Brøndby IF

Did You Know?

• The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1990–91, losing to Roma after a Rudi Völler goal in the 88th minute.
• In 1998, Brøndby beat Bayern Munich 2–1 in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Brøndby won the Danish Superliga in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, and three in a row from 1996 to 1998.
• The club's first European match was a 4–1 win over Hungarian champions Budapest Honvéd in the 1986 European Cup.

History

Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening was created on 3 December 1964 when two local rivals, Brøndbyøster IF and Brøndbyvester IF, merged. The merger was required for the municipality to build a new stadium. The club began in the sixth-tier Serie 1 as an amateur side, finishing fourth in its first two seasons. Early players included team captain Per Bjerregaard, a doctor from Randers, and Hans Gregersen, the team mascot until his death in 1967.

In 1967 coach Leif Andersen secured promotion to Sjællandsserien. After mediocre years, new coach John Sinding led the club to promotion to Danmarksserien. In 1973 Per Bjerregaard ended his playing career at age 27 and became chairman; his first move was to sack Sinding. He hired former Denmark international Finn Laudrup as player-coach.

Laudrup brought his brother-in-law Ebbe Skovdahl and his young sons Brian and Michael Laudrup to the club. After promotion in 1974, Laudrup left in 1976 for KB in the top-flight 1st Division; Michael Laudrup followed a year later. In 1977 Brøndby moved up to the second Division and adapted to paid football in 1978. Bjerregaard persuaded Finn Laudrup to return on a professional contract in 1981.

Under coach Tom Køhlert, Brøndby scored 85 goals in 30 matches and won promotion to the top-flight 1st Division. Finn Laudrup then retired at age 36, and Michael Laudrup returned for the 1982 season as one of ten players leaving KB that year.

Stadium

Brøndby have always played at Brøndby Stadion. The municipality mayor promised to build a ground as part of the merger, and it was ready in 1965. Initially the stadium was a grass field with an athletics track. In 1978 a main stand with 1,200 seated spectators was built.

Concrete terraces opposite the main stand added capacity for 5,000 more people in 1982. After early top-flight success, the athletics track was removed and 2,000 seats were installed on the concrete stands from 1989 to 1990. During the 1990–91 UEFA Cup, ticket demand exceeded the 10,000 capacity; scaffolding stands boosted capacity to 18,000 for the semi-final leg against Roma. End stands inaugurated in 1992 brought total capacity to 22,000.

In May 1998 the club bought the stadium from the municipality for 23.5 million DKK and spent double that on modernization. Because the stadium was under construction during the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, home matches were moved to archrival Copenhagen's Parken Stadium. By 2000 all stands were standardized to the same height, allowing 29,000 spectators for domestic matches and 22,000 for all-seated European matches. Subsequent enhancements included a 26,031-spectator crowd for a February 2004 European match against Barcelona.

Support

Brøndby is the most widely popular football club in Denmark; a 2015 study showed Brøndby matches had the most viewers in attendance and TV ratings, with rivals Copenhagen in second place. Copenhagen have in recent years surpassed Brøndby in attendance by several thousands. The official fan club, Brøndby Support, was founded in 1993 and has about 12,000 members. Fanafdelingen is the spiritual successor to Brøndby Supporters Trust, which gained a board seat in the professional club in 2013.

In 2018 BST was tasked with organizing the groups Alpha Brøndby, Brøndby Support, and Svinget under a common umbrella, leading to the creation of Fanafdelingen. Fanafdelingen organizes a yearly election for the fan representative board seat. Brøndby is also known for its ultra scene; the most prominent group is Alpha, founded in 2006 and located in the centre of the Southside Stand, organizing songs, flags, banners, and tifo. Other groups include Suburban Casuals, Southside United, Svinget, Deling 43, and Fri Sport.