The idea that one half of the Old Firm would be languishing in the lower leagues would have been an outlandish thought a few years ago.
But a brief glance at the Danish league table makes for interesting reading. Unlike Scotland, both members of the country’s New Firm are still in the top flight. The question is for how long!
Denmark’s biggest club Brondby – where Peter Schmeichel, Michael Laudrup, Daniel Agger and Sweden’s Johan Elmander all plied their trade – are currently rock bottom of the Danish Superliga after six games.
And who sits on the same number of points (3) in the other automatic relegation place? The answer is fellow Copenhagen side and the other half of the New Firm and 10-time champs FC Copenhagen.
It’s still early days and both clubs could avoid the drop. But for one of those clubs, their problems run deeper than zero wins between them so far in 2013/14.
Brondby’s problems date back to 2008 when they last won a trophy - the 2007/08 Danish Cup. The 10-time league champions gained a new sponsor, the KasiGroup who agreed to become the main backer and provide the naming rights for the stadium, as well as promising to come bearing gifts in the form of transfer funds to improve the squad.
One year later, the picture was far less rosy. The KasiGroup’s founder and businessman Jesper Nielsen fell out with Brondby chairman Per Bjerregaard following a power struggle and refused to pursue his sponsorship of the club.
The KasiGroup are believed to owe Brondby about €6 million and although the club is pursuing legal action to recover the lost revenue, Nielsen has refused to cough up the cash thus far as he disputes the fee.
Jesper Nielsen
Coupled with the financial crisis in Europe which has seen attendances drop in the Danish Superliga and the inability to find a viable sponsor, the problems are mounting for Brondby who narrowly avoided bankruptcy at the start of the summer after a large share issue in April and a restructuring of the club’s shares. A new board has also been appointed.
The club also avoided relegation on the final day of last season to give themselves a glimmer of hope.
How long they manage to avoid oblivion cannot be predicted but the off-the-field issues have seeped onto the pitch where star players like Denmark international Michael Krohn-Dehli have been sold and managerial instability reigns with four bosses since 2009.
Over at bitter rivals FC Copenhagen - who only came into existence as an entity following a merger in 1992 – hence the New Firm tag – the problems are more sporting than economic.
Things got so bad on the pitch earlier in August that deputy chairman Niels-Christian Holmstrom and Chief Executive Anders Horsholt got into a heated exchange on the pitch in front of the watching, following a 3 – 1 defeat to Randers
They have been hit hard by the sale of last season’s league top scorer Andreas Cornelius to Cardiff City but have not spent much in the transfer market with the most notable signing being former Aston Villa defender Olaf Mellberg on a free transfer.
However, they are reigning champions and have qualified directly for the Champions League group stage, ensuring a pot of cash. They have been regulars in the group stages and only as recently as two seasons ago, became the first Danish club to reach the Champions League knockout stages, losing to Chelsea in the last-16. They also managed to earn a draw at home against that season’s champions Barcelona in the group stages.
To turn the tide on a poor start to the season, last week Copenhagen sacked Ariel Jacobs and appointed former Wolves manager Stale Solbakken as head coach. He is well liked and knows the club well, having led the capital club to five league titles between 2006 and 2011, before moving to pastures new with far less success.
The first challenge will be to end the miserable start to the season but once FC Copenhagen get a few wins under their belt, relegation should not be an issue compared to the other half of the New Firm.
