Overview

The strategic objectives of the Danish Football Association (DBU) towards 2025: 

• Danish football succeeds on the field: the ambition for 2025 is that national and club teams win on the international stage.
• Sustainable facilities for the future: the ambition for 2025 is increased accessibility, innovative solutions and better football experiences.
• A better childhood: the ambition for 2025 is to create the world's best football environment for the joy and benefit of all children, Danish football and Denmark.
• Retaining and attracting more members: the ambition for 2025 is to retain and attract more members, more volunteers and more and better coaches.
• A stronger union: the ambition for 2025 is that Danish football stands united through common rules of play, clear responsibility distribution, strong professional competencies and a trusting culture.

UEFA support

UEFA’s HatTrick programme, which channels EURO funds into football development across Europe, has allowed the DBU to keep more young players actively playing the game thanks to the appointment of a team of 16 club advisors.

Spread across the breadth of Denmark, these specialists work with grassroots clubs, delivering training programmes for coaches and volunteers to ensure young players are receiving quality guidance in a safe environment and increasing the number of boys and girls playing the sport.

By providing the right conditions for children and teenagers to enjoy the game, the DBU is able to raise grassroots standards and keep more players involved into adulthood.

UEFA Foundation for Children in Denmark

Set up in 2015, the UEFA foundation uses football as a vehicle to help improve children’s lives by supporting hundreds of campaigns and projects across Europe and around the world.

Timeline

Association history

1889 Founded on 18 May 1889, the Dansk Boldspil-Union (DBU) is the first national football association in mainland Europe. At the time, only one of the 20 clubs in Copenhagen is dedicated exclusively to football. 1929 Although a Danish championship is played in 1913, it is not until 1929/30 that a full-blown league is organised with ten sides in the first division. 1936 A second division is added, with a third tier following in 1945. 1954 Dane Ebbe Schwartz becomes the first president of UEFA. A man of great diplomacy with an international education, the former AB Copenhagen goalkeeper steers the organisation skilfully through its early years. 1958 Structural modifications see the domestic autumn/spring season change to a calendar-year format, ending in November, with the three divisions expanding to 12 teams each. 1971 With the domestic game still amateur, the DBU begins to accept foreign-based professionals in the national team. 1977 Allan Simonsen is crowned European Footballer of the Year as the Danes begin to exert more of an international influence. 1992 The Danish Superliga launches and, immediately, the campaign reverts to autumn/spring. The first five years of this new-look competition produce five different champions, confirming a renewed spread of power in the national game. 1994 The national stadium is selected to host the 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup final, with England's Arsenal defeating Italy's Parma 1-0. 2000 Arsenal return to Parken for the UEFA Cup final, but are beaten on penalties by Galatasaray of Turkey. 2016 The Superliga is expanded to 14 teams for the 2016/17 season. 2021 Copenhagen's Parken hosts four matches at UEFA EURO 2020. Present day

National team history

1960 Denmark take an Olympic silver medal, losing out to Yugoslavia after reaching to the final with a win over Hungary and having navigated their way through a group including Argentina, Poland and Tunisia. It is a first official honour for the Danes, despite actually winning an unofficial Olympic tournament in Athens in 1906. 1984 A talented Denmark squad go all the way to the UEFA European Championship semi-finals, only losing out to Spain on penalties. 1986 They back that up by reaching their first FIFA World Cup tournament, topping a group that includes finalists West Germany before losing to Spain in the round of 16. 1991 Denmark is chosen to host the UEFA European Women's Championship, the hosts finishing third behind Norway and champions Germany, defeating Italy in the third place play-off. 1992 Despite not qualifying for the tournament, Denmark's men replace Yugoslavia at UEFA EURO '92 at late notice, and shock the whole of Europe by going on to win the tournament. A series of stylish displays culminates in a rearguard effort to beat world champions Germany 2-0 in the final. 1993 It's third again for the women at EURO, this time beating Germany after losing to Norway for the second successive tournament. 1995 Denmark win the FIFA Confederations Cup, beating Argentina in the final in Saudi Arabia. 1998 In France, Denmark reach the World Cup quarter-finals, the men's best performance so far on the global stage, having failed to qualify for 1994. 2017 Denmark's women reach the final of UEFA Women's EURO 2017, but despite taking an early lead are beaten 4-2 by hosts Netherlands. 2018 Pernille Harder is named the UEFA Women's Player of the Year, claiming the honour a second time in 2020. 2021 Denmark overcome the loss of Christian Eriksen in the group stage to make the UEFA EURO 2020 semi-finals only to lose out in extra time to England at Wembley. Present day

President

Jesper Møller

Nationality: Danish
Date of birth: 9 June 1963
Association president since: 2014

General secretary

Erik Brøgger Rasmussen

Nationality: Danish
Date of birth: 3 June 1968
Association general secretary since: 2023 

Danish Football Association website