Living on the Margins

Mergers could solve Copenhagen clubs’ struggles with a lack of fans, while one historic team are trying to cling on to their traditional support.

- Anders Dehn

FC Nordsjaelland

FC Nordsjaelland (FCN) are something rare: a football club younger than most of their supporters. Although children and families do make up some of their fanbase, the club, based in Farum on the northern edge of Copenhagen, will only turn 14 this summer.

For FCN’s first game after the winter break on February 17, a crowd of 2,688 at the Right to Dream Park (named after a coaching academy) saw a 1-0 defeat in a local derby against Lyngby Boldklub. The attendance was slightly better than the team’s season average and it highlighted what has been a constant issue for FCN throughout their existence – it is difficult to get the locals interested in top-flight football. That’s not because they haven’t been treated to success; FCN’s results have been remarkable. The amateur club which the professional FCN is built on, Farum Boldklub, were themselves not formed until 1991, starting in the seventh tier. They were promoted to the Superliga for the first time in 2002, the year before being named after the local region (North Zealand).

The club’s rise owed a lot to the former mayor, Peter Brixtofte, who helped to find financing for the renovation of the stadium. He was immensely popular and declared the club to be his life’s work. In 2002, however, a newspaper revealed that Brixtofte had used public funds to wine and dine expensively and it was later discovered that he had made secret loans to the club and other illegal financial deals.