Andreas Bjelland

Andreas Bjelland
Personal information
Full name Andreas Bjelland[1]
Date of birth (1988-07-11) 11 July 1988
Place of birth Fredensborg, Denmark[2]
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 5
Youth career
Fredensborg BI
0000–2001 BSV
2001–2006 Lyngby
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2009 Lyngby 46 (1)
2009–2012 FC Nordsjælland 72 (3)
2012–2015 FC Twente 65 (3)
2015– Brentford 11 (0)
National team‡
2004 Denmark U16 1 (0)
2006 Denmark U18 1 (0)
2006 Denmark U19 3 (0)
2009–2011 Denmark U21 16 (0)
2010– Denmark 23 (2)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:15, 12 November 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15:24, 16 November 2016 (UTC)

Andreas Bjelland (born 11 July 1988) is a Danish professional football centre back, currently playing for Brentford. He has represented Denmark at international level and was part of the Danes' Euro 2012 squad. He is also adept as a full back or defensive midfielder.[3]

Club career

Lyngby

A centre back, Bjelland began his career in his homeland with Fredensborg BI and BSV,[4] before moving into the youth system at Superliga side Lyngby in 2001.[5] Financial problems at the stricken club saw the Royal Blues relegated to the Danmarksserien, but by the time Bjelland made his senior debut in September 2006,[6] they had risen back to the 1. division.[5] Winning the 1.division championship in the 2006–07 season saw Bjelland start his first full season with Lyngby as a first team regular, starting the club's opening 9 games. He dropped out of contention and finished the 2007–08 season with 11 appearances and no goals.[7] Back in the 1.division after relegation from the Superliga, Bjelland was a regular in the 2008–09 season, making 24 appearances and scoring one goal.[7] He made five appearances in the opening month of the 2009–10 season, before departing on 31 August 2009.[8]

FC Nordsjælland

Bjelland returned to the Superliga to sign for FC Nordsjælland on 31 August 2009.[8] He quickly established himself in the team and had a successful first season, making 26 appearances and scoring one goal.[7] His campaign was capped by success in the DBU Pokalen, with Nordsjælland beating Midtjylland 2–0 in the final after extra time. Despite missing out on Nordsjælland's short-lived Europa League campaign, Bjelland had another successful season in 2010–11,[7] being named vice-captain and again winning the DBU Pokalen at the expense of Midtjylland.[6]

Bjelland finally made his European debut at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, playing in both legs as Nordsjælland crashed out in the qualifying stages to Sporting Lisbon for the second successive season.[7] Bjelland made 29 appearances and scored one goal in a season which saw Nordsjælland win the Superliga title for the first time in the club's history.[6][7] He departed the club in June 2012, after making 84 appearances and scoring three goals during three seasons at Farum Park.[7]

FC Twente

On 6 November 2011, it was announced that Bjelland had signed a four-year contract (with an optional further year) with Dutch Eredivisie side FC Twente, effective from the beginning of the 2012–13 season.[9] He had a debut season to forget at De Grolsch Veste, spending six months out with a broken metatarsal and making only 14 appearances.[7] As part of his recovery, he made six appearances and scored one goal for Jong FC Twente in the Beloften Eredivisie.[10] He came back fit for the 2013–14 season and was a virtual ever-present as Twente managed a third-place finish in the Eredivisie.[7] Bjelland was named as captain for the 2014–15 season,[11] though he was in and out of the team, missing matches through suspensions and four separate injuries.[7] He left the club on 2 July 2015,[12] after making 79 appearances and scoring three goals during his three seasons in Enschede.[7]

Brentford

On 2 July 2015, Bjelland moved to England to sign for Championship side Brentford on a three-year deal for a club-record €3 million fee.[12][13] The move reunited him with former Nordsjælland coach Flemming Pedersen, then Head of Football Philosophy and Player Development at Griffin Park.[12] A groin injury suffered in pre-season saw Bjelland only fit enough for the bench for the first match of the 2015–16 season versus Ipswich Town and he made his first start for the club three days later in the League Cup first round versus Oxford United.[14][15] He was at fault for Oxford's first goal of the 4–0 defeat and was withdrawn at half time after suffering a knee ligament injury.[16][17] It was announced on 13 August 2015 that Bjelland would likely be out for the remainder of the 2015–16 season.[18] He returned to full-contact training in late April 2016 and entered the 2016–17 pre-season fully fit,[19] playing his first match for 11 months versus Boreham Wood on 9 July 2016.[20] Despite subsequently missing part of pre-season with an abductor strain,[21] Bjelland broke into the starting lineup in an unfamiliar left back role in mid-September 2016.[22][23]

International career

Youth

Despite being eligible to represent Norway,[24] Bjelland represented Denmark at U16, U18, U19 and U21 level,[25] captaining the latter team and making three appearances at the 2011 European U21 Championship,[26] hosted in Denmark.[27]

