Anders Kure
FullnameAnders Kure Vidkjær[1]
Birth date12 September 1985 (age 40)
Birth placeAarhus, Denmark
Height1.87 m[2]
PositionCentre-back
Youthyears 11994–2003
Youthclubs 1AGF
Years 12003–2014
Clubs 1AGF
Caps 1222
Goals 16
Years 22014–2016
Clubs 2Vestsjælland
Caps 236
Goals 22
Years 32016
Clubs 3Vejle
Caps 39
Goals 30
Totalcaps267
Totalgoals8
Nationalyears 12000–2001
Nationalteam 1Denmark U16
Nationalcaps 15
Nationalgoals 10
Nationalyears 22001–2002
Nationalteam 2Denmark U17
Nationalcaps 216
Nationalgoals 21
Nationalyears 32002
Nationalteam 3Denmark U18
Nationalcaps 33
Nationalgoals 30
Nationalyears 42003–2004
Nationalteam 4Denmark U19
Nationalcaps 410
Nationalgoals 40
Nationalyears 52004–2005
Nationalteam 5Denmark U20
Nationalcaps 55
Nationalgoals 50

Anders Kure Vidkjær (ˈɑnɐs ˈkʰuɐ;[3] born 12 September 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He played most of his career for hometown club AGF together with his brother, Kasper Kure.

Early life

Anders Kure Vidkjær was born on 12 September 1985 in Aarhus, Denmark, and grew up in the southern suburb of Højbjerg, the son of Bente and Peter.[4] Both parents worked to support the family, his mother as a municipal worker for Aarhus Municipality, and his father as a logistics worker in shipping.[4] Kure attended Rosenvangsskolen in nearby Viby J, and was a fan of local club AGF as a child.[1] He started playing badminton as a schoolboy for Aarhus Badmintonklub, but soon switched to football where he began playing for AGF alongside his older brother Kasper Kure as a nine-year-old.[4]

Club career

AGF

Youth squads

Already from an early age, Kure was a standout player in defense for AGF, and the youth teams he played for were among the best in the country. As a 13-year-old, he was included in the regional team for his age group, and was later chosen for a team consisting of the best youth players from Jutland, where he impressed.

He signed his first youth contract with AGF at age 16, despite interest from English club Middlesbrough.

First team

Kure made his professional debut for AGF on 16 August 2003 in the Danish Superliga, coming on as a substitute for Alex Nørlund with 18 minutes to play, after fellow centre-back Morten Petersen had been sent off.[5] His brother, Kasper, scored in the game which ended in a 5–3 victory against Midtjylland.[1]

On 1 August 2004, Kure signed his first professional contract. He had made his breakthrough for the first team as a left-back the previous season, and competed with regular starter Shane Cansdell-Sherriff.[6]

He scored his first goal on 7 May 2006 in a 3–1 away win over Esbjerg fB at Blue Water Arena; the first match under new head coach Ove Pedersen.[7][8] The club would be relegated to the second tier in the 2005–06 season, after more than 30 seasons in the top tier.[9]

During his time with AGF, Kure grew into a fan favourite and was named vice-captain behind Steffen Rasmussen. He became renowned being a hard-tackling defender with an extremely high work rate.[1][10] He left the club as his contract expired in June 2014 after more than 20 years at the club.[10] He made 222 appearances for the club, in which he scored nine goals.[11][12]

Vestsjælland

On 4 September 2014, Kure signed a three-year contract with Superliga club FC Vestsjælland.[13] He made his debut on 22 September as he started in a 1–0 home win against AaB on Slagelse Stadium.[14] On 18 April 2015, he scored his first goal for the club, heading in a cross from Henrik Madsen to secure in 2–1 victory against AaB.[15] His second goal came two games later, heading in a free kick by Rasmus Festersen to help Vestsjælland to another 2–1 home win, this time against Nordsjælland.[16] In his first season at the club, in which they suffered relegation, he made 22 appearances, scoring twice.[17][18]

Kure left Vestsjælland as a free agent after the club filed for bankruptcy in December 2015.[19][20]

Vejle

Kure joined Vejle Boldklub on 11 January 2016,[21] signing a six-month contract.[22] He made his debut on 20 March, starting in a 4–3 win in the local rivalry match against AC Horsens.[23]

He left the club as his contract expired in June 2016.[24] After having considered his future during the summer,[24] Kure decided to retire in September 2016 to focus on a career outside football.[25][12]

International career

Kure was capped at youth level for Denmark, making appearances between under-15 to under-20 level.[26] During his years for the national youth teams, he faced other players born in 1985, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Roberto Soldado and Mario Gomez.

