Jan Mølby

{{short description|Danish manager and former footballer (born 1963)}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Jan Mølby

| image = Jan Molby.jpg

| caption = Mølby in 2012

| fullname = Jan Mølby{{Hugman|13779|access-date=30 November 2017}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|07|04|df=y}}

| birth_place = Kolding, Denmark

| height =

| position = Midfielder

| years1 = 1981–1982

| clubs1 = Kolding

| caps1 = 40

| goals1 = 0

| years2 = 1982–1984

| clubs2 = Ajax

| caps2 = 57

| goals2 = 11

| years3 = 1984–1996

| clubs3 = Liverpool

| caps3 = 218

| goals3 = 44

| years4 = 1995

| clubs4 = → Barnsley (loan)

| caps4 = 5

| goals4 = 0

| years5 = 1995

| clubs5 = → Norwich City (loan)

| caps5 = 3

| goals5 = 0

| years6 = 1996–1998

| clubs6 = Swansea City

| caps6 = 41

| goals6 = 8

| totalcaps = 364

| totalgoals = 63

| nationalyears1 = 1979

| nationalteam1 = Denmark U-17

| nationalcaps1 = 6

| nationalgoals1 = 2

| nationalyears2 = 1980–1981

| nationalteam2 = Denmark U-19

| nationalcaps2 = 9

| nationalgoals2 = 0

| nationalyears3 = 1981–1983

| nationalteam3 = Denmark U-21

| nationalcaps3 = 7

| nationalgoals3 = 0

| nationalyears4 = 1982–1990

| nationalteam4 = Denmark

| nationalcaps4 = 33

| nationalgoals4 = 2

| manageryears1 = 1996–1997

| managerclubs1 = Swansea City

| manageryears2 = 1999–2002

| managerclubs2 = Kidderminster Harriers

| manageryears3 = 2002

| managerclubs3 = Hull City

| manageryears4 = 2003–2004

| managerclubs4 = Kidderminster Harriers

}}

Jan Mølby ({{IPA|da|ˈmølpy}}; born 4 July 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1982 to 1998. After starting his career with Kolding, he moved on to Ajax before spending twelve years playing in England with Liverpool. He was capped 33 times by Denmark, scoring twice.

After leaving Liverpool he became player-manager of Swansea City, where he spent two years, and then managed Kidderminster Harriers, guiding them to promotion to the Football League in 2000. He later had a brief spell as manager of Hull City and then a brief spell back in charge of Kidderminster Harriers.

Club career

Born in Kolding, Mølby started his senior playing career at Kolding, before joining Ajax and then Liverpool.

Mølby began to establish himself as a regular and successful penalty taker, starting with two penalties converted at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the league on 28 September 1985. Other fine performances included a brace in open play in a 3–0 home win over Aston Villa in the league on 7 December, and two goals (one a penalty) as they eliminated Manchester United from the Football League Cup in a 2–1 win at Anfield in late November.{{Cite web |url=http://www.liverweb.org.uk/season.asp?season=198586 |title=LIVERWEB - Liverpool Results 1985-86 |access-date=2 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120021129/http://www.liverweb.org.uk/season.asp?season=198586 |archive-date=20 January 2011 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/feb/20/golden-goal-jan-molby-liverpool-manchester-united|title=Golden goal: Jan Molby for Liverpool v Manchester United (1985) |date=20 February 2015|work=Guardian |access-date=19 June 2015}}

In 1988–89, Mølby returned to regular first team football, playing in central defence in the absence of the injured Alan Hansen, and scoring the winning goal against Manchester United at Anfield in the second league game of the season. However, in October 1988 he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for reckless driving following an incident earlier in the year.{{cite news|title=Football's Hall of Shame | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1235382.stm | publisher=BBC | date=14 December 2001 | access-date=4 May 2012}}

Over the first three Premier League seasons (Mølby's last), he started just over 30 games in total and all his goals came from penalties, including one in Liverpool's first game of the 1994–95 season when Mølby opened the scoring with a penalty in a 6–1 away win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/6042576/Premier-Leagues-worst-defeats-on-season-opening-weekend.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Emily | last=Benammar | title=Premier League's worst defeats on season-opening weekend | date=17 August 2009}}

Early in the 1995–96 season, manager Roy Evans loaned him out to Barnsley and Norwich (where he scored once in the League Cup against Birmingham City),{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/daish-in-at-the-death-1325733.html|title=Daish in at the death|work=The Independent|date=24 January 1996|access-date=17 February 2010|first=Phil|last=Shaw|location=London}} and in February 1996, he finally called time on more than a decade at Liverpool to take over as player-manager of Swansea City. Just before taking the job at the Vetch Field, Ron Atkinson unsuccessfully tried to sign him for Coventry City.{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/YOU%27RE+THE+JAN+TO+CHEER+UP+RON;+Coventry+bid+for+Molby.-a061325286|title=YOU'RE THE JAN TO CHEER UP RON; Coventry bid for Molby. - Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=12 December 2018}}

