This weekend will see the 95th meeting of two teams whose rivalry has steadily grown to one of the fiercest in Europe.
So much so that the last time FC Copenhagen met Brondby IF in April the home fans threw dead rats at FC Copenhagen's Ludwig Augustinsson as he went to take a corner. The scenes, which were reminiscent of Luis Figo’s infamous pig's head incident when he returned to the Nou Camp in 2002 following his controversial move to Real Madrid.
This is the latest upping of the ante from the supporters of two clubs whose rivalry only stretches back 25 years but is already one that has caused the rest of Europe to take note. Dubbed the ‘new firm’ (much to the disgust of some Aberdeen and Dundee United fans) the match actually has its roots way back in the history of Danish football but in recent times came with the founding of FC Copenhagen through the amalgamation of Kjøbenhavns Boldklub and Boldklubben 1903. This was due to the formation of the Danish Superliga in 1991, with Copenhagen using Boldklubben's club license to play in the inaugural season.
This instantly did not go down well with cross-city rivals Brondby and has only been fuelled by the subsequent success of Copehangen’s ‘new team.’ FC Copenhagen have, even in such a short period of time, become Denmark’s most successful club, racking up 11 league titles since 1992 as supposed to Brondby’s six.
It started well for Brondby, winning the first ever Danish Superliga title and then going on to win three titles in a row (96,97,98). But since the turn of the millennium, it has been their rivals Copenhagen who have risen to the pinnacle of Danish football and have become its dominant force.
The Drengene Fra Vestegnen (The Boys from the Western outskirts) have had to play second fiddle to the new boys known as the Løverne (The Lions) for the past decade, with Brondby’s last league title coming in 2005.
In contrast, FC Copenhagen have won seven titles since Bronby last won one and have featured regularly in the Champions League and Europa League.
While Copenhagen was set up for the Danish Superliga, Brondby have struggled at times. The collapse of a national bank led to their insurance company financial backers going bankrupt in 1992. Yet the club rallied and enjoyed periods of success under Ebbe Skovdahl and then later under the legendary Michael Laudrup. But when Laudrup left in 2006 and was replaced by René Meulensteen, Brondby’s fortunes took a turn for the worst.
Together with newly appointed Anders Bjerregaard – son of director Per Bjerregaard – Meulensteen bought a number of questionable players in the final days of the summer transfer window and he resigned six months later with Bronby languishing at the wrong end of the table.
What followed was a farcical string of false dawns as Bjerregaard resigned and an offer from Peter Schmeichel to by the club was rejected and a failed sponsorship deal left the club £5m out of pocket.
In contrast, FC Copenhagen are building a strong legacy under Ståle Solbakken who is in his second spell as manager having returned to the club in 2013 after two years in charge at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite challenges to their domestic dominance (mainly from FC Midtjylland) they are still Denmark’s premier team and show no signs of relinquishing their grip on the title.
This weekend the teams meet at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium, with the hosts having already secured their 12th Superliga title, with Brondby languishing 12 points behind them in second. To date, there have been 43 wins for FC Copenhagen, with Brondby IF winning 30 encounters with 21 draws. Quite what awaits this weekend is anybody’s guess, but one thing is for sure – it will be lively.
