{{short description|Danish footballer (born 1942)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Preben Arentoft | image = | full_name = Preben Arentoft<ref>{{Hugman|467|accessdate=14 April 2017}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1942|11|1}} | birth_place = Copenhagen, Denmark | height = | position = Midfielder | currentclub = | years1 = 1961–1965 | clubs1 = Brønshøj Boldklub | caps1 = 96 | goals1 = | years2 = 1965–1969 | clubs2 = Greenock Morton | caps2 = 104 | goals2 = 12 | years3 = 1969–1971 | clubs3 = Newcastle United | caps3 = 50 | goals3 = 2 | years4 = 1971–1974 | clubs4 = Blackburn Rovers | caps4 = 94 | goals4 = 3 | years5 = 1974–19xx | clubs5 = Brønshøj Boldklub | caps5 = | goals5 = | years6 = 1978 | clubs6 = Helsingør IF | caps6 = 4 | goals6 = 0 | totalcaps = 348 | totalgoals = 17 | manageryears1 = 1974–1979 | managerclubs1= Brønshøj Boldklub<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bronshojboldklub-statistik.dk/traener_.php?kid=13|title=BRØNSHØJ BOLDKLUB STATISTIK}}</ref> | nationalyears1 = 1965–1971 |nationalteam1 = Denmark | nationalcaps1 = 9 | nationalgoals1 = 0 }}
'''Preben Arentoft''' (born 1 November 1942) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder who played for a number of clubs, most notably Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers. He played nine games for the Denmark national team.
==Career== Born in Copenhagen, Arentoft started playing football with Copenhagen club Brønshøj Boldklub.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bronshojboldklub-statistik.dk/spiller_.php?kid=146 |title=Archived copy |access-date=11 June 2015 |archive-date=10 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410072128/http://www.bronshojboldklub-statistik.dk/spiller_.php?kid=146 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He made his Danish national team debut in June 1965, and played four national team games while at Brønshøj. He moved abroad to play professionally for Scottish club Greenock Morton. Due to the Danish rules of amateurism, he was no longer eligible for the Danish national team.
In 1969, Arentoft moved to England to play for Newcastle United.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://toon1892.co.uk/detail_player.php?sort=md&id=30&p=2|title=Preben Arentoft|publisher=Toon 1892}}</ref> He played for Newcastle until 1971, earning the nickname ''Benny''. He made a total of 63 appearances for the club, scoring 3 goals. He helped Newcastle win the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969, scoring in the second leg of the final.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/17697389.fifty-years-newcastles-1969-fairs-cup-triumph-remembered/ |title=Fifty years on: Newcastle's 1969 Fairs Cup triumph remembered |publisher=thenorthernecho.co.uk |date=11 June 2019 |access-date=15 April 2021}}</ref> This made him the first Danish football player to win a European cup title. He is also remembered for having to play in goal during a 5–1 win over Manchester United in 1970, coming on for an injured Willie McFaul.
The rules of amateurism on the Danish national team was abandoned in 1971 before a game against Portugal. Arentoft (representing Newcastle United) was picked, along with a handful of other players, to be the first professionals ever to participate on the national team. Denmark lost the game 5–0.<ref>Frits Ahlstrøm: Guinnes Fodboldbog 1990</ref> He gained another four caps that year to round off his career in the national team.
In 1971, he moved on to English club Blackburn Rovers,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/bennyarentoft.html|title=Preben Arentoft|publisher=Neil Brown}}</ref> before ending his career with Helsingør IF.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.helsingor.fodboldhistorie.dk/html/spillere/spillere_a.htm |title=Spillere A |website=www.helsingor.fodboldhistorie.dk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029225406/http://www.helsingor.fodboldhistorie.dk/html/spillere/spillere_a.htm |archive-date=29 October 2008}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{DBU player|3180}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arentoft, Preben}} Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Danish sportsmen Category:Danish men's footballers Category:Footballers from Copenhagen Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Denmark men's international footballers Category:Scottish Football League players Category:English Football League players Category:Brønshøj Boldklub players Category:Greenock Morton F.C. players Category:Newcastle United F.C. players Category:Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Category:FC Helsingør players Category:Danish football managers Category:Brønshøj Boldklub managers Category:Danish expatriate men's footballers Category:Danish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Category:Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England