While at Liverpool, he scored a total of 62 goals, 42 of which were from penalties. During Mølby's time with Liverpool, he only failed to score three times from the penalty spot (penalties against Sheffield Wednesday and QPR in 1985–86 and Chelsea in 1989–90 were saved). His record as a penalty-taker in the top flight is thought to be second only to Matthew Le Tissier. He held the club record of most penalties scored by a Liverpool player until Steven Gerrard surpassed his record in August 2014.{{Cite web |date=11 April 2014 |title=Stats: Reds close in on magic 100 |url=https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/161002-stats-reds-close-in-on-magic-100 |access-date=12 December 2018 |website=Liverpool FC}}

Managerial career

Mølby became manager of Swansea City in February 1996 but was sacked in October 1997 along with his assistant, Billy Ayre. He had taken Swansea to the Division Three playoff final five months earlier, but they lost to a last-minute goal by Northampton Town's John Frain. A dismal start to the 1997–98 season had seen Swansea struggling near the foot of the Football League, and the board decided that it was time for a new manager to be appointed, asserting that the team's good performances the previous season were more down to Mølby's qualities as a top class player, rather than as a manager.{{cite web |url=http://www.4thegame.com/news/story/34992/MOLBY+HITS+OUT+AFTER+SWANSEA+DISMISSAL.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=6 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020111906/http://www.4thegame.com/news/story/34992/MOLBY+HITS+OUT+AFTER+SWANSEA+DISMISSAL.html |archive-date=20 October 2007}}

Following Kenny Jackett's resignation as Swansea manager in early 2007, Mølby was linked with a return to the club. However, Mølby has responded by saying that he is unlikely to ever return to football management.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swansea_city/6367829.stm|work=BBC News|title=Molby rules out return to Swansea|date=16 February 2007|access-date=5 May 2010}}

Recent years

In April 2009, Mølby was made an 'Honorary Scouser' by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool.{{cite web |title=Liverpool's footballing legends among first round of Honorary Scousers |publisher=Liverpool Echo |date=3 April 2009 |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/04/03/liverpool-s-footballing-legends-amoung-first-round-of-honorary-scousers-100252-23307303/ |access-date=3 April 2009}}

Mølby appears on a podcast called "Mølby on the Spot" presented by Trevor Downey from a field in rural Ireland.{{Cite web|url=https://anfieldindex.com/podcasts/molby-on-the-spot|title=Molby on the Spot|date=August 2017}}

A running gag of comedian Troy Hawke (Milo McCabe) as he performs as a street greeter is that he was sent by Mølby, the "non-consensual CEO of the Greeter's Guild." The two men met at the public unveiling of a Mølby mural in Liverpool in March 2023.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thisisanfield.com/2023/03/we-ask-troy-hawke-why-jan-molby-as-new-mural-unveiled-for-scousest-dane/|title=We ask Troy Hawke "why Jan Molby?" as new mural unveiled for "Scousest Dane"|date=March 18, 2023}}

International career

National team	Year	Apps
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year{{cite web \|title=Jan Mølby \|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/player/19511/Jan_Molby.html \|website=National Football Teams \|access-date=27 October 2020}}
rowspan="9"\|Denmark \|1982	3	0
1983	2	0
1984	7	0
1985	5	0
1986	9	0
1987	2	2
1988	2	0
1989	1	0
1990	2	0
colspan="2"\|Total\|\|33\|\|2

Honours

=Player=

File:Jan Mølby (Ajax) word ten val gebracht rechts Gullit, Bestanddeelnr 932-4214 (cropped).jpg in 1982]]

{{cite web|url=https://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/378|title=Liverpool career stats for Jan Mølby - LFChistory - Stats galore for Liverpool FC!|website=www.lfchistory.net|access-date=12 December 2018}}

Ajax

Liverpool

Football League First Division: 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90
FA Cup: 1985–86, 1991–92
FA Charity Shield: 1986, 1988, 1989

Swansea City

Football League Third Division play-offs runner-up: 1997{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-swansea-run-over-by-frain-1263330.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027002521/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-swansea-run-over-by-frain-1263330.html |archive-date=27 October 2018 |title=Football: Swansea run over by Frain |work=The Independent |publisher=Independent Digital News & Media |first=Norman |last=Fox |date=25 May 1997 |access-date=1 May 2020}}

Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1996–97 Third Division{{cite book |editor-first=Barry J. |editor-last=Hugman |title=The 1997–98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile |year=1997 |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=Harpenden |isbn=978-1-85291-581-0 |page=317}}

References

External links

[http://www.janmolby.co.uk/ Official website]
[https://www.liverpoolfc.com/info/jan-molby Profile] at the Liverpool F.C. website
{{DBU player}}
{{FIFA player}}
{{UEFA player}}
{{Soccerbase | 5526 | Jan Mølby }}
[http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=378 Player profile at LFChistory.net]
{{soccerbase (manager)|id=698|name=Jan Mølby}}
[http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/molby.htm Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk]

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Category:1963 births

Category:Living people