Arne Sørensen

Arne Sørensen (27 November 1917 – 1 May 1977) was a Danish association football player and coach. During his career as an athlete, Sørensen won three Danish championships with Boldklubben 1893 and Boldklubben 1893, before moving abroad to play professionally in French football. As a midfielder for the Denmark national football team, he played 30 games and scored four goals. As a coach, Sørensen won silver medals with the Danish national team at the 1960 Summer Olympics, and also won the Danish championship with Esbjerg fB, Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, and Hvidovre IF.

Playing career Born in Copenhagen, Sørensen began playing football with local top-flight club Boldklubben 1903 (B 1903) in the amateur-only Danish championship. Sørensen was a quick and strong player, with great style and an accurate shot, playing in the central midfielder (centre-half) position. He played a total 30 national team games until September 1946. In 1946, Sørensen and fellow Danish international Kaj Hansen were offered 5,000 DKK each to move to rival club Skovshoved IF, in violation of the strict rule of amateurism.

Sørensen moved abroad to play professionally in French football, though his time in France was not a success. In the summer of 1957, Sørensen was hired as full-time Danish national team manager, though he had already coached the team for two games in November 1956. His coaching focus was on tactical training and physical conditioning. His most notable success as a coach came at the 1960 Summer Olympics, where as manager he led the Danish team to silver medals in the 1960 Olympics football tournament, losing 1–3 to Yugoslavia in the final. He coached Esbjerg to the 1963 1st Division championship, and the 1963-64 Danish Cup trophy. He later coached Kjøbenhavns Boldklub and Hvidovre IF to the 1968 and 1973 1st Division championships respectively.