danish Cup final. He was fired by FCM in December 2003, due to bad results. He had another stint as Odense manager from 2004 to 2005, before he was signed as manager of Esbjerg fB in October 2005, effective from January 2006. After a series of disappointing results in the

and after being allowed to leave the club to enter talks with

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann is a Norwegian professional football club based in Bergen. Founded on 26 September 1908, Brann has played in the first tier of Norwegian football for 67 out of 80 seasons, the second most of any club. They play their hom ...

, Bech resigned on November 16, 2008. December 2008 Bech was appointed manager of Danish club

from January 2009 after the club had sacked former manager Peder Knudsen due to disappointing results. Bech was announced as new manager of

at the beginning of the 2012-13 Danish Superliga season. He was sacked on 30 September 2014 following a poor start to the 2014-15 season. On 19 June 2015, Troels Bech was hired as sports director for

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

. He worked in this capacity until 31 December 2018 and decided to take a hiatus from football in 2019. In June 2020 he was announced as manager of struggling

in the

on a contract running for the rest of the season. In May 2024 he was announced as sports director of

, two days after their relegation from the

.Troels Bech er ny sportsdirektør i klubben
ob.dk, 27 May 2024

Honours

As player

Silkeborg *

: 1993–94

As coach

Hjortshøj-Egå * Danish Elitedivision: 1996–97 Odense *

: 2001–02

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bech, Troels 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Svendborg Danish men's footballers Danish football managers SfB-Oure FA players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players Silkeborg IF players AC Horsens managers Ikast FC managers Odense Boldklub managers FC Midtjylland managers Esbjerg fB managers Silkeborg IF managers Danish Superliga managers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Footballers from the Region of Southern Denmark 20th-century Danish sportsmen