Full

Bjelland made his full international debut in a 0–0 friendly draw with the Czech Republic on 17 November 2010, playing the full 90 minutes.[28] He failed to receive a call-up for another 11 months, when he was drafted in for a pair of Euro 2012 qualifiers against Cyprus and Portugal, starting both matches and helping the team to wins.[28] Bjelland scored his first international goal with penalty to seal a 2–0 friendly win over Australia on 2 June 2012.[28] He was called into Denmark's squad for Euro 2012, but failed to make an appearance before the team crashed out in the group stage.[28] Following the tournament, a metatarsal injury suffered on club duty with Twente saw Bjelland miss a year of international football, making his return in a 2–1 friendly win over Georgia on 5 June 2013.[28] He scored his second international goal in a 6–0 2014 World Cup qualifying thrashing of Malta on 15 October 2013.[28] Bjelland made regular appearances through 2014, but a knee ligament injury meant that failed to appear for Denmark between June 2015 and 11 November 2016,[28] when he made his comeback playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–0 2018 World Cup qualifying win over Kazakhstan.[29]

Personal life

Bjelland was born to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother.[24] His younger brother Thomas was also a footballer for BSV and Hellerup.[30][31]

Honours

FC Nordsjælland

Career statistics

As of match played 4 November 2016.
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lyngby 2006–07[32] 1.division 9 0 0 0 — — — 9 0
2007–08[7] Superliga 11 0 0 0 — — — 11 0
2008–09[7] 1.division 22 1 2 0 — — — 24 1
2009–10[7] 4 0 1 0 — — — 5 0
Total 46130— — — 471
FC Nordsjælland 2009–10[7] Superliga 22 1 4 0 — — — 26 1
2010–11[7] 24 1 5 0 — 0 0 — 29 1
2011–12[7] 26 1 1 0 — 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 27 1
Total 723100— 2 0— 843
FC Twente 2012–13[7] Eredivisie 8 0 0 0 — 4[lower-alpha 1] 0 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 14 0
2013–14[7] 33 0 1 0 — — — 34 0
2014–15[7] 26 3 4 0 — 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 31 3
Total 67350— 5 020793
Brentford 2015–16[33] Championship 0 0 0 0 1 0 — — 1 0
2016–17[22] 11 0 0 0 0 0 — — 11 0
Total 11 0 0 0 1 0 — — 12 0
Career totals 187718010 7 0202137
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in Europa League
  2. ↑ Appearances in Eredivisie European competition play-offs

References

  1. ↑ "EFL: Retained list: 2015/16" (PDF). English Football League. p. 9. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Andreas Bjelland - Football Stats - Brentford - Age 28 - Soccer Base". Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Brentford transfer news: FC Twente defender Andreas Bjelland on Marinus Dijkhuizen's radar". Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  4. ↑ "Blue Vikings - Official Lyngby BK Supporters". www.bluevikings.dk. Archived from the original on 2015-07-04. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
  5. 1 2 "Spelersprofiel: Andreas Bjelland - FC Twente". Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Andreas Bjelland – UEFA.com". Uefa.com. Retrieved 2015-07-02. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Denmark - A. Bjelland - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  8. 1 2 "FCN henter Andreas Bjelland". bold.dk. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  9. ↑ Blond, Mikael (6 November 2011). "Bjelland solgt til Twente" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "Jong FC Twente verslaat Jong FC Utrecht (3-0) » FC Twente". www.fctwente.nl. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
  11. ↑ "Bjelland over het aanvoerderschap, zijn gezin en het leven in Nederland » FC Twente". www.fctwente.nl. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  12. 1 2 3 Wickham, Chris. "Danish international defender Andreas Bjelland signs for Brentford from FC Twente". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  13. ↑ "Brentford sign Denmark's Bjelland". BBC. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  14. ↑ Moore, Tom. "Brentford defender set to shrug off injury to face Ipswich". Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  15. ↑ "Andreas Bjelland Player Profile - ESPN FC". www.espnfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-14.
  16. ↑ FC, Brentford. "Matchday Centre: Oxford United". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  17. ↑ Moore, Tom. "Brentford to find out extent of Andreas Bjelland's injury". Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  18. ↑ BFC. "Update on injury suffered by Brentford and Denmark defender Andreas Bjellan". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  19. ↑ Moore, Tom (2016-04-28). "Who's fit? Who's out? The latest injury news from Brentford". getwestlondon. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  20. ↑ Brett, Ciaran. "Andreas Bjelland speaks to Bees Player after making his Brentford return against Boreham Wood". Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  21. ↑ Moore, Tom (2016-07-26). "Brentford boss Dean Smith gives injury update after Peterborough friendly". Retrieved 2016-08-14.
  22. 1 2 "Andreas Bjelland | Football Stats | Brentford | Season 2016/2017 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  23. ↑ Brett, Ciaran. "Andreas Bjelland on Brentford's 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic and his Denmark International call-up". Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  24. 1 2 "Bjelland kunne have spillet for Norge". Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  25. ↑ "Landsholdsdatabasen spiller information". www.dbu.dk. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  26. ↑ "Under-21 - News – UEFA.com". Retrieved 2015-07-02. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  27. ↑ "Under-21 2011 - History - Denmark – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2015-07-02. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Andreas Bjelland : National Football Teams". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  29. ↑ Brett, Ciaran. "Andreas Bjelland plays 45 minutes for Denmark in draw with Czech Republic". Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  30. ↑ "BSV-træner fremhæver lillebror Bjelland". Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  31. ↑ "Thomas Bjelland". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
  32. ↑ Andreas Bjelland
  33. ↑ "Andreas Bjelland | Football Stats | FC Twente Enschede | Season 2015/2016 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2015-07-02.

External links

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