Sunday, 18 July 2010

Køge Boldklub (Denmark)

Køge BK come from the medieval town of Køge, on the Danish Island of Zealand. It is one of those towns that has seen a lot of woe over its long history, and its football club hasn't been helping much just lately either. During the Køge Huskors witch trials of the early 1600s, 15 locals were burned at the stake, while the town found itself smack in the middle of a major and fiercely damaging battle between the English and the Danes in 1807. And if that wasn't enough, their previously successful football was deemed bankrupt in 2009 and dumped down three divisions as a result.

But it's not all been doom and gloom in Køge FK's life cycle. Formed in 1927, they were the first club from outside of the capital Copenhagen to win the Danish Championship in 1954 - a title they went on to win again in 1976. Indeed, the lowly auspices of the Sjællandsserien league may be strange for them, as they have spent 34 seasons in the top flight and a further 25 in the second division. So let's hope that the crowds stay with them in an AFC Wimbledon style charge up through the leagues. If they do, the little local clubs are going to be in for some interesting pay days!

Their problems all started back in 2007, when they tried to merge with their nearby rivals Herfølge Boldklub. The Danish FA blocked the merger as they missed a vital deadline, and Køge began to spital into a world of unfortunate debt that led them to the sorry situation they find themselves in today. However, their 10,000 capacity Køge Stadion will prove an interesting venue for the village teams of Zealand for the enxt couple of years at least.

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