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AaB was founded on May 13, 1885 by English engineers who were building Jutland's railway system, and the first years was concentrated on the game of cricket. It was initially named Aalborg Cricketklub (Aalborg Cricketclub) but the name of the club was changed to Aalborg Boldklub (Aalborg ballclub) in 1899. Football was adopted on an amateur basis in 1902, and has since been the main sport, as the name was changed to the current Aalborg Boldspilklub af 1885 (Aalborg ballgameclub of 1885) in 1906.[1]The club established a men's football team in 1902. The team has been a part of the Danish Superliga championship since 1987, winning three championships in 1995, 1999 and in 2008. They qualified for the 2008/2009 UEFA Champions League and will be part of Group E along with Manchester United F.C.,Villarreal CF and Celtic F.C.. Aalborg came away from Celtic Park with a point from their 0-0 draw against Celtic FC. The second game against Manchester United in Aalborg was lost 0-3. And the third game against Villarreal in Spain they lost 6-3. Then Villarreal came to Denmark and Aalborg got a 2-2 draw, thanks to a freekick by Anders Due. They then beat Celtic at the Aalborg Stadion and finished third in their group sending Celtic out of the competition. They then had a 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on December 10th 2008.
Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish professional sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as Aalborg BK or AaB for short. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis and basketball, but currently controls teams in football, ice hockey, floorball and handball. All teams are competing in the top-flight Danish league in their respective sport. The kit sponsor for the club is hummel, and the principal sponsor for the football and handball team is the regional bank Spar Nord. In football they are the current Danish Superliga Champions.
History
AaB was a part of the top-flight Danish leagues from the 1928-29 season, until the relegation of the club in 1947. The club came back to the best league in 1963, and except from the years of 1972, 1978 and 1981-1986, AaB has since been a part of the various editions of the Danish football championship. Despite its many years in the Danish championship, the club never won a championship title, but AaB won the Danish Cup competition in 1966 and 1970. Paid football was introduced in Denmark by the Danish Football Association in 1978. As AaB returned to the best Danish league, the club founded the professional branch of AaB A/S in 1987 to run a professional football team.[1]
Through the 1990s, the club won its two first Danish championships. In the Danish Superliga 1994-95 season, 24 goals from league topscorer Erik Bo Andersen secured the championship title for the team of coach Poul Erik Andreasen. The club was initially eliminated by FC Dynamo Kyiv in the qualification matches for the UEFA Champions League 1995-96, but following a bribing scandal Kyiv was banned from the tournament and AaB entered in their place. AaB thus became the first Danish team to compete in the UEFA Champions League. As they managed a 2-1 home win over Panathinaikos FC and a 2-2 draw with FC Porto in the six matches the club played in the initial group stage, AaB was eliminated. Erik Bo Andersen left the club for Scottish club Rangers F.C., but in Søren Frederiksen, the club found its next goal-getter. Though not the league top scorer, Frederiksen scored 17 goals in the Danish Superliga 1998-99 which the club won under guidance of Swedish coach Hans Backe. Once again, AaB faced Dinamo Kyiv in the Champions League qualification, but this time they fell short, losing 1-2 at home and drawing 2-2 in Kyiv after a late AaB goal was disallowed for being behind the goal line.
Since then, the club established itself in the top half of the Superliga and won a bronze medal and qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007. AaB beat FC Honka on the away goals rule (2-2 in Finland and 1-1 in Denmark) in the second round, and in the third and final round AaB faced AA Gent and drawed, 1-1, in the away game but beat them 2-1 in the following home match. Thus they "won" a place in the UEFA Cup's second qualification round and met HJK Helsinki, the first match ended 2-1 to Helsinki, but in the last match Aalborg won 3-0 and were thus ready for the UEFA Cup 2007-08. Drawing the Italian team U.C. Sampdoria in the First Round, which have Antonio Cassano and Vincenzo Montella as notable players, made the task seem impossible. AaB made it again on the away goals rule (getting 2-2 in Genoa and managing 0-0 in Aalborg), and qualified for the group stage - being the first Danish team ever, to send an Italian team "out of Europe." In the group stage AaB was seeded in the lowest pot, and drew R.S.C. Anderlecht, Tottenham Hotspur, Getafe CF, Hapoel Tel Aviv. Drawing with Anderlecht at home, and losing 2-3 to Tottenham (after being ahead 2-0 after the first half) forced AaB to win at home against Getafe, a match AaB lost 1-2.
In the 2007-2008 season AaB won their third Danish Championship. League top scorer was Jeppe Curth from AaB. AaB qualified for the qualification to the UEFA Champions League and in the first round AaB easily eliminated FK ModriÄa 7-1. In the final round before the group stage, AaB defeated Kaunas 2-0 both at home and away and reached the group stage of the Champions League for the second time, the first time a Danish team has achieved this. In the group stage, they finished third in Group E, ahead of Celtic with 6 points.
Their first match in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup was against spanish side Deportivo. Aab won the first leg at home 3-0.
[edit] Stadium
Main article: Energi Nord Arena
Since 1920, AaB has played its games at Aalborg Stadion. The stadium was opened on July 18, 1920 with a north-south aligned playing field. The first spectator seats was built in 1927, and in 1937 a wooden terrace for 3,000 standing spectators was built. In 1960, the stadium burned down and a new east-western aligned concrete stadium was opened in 1962. In recent years the stadium have been enlarged and rebuilt so that it now has modern facilities and roof over all spectator stands. [2] The stadium currently has the capacity of 13,800 people (7,700 seats) or 10,500 people (all seats).
[edit] Honours
* Danish Superliga
o Winners: 1994-95, 1998-99, 2007-08
o 3rd place: 1935-36, 1969, 2006-07
* Danish Cup
o Winners: 1966, 1970
o Runners-up (7): 1967, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2004
* UEFA Champions League
o 3rd qualification round: 1999-2000
o Group stage: 1995-96, 2008-09
* UEFA Cup
o Knock out stage: 2008-09
o Group stage: 2007-08
o 1st round: 2004-05
o 1st round: 1999-2000
o 1st round: 1993-94
* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
o 1st round: 1966-67, 1970-71, 1987-88
* UEFA Intertoto Cup
o Group winners: 1993
* 49 seasons in the Highest Danish League
* 19 seasons in the Second Highest Danish League
* 5 seasons in the Third Highest Danish League