With FC Copenhagen having to settle for a 2-2 draw last Sunday against Odense which has left them in a shocking seventh spot in the Danish Superliga, there was a twist of irony to the fact that Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday booked their way to the round of 16 in the Champions League with a sensational win at the San Siro against Serie A league leaders, Inter.
For more than a decade, FC Copenhagen was the ultimate pride of Scandinavian football, coached by Stale Solbakken (current Norwegian national team coach) and with players like Jesper Gronkjaer, Marcus Allback, William Kvist, and Dame N'Doye, even had the quality to challenge Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and Lionel Messi’s mighty Barcelona in the fortress of their own Parken Stadium.
Those days seem long gone, but one should remember that it's only seven months since they celebrated winning the 'Danish Double' and subsequently qualified for the Champions League, where they earned respectable draws against Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli.
However, since then, Jacob Neestrup’s men have completely fallen apart and now face the embarrassment of missing out on the Danish Championship playoffs in the midst of the biggest crisis in the club’s history.
According to former Chairman of the Board, Flemming Ostergaard, a big part of their current problems began for the Lions when they promoted Sune Smith-Nielsen to sports director in July 2024 after he had led the development of academy players for 15 years.
“It was a poor decision by the management. Just because you are a great talent chief does not mean that you will be a good sports director, those are two different things, and Sune did not have the necessary skills or contacts for that job," said Ostergaard in a comment on Facebook after Smith-Nielsen was sacked on Monday.
The first cracks, in what from the outside has appeared to be a smoothly run organisation, began to surface when the champions sold Danish international midfielder Victor Froholdt to Porto for €22 million at the end of the summer transfer window last year.
As a fearless interceptor of the ball with an impressive tackling record, Froholdt played a significant role in Copenhagen's pressing tactics, and his ability to plough through opposition on relentless runs has been sorely missed since his departure.
Another vital figure that left the club at the end of the year, after they couldn’t agree on the terms for an extension, was the 32-year-old midfielder Lukas Lerager. Standing at 1.88 meters tall, Lerager was a dominant physical presence known for his high work rate, defensive tenacity, and ability to contribute in the attacking third, while his experience in decisive European clashes often made the difference.
One also shouldn't forget 32-year-old striker Andreas Cornelius, who, for many years, has been a key player for FC Copenhagen thanks to his enormous physical presence in the box, his international experience, and his ability to sniff out chances.
But the former Danish international has been plagued by injuries in the late stages of his career and is currently ruled out for an indefinite period.
In addition, Magnus Mattsson (purchased from NEC Nijmegen in February 2024) is still suffering from the effects of a long-term injury, and injury-prone Danish international midfielder Thomas Delaney is far from the player he used to be.
This has created intense pressure on Smith-Nielsen to bring in adequate replacements, and he hasn't delivered, potentially due to the club's lack of will to invest.
There was never an attempt made to bring in another number nine instead of Cornelius, and Mads Emil Madsen, Amir Richardson, as well as the former Borussia Dortmund ace Youssoufa Moukoko have been far from the level expected of the supposed best club in Scandinavia.
Former chairman, Flemming Ostergaard, however, doesn’t believe that the problems are related to poor player performances but instead to poor leadership from the FC Copenhagen Board of Directors.
Truth be told, Ostergaard has been at odds with his former club after he was excluded as an honorary member in 2010 by major shareholders Erik Skjaerbaek and Karl Peter Korsgaard Sorensen.
The following year, the 82-year-old was charged and later handed an 18-month unsuspended prison sentence for stock manipulation while he was chairman of the board.
Ostergaard still attends all Copenhagen matches, home and away, and feels that poor management is at the heart of the club’s current problems.
“There is a reason why FCK is in a slump”, says Ostergaard in a Facebook post. “You have got one major shareholder (Erik Skjaerbaek) who has publicly stated that football is not in his interest. You have got another major shareholder (Lars Seier Christensen) who does not sit on the board but who nevertheless interferes and speaks out when it suits him.
"In addition, the club has a board with no real experience in the world of sport and a skilled CEO (Jacob Lauesen) with a strong background in marketing and sales, but without the necessary insight into how the sports world functions.”
Another point of criticism against the capital club has been that while other clubs take major strides in improving training conditions for their coaches and players, the FC Copenhagen management seems to be more concerned about filling their own pockets instead of updating facilities to meet modern standards.
Last year, Parken Sport & Entertainment (the mother company behind FC Copenhagen) presented a profit of a little more than €30 million. At a general assembly, it was decided that major shareholders for the third successive year would receive a dividend of the stock earnings, meaning that Erik Skjaerbaek received a €4 million payout while Lars Seier Christensen received around €3 million.
Those decisions were enforced even though the club facilities at Frederiksberg and, not least, the Parken Stadium need a major upgrade.
In January 2026, FC Copenhagen received an order from the Danish Working Environment Authority to improve conditions at their training facility when mould was found in the ceiling, which posed a health risk for the employees.
There have been reports of international players being shocked by the poor facilities, as the club has had to use temporary pavilions for their gym, while the Danish champions have also been criticised for maintaining poor safety standards for their first team squad, as basically anyone has been able to walk into the club off the street to attend training sessions or meet players.
As for the Parken Stadium, there is a need for new seats, improved infrastructure, energy optimisation, and improved pitch conditions.
This season has shown that FC Copenhagen has been taken over by their biggest rivals as the pride of Scandinavia in terms of player performances, facilities, and board management, which could have a profound effect on their future income.
Should they fail against Randers on Sunday, they will most likely miss out on the Championship playoffs, which would be a new embarrassing low for the reigning Danish champions.
As Ostergaard has stated: “You can have the brand, the history and the fans, but without the right managerial composition, you will go backwards."
