Jørgen Leschly Sørensen

Career

Danish career Born in Lumby near Odense, Sørensen started playing football at a lower-league club in his hometown. He moved to local club Odense BK in 1939, and made his senior debut for the club. AB coach Arne Kleven said he could only use him as a reserve, and Sørensen went on to play for Copenhagen club B 93 instead. as B 93 team won the top-flight 1945–46 Danish 1st Division championship. Sørensen made his debut for the Denmark national football team in June 1946, as he scored a goal in Denmark's 1–2 defeat to the Norwegian football team. Upon his return to Odense in 1946, Sørensen found the team in the secondary Danish 2nd Division league. He helped the club win promotion into the top-flight Danish 1st Division in his first year back with the club. He continued to play for the Danish national team while at Odense, and was selected for the Danish squad at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He played one game at the tournament, and scored a goal as Denmark defeated the Great Britain football team 5–3 to win the bronze medals of the tournament. It was through Hansen's recommendation, that Bergamo hired Sørensen. In his first time at the club, Bergamo played a friendly match against Sørensen's old club Odense on Odense Stadion. Sørensen was leading the Bergamo players onto the pitch, but as Karl Aage Hansen held back the other Bergamo players, Sørensen entered the pitch on his own to waves of applause from the Odense fans.

When Sørensen returned to Denmark in 1955, he and other ex-professionals were banned from entering the Danish amateur leagues by the Danish Football Association (DBU). The ex-professionals took to playing a series of unofficial, but popular, exhibition matches, centered around Karl Aage Præst's vacation home in Liseleje. In 1958, DBU decided to allow ex-professionals back into Danish football following a two-year quarantine, and as Leschly had already sat out for even longer, he re-entered the amateur-only Danish leagues that year. Sørensen became a part of the committee which selected the players for the Danish national team in 1970. He was a member of the committee until it was disbanded in 1979, with its responsibilities transferred solely to the Danish national team manager.

Honours Club B.93 Danish championship: 1945–46

Odense BK FBUs Pokalturnering: 1948

Milan Serie A: 1954–55

International Denmark Olympic Bronze Medal: 1948