John Jensen

John Jensen (born 3 May 1965), nicknamed Faxe, is a former Danish international footballer who was untill recently coach at Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF. He is known for his temper and is often outspoken in interviews. His playing career lasted over a decade, during which he played most famously for Arsenal F.C. in England and amounted 4 goals in 69 caps for the Danish national team, including a successful 1992 European Championship tournament, in which he scored the opening goal in Denmark's 2-0 final victory.

On May 21 2006 it was publiced, that he stopped as ass. manager in Brøndby IF.

Biography

He started his career at Brøndby IF, and was an important part of the team which won several Danish championships in the late 1980s, crowned by a call-up to the Denmark national team and the Danish Player of the Year award in 1987. Following a short stay with German team Hamburger SV in 1988, he was back with Brøndby in 1990 where he took part in the club's successful 1991 UEFA Cup campaign which reached the semi-final of the tournament.

Premiership move

After scoring in Denmark's 2-0 1992 European Championship final win over Germany, Jensen was signed by George Graham for Arsenal. Jensen's time at Arsenal was highly successful, but also disappointing. He was part of the 1992-93 side that won the FA Cup and League Cup in the same season, the 1993-94 side that won the European Cup Winners Cup and the 1994-95 side that lost in the Cup-Winners Cup final.

However, many Arsenal fans had seen Jensen's goal in the Euro 92 final (an excellent first-time strike from the edge of the area) and were expecting more of the same. He played 132 games for Arsenal, but he is chiefly remembered for the cult hero status he earned, somewhat akin to Perry Groves before him. No matter how hard Jensen tried (and, for a defensive midfielder, he tried exceptionally hard), he could not score a goal. The Arsenal fans came up with a song, "We'll be there when Jensen scores!" and by 1994, Jensen's search for a goal was such a cult cause that whenever he got the ball, no matter whether he was inside his own penalty area or bearing down on goal, the Arsenal fans would implore him to "Shooooot!".

Solitary goal

Jensen finally got his first goal after 98 matches, on a cold and wet night against Queens Park Rangers on 31 December 1994. Arsenal were losing 1-0, when Jensen picked the ball up just inside the penalty area near the left-hand corner, about 16 yards from goal. The crowd gave the obligatory bellow of "shoot!", and Jensen complied, curling a shot into the net, prompting wild celebration from the Arsenal fans. The fans sang Johnny Jensen, Johnny, Johhny Jensen for the rest of the evening. However, a defensive error and then a goalkeeping error from Vince Bartram resulted in Arsenal eventually losing the match 3-1. The goal is still remembered though and one can still see t-shirts around Highbury saying I saw John Jensen score. During the years he spent at Arsenal, John Jensen actually managed to score two goals in 21 games for the Danish national team: one against Albania in 1993 and one against Belgium in 1994.

A few months later, it was revealed that Jensen's transfer to Highbury was at least partly motivated by George Graham's involvement with agent Rune Hauge, who had been giving Graham backhanders in exchange for signing players he represented. The first player involved in this 'bung' scandal was Norwegian defender Pål Lydersen, and the second was Jensen. Graham was sacked from his job two months after the story broke, and he was subsequently banned from football for 12 months. Jensen played on for a few more years before he left Highbury in the summer of 1996, with only the solitary goal against QPR to his name from 138 competitive appearances for the club. He rejoined his old club, Brøndby IF.

Coaching career

He retired from full-time playing in 1999 and accepted the job of player/manager at Herfølge BK, a small Danish club, and immediately made a name for himself by winning the Danish Superliga on his first attempt. However, Herfølge's success was short-lived, and they were relegated from the Superliga in the 2001 season. Jensen's reputation with his old club was good enough to secure him a move back to Brøndby IF, as assistant manager to Michael Laudrup, a position he held until June 2006, when Jensen and Laudrup did not extend their contracts with the club.

Honours

Player

Danish Superliga (7): 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1995-96, 1996-97, and 1997-98, with Brøndby IF
Danish Player of the Year : 1987
, with Denmark
League Cup: 1993, with Arsenal
FA Cup: 1993, with Arsenal
European Cup Winners' Cup: 1994, with Arsenal

Coach

Danish Superliga: 1999-2000, with Herfølge BK; 2004-05, with Brøndby IF
Danish Coach of the Year : 2000

External links