Personal life

Kure was married to Vicki in December 2013. He studied economy at Aarhus University.[1]

After his football career, Kure first moved to Hamburg, Germany, where he worked as change manager for DSV.[11] He since moved to Copenhagen where he began working for the Ministry of Finance specialising in digitalisation, including NemID.[12]

Honours

AGF

References

  1. ^ Graahede, Kim Robin (10 February 2014). "Anders Kure – fra udskældt til anfører" (in Danish). Århus Stiftstidende. Archived 18 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Anders Kure, statistik fra superligaen, all-time – SuperStats". SuperStats. Archived 28 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Anders Kure om 4–2-sejren over Viborg". YouTube. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Kure har endelig slået sit navn fast" (in Danish). Jyllands-Posten. 2 January 2009. Archived 2 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Superligakamp AGF–FC Midtjylland, 16.08.2003 – SuperStats". SuperStats. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  6. ^ Nielsen, Peter (1 August 2004). "Ny chance til ungt talent" (in Danish). Jyllands-Posten. Archived 2 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Superligakamp Esbjerg fB–AGF, 07.05.2006 – SuperStats". SuperStats. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Første AGF-sejr til Ove Pedersen" (in da-DK). DR. 7 May 2006. Archived 2 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  9. ^ "AGF er rykket ned" (in Danish). Tipsbladet. 29 April 2006. Archived 2 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  10. ^ Skou-Hansen, Peter Svith (12 May 2014). "Anders Kure stopper i AGF" (in Danish). TV2 ØSTJYLLAND. Archived 2 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Anders Kure" (in da-DK). AGF Legenderne. Archived 2 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  12. ^ Christiansen, Dennis Bjerre (15 October 2018). "Hvor blev de af: Anders Kure passer på Nem-ID" (in Danish). Århus Stiftstidende. Archived 2 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Tidligere AGF'er til FC Vestsjælland" (in Danish). Jyllands-Posten. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Kure debuterede for FC Vestsjælland" (in da-DK). DR. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  15. ^ Spøhr, Janus (18 April 2015). "AaB kollapsede i Slagelse" (in Danish). Jyllands-Posten. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Highlights: FCV-FCN 2–1" (in da-DK). FC Nordsjælland. 3 May 2015. Archived 27 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  17. ^ Petersen, Jacob Qvirin (1 June 2015). "FCV på trods af nedrykning: Ikke tvunget til spillersalg" (in da-DK). TV 2 Sport. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Anders Kure, statistik for superligaen 2014/2015". SuperStats. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Gert Hansen siger tak..." (in Danish). FC Vestsjælland. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016.
  20. ^ Hertz, Camilla Boje (9 December 2015). "Gert Hansen forventer FCV-konkurs" (in Danish). TV2 ØST. Archived 11 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  21. ^ Helmin, Jesper (11 January 2016). "Vejle snupper Anders Kure". bold.dk. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  22. ^ "VB skriver med Anders Kure" (in Danish). Vejle Boldklub. 11 January 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016.
  23. ^ "Vejle vs. Horsens – 20 March 2016". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  24. ^ Tøfting, Nicolai Skovsgaard (1 July 2016). "Kure efter VB-exit: Overvejer fremtiden" (in Danish). bold.dk. Archived 19 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  25. ^ Tøfting, Nicolai Skovsgaard (1 September 2016). "Anders Kure meget tæt på karrierestop" (in Danish). bold.dk. Archived 6 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Anders Kure – Landsholdsdatabasen" (in Danish). DBU. Archived 18 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  27. ^ "AGF vinder igen: Kan rykke op på søndag" (in Danish). Århus Stiftstidende. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2022.