Alfred Hansen (footballer)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alfred Otto Hansen[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 10 May 1913 | ||
| Place of birth | Præstbro, Denmark | ||
| Date of death | 21 July 1995 (aged 82) | ||
| Place of death | Nivå, Denmark | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1935–1943 | AaB | 105 | (0) |
| 1949 | AaB | 1 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1937–1940 | Denmark | 4 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alfred Otto Hansen (10 May 1913 – 21 July 1995) was a Danish footballer who played for AaB and won four caps for the Denmark national football team between 1937 and 1940.[2] A versatile defender, he was mainly used at left-back but also appeared as a half-back and centre-half during his career with AaB.[1][3]
Hansen was born in Præstbro near Sæby, where his parents ran a grocery business.[1][3] He was the second eldest of ten children, though several of his siblings died young, and his younger brother Frits Hansen also went on to play for AaB's first team.[1]
He later moved to Aalborg, where he worked for the merchant Heinrich Thorndahl, having been bought free from his previous employer so he could take up work in Thorndahl's grain business.[3] Hansen made his debut for AaB in the first division on 7 April 1935, when the club beat B 1903 1–0 in Københavns Idrætspark.[1]
A long-serving AaB player, Hansen made 106 appearances for the club and also represented the Jutland Football Association 13 times.[3] He was regarded as an all-round defender who could play at half-back, centre-half and left-back, though left-back became his preferred position.[3] Contemporary descriptions highlighted both his physical strength and technical quality, noting that he was capable of combining forceful defensive play with dribbling ability and confident distribution.[1][3]
Hansen retired in the autumn of 1943 at the age of 30, but made a surprise one-match comeback for AaB on 22 May 1949 against HIK in the second division. AaB lost 2–1, though Politiken reportedly judged his return to have been a fine performance for a 36-year-old.[1]
International career
Hansen made his debut for the Denmark national team on 12 September 1937 in a 3–1 defeat to Poland.[1][3] The match came shortly after the so-called Breslau defeat, when the Danish Football Association sought to renew the national side and selected seven debutants.[1]
He won a further three caps for Denmark, playing away against Finland in 1938 and twice against Sweden in October 1940.[1] The two matches against Sweden, both of which ended in draws, drew particular attention as they were Denmark's first internationals after the German occupation began on 9 April 1940.[1] Three of his four international appearances came at left-back.[3]
