Viborg

Full name	Viborg Fodsports Forening
Nickname	De Grønne (the Greens)[1]
Short name	VFF
Founded	1 April 1896; 130 years ago (1896-04-01)
Ground	Energi Viborg Arena
Capacity	10,000
Coordinates	56°27′21″N 9°24′7″E / 56.45583°N 9.40194°E / 56.45583; 9.40194
Owners	Better Holding 2012 A/S Reedtz Football ApS Green Heart Capital ApS
Chairman	Kim Nielsen
Head coach	Nickolai Lund
League	Danish Superliga
2025–26	Superliga, 5th of 12
Website	vff.dk
Current season

Viborg Fodsports Forening (lit. 'Viborg Footsport Association'), also referred to as Viborg FF or simply VFF, is a Danish association football club based in the Central Jutland city of Viborg. The club currently competes in the Danish Superliga, the highest league of the Danish football league system. Nicknamed De Grønne, the club was founded on 1 April 1896. As of the end of their 2025–26 season, the club's only trophies are the 1999–2000 Danish Cup and the 2000 Danish Super Cup.

After originally playing their football matches at Eksercerpladsen, Viborg moved into their current stadium, Energi Viborg Arena, in 1931. Following the stadium's reconstruction in the early 2000s, the current capacity is 10,000.

History

Viborg Fodsports Forening was established on 1 April 1896.^[2] The club originally encompassed several sports, including cricket, gymnastics, boxing, and others. Football was not initially a sport included within the club; however, the club won Mesterrækken in 1924, which was highest football league on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark at the time.^[3] By 1929, as other sports had separated into other independent organisations, football remained as the club's only sport.^[2] For the following decades, Viborg FF competed in the regional Danish leagues before finally reaching the national divisions in 1959, when it qualified for the 4th division after several unsuccessful attempts.^[2] Erik Bundgaard was one player involved in the club's achievement, and his 421 matches played for the club were a record until 2008, when Jakob Glerup surpassed his mark.^[2]

During the early 1970s, Viborg FF was relegated from the national divisions to the Danmarksserien, but returned to the national divisions in 1974.^[2][4] Since this time, the club has stayed within the national divisions of the Danish football pyramid.^[5] After a series of promotions, Viborg reached the Danish 1st Division in 1980, which was then the highest division in Danish football.^[6] After only one season, the club were relegated to the 2nd Division and would not return to the 1st Division until 1989.^[7] After several years of progress and investing in their youth football programs, Viborg returned to the top level in 1993, gaining promotion to the newly established Danish Superliga, which had been created in 1991.^[5][6] Once again, however, the club were relegated after only one season. In 1995, the club again returned to the Superliga where they would remain for more than a decade.^[8][9]

Viborg FF's highest achievement came during the 1999–2000 Danish Cup. With a 1–0 victory over AaB in the final, the club won the biggest football tournament in the country.^[10] The club was given the opportunity to play in the Danish Super Cup in the season following their cup win, defeating Herfølge BK on penalties.^[11] The club received an invitation to the UEFA Cup for the 2000–01 tournament, marking their participation in continental football for the first time in the club's history. Their participation would be short-lived however, as they were eliminated in the second round by Spanish club Rayo Vallecano.^[12] The same season, the club established full-time professional contracts for all its playing staff.^[2] By 2002, Viborg FF had fully established a youth academy of their own in FK Viborg.^[13]

While Viborg FF continued to enjoy varying degrees of success in the years after, including a 4th place finish in 2005–06, the club was once again relegated in the spring of 2008. After several more years in the 1st Division, the club became a yo-yo club for the next several years with two promotions and two more relegations between the 2012–13 and the 2016–17 seasons. The club captured their fourth 1st Division title during the 2020–21 season and once more returned to the Superliga. Their first season back in the Superliga proved to be successful as the club reached the UEFA Conference League, after defeating AaB in a European play-off match. The club advanced to the play-off round following victories over Lithuan club FK Sūduva^[12] and Faroese-side B36 Tórshavn,^[14] before losing 6–1 on aggregate to eventual-tournament winner West Ham United.^[15] As of the 2026–27 season, the club remains in the top-flight.

Stadium

Viborg plays its home matches at Viborg Stadium, known as Energi Viborg Arena since 2011 due to sponsorship.^[16] Originally built in 1931, the stadium was demolished and rebuilt in 2001^[17] at a cost of 62.1 million Danish kroner (93.8 million DKK in 2023).^[18] The stadium has a capacity of 10,000, of which 9,566 is seated. The seats are divided in multiple sections with the eastern stand having the highest capacity at 2,792 seats, and the southern stand with the lowest capacity at 2,040 seats. The pitch size is the same dimensions as the national stadium at 105 metres (115 yd) long and 68 metres (74 yd) wide.^[19] UEFA, the governing body of football in Europe, has approved the stadium for international use, and the stadium is also home to the Danish women's national football team. The men's national team has also played select matches at the ground.^[20]

Viborg Stadium itself is part of the Viborg Stadion Center and is owned by the Viborg Municipality.^[17]

Supporters

Viborg FF has no official Fanclub. A former official Fanclub is The Green Pride.^[21] It closed in June 2024 however.^[22] The first ultra group was established in 2002, when a group of young adults established Fanatikos.^[21] In 2004 a new group, Shamrock Ultras, was created.^[21]

Viborg's primary rivalry is with FC Midtjylland, in a game frequently called hadets opgør (transl. Showdown of Hatred) or det midtjyske derby (transl. Mid-Jutland Derby).^[23] Viborg fans frequently refer to Midtjylland as FC Vestjylland (FC Western Jutland).^[23][24] One former Viborg captain, Thomas Frandsen, transferred to Midtjylland and his home was subsequently vandalised.^[25]

Players

First-team squad

As of 25 August 2026^[26]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  DEN Lucas Lund 2 DF  TUN Mohamed Iyadh Riahi 3 DF  ISL Valgeir Lunddal Friðriksson 4 DF  DEN Lukas Kirkegaard 5 DF  SVN Žan Zaletel 6 MF  DEN Mads Søndergaard 7 FW  FRA Yonis Njoh 8 MF  DEN Asker Beck 9 FW  NED Tim Freriks 10 FW  DEN Sami Jalal 11 FW  DEN Charly Nouck 13 MF  DEN Jeppe Grønning (captain) 17 FW  DEN Osman Addo

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  EQG Dorian Jr. 20 GK  DEN Kasper Kiilerich 21 MF  FRA Bilal Brahimi 23 DF  DEN Oliver Bundgaard 24 DF  KEN Daniel Anyembe 25 FW  BRA Giulio Gabriel da Silva 26 DF  DEN Hjalte Bidstrup 30 DF  SVN Srđan Kuzmić 33 MF  DEN Frederik Damkjer 34 MF  DEN Philip Keller 36 FW  DEN Adam Kleis-Kristoffersen 38 DF  DEN Emil Monrad

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 MF  NED Mees Hoedemakers (at Almere City FC until 16 June 2027)

Managerial history

Honours

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate	Ref.
2000–01	UEFA Cup	First round	CSKA Moscow	0–0	1–0 (a.e.t.)	1–0 (a.e.t.)	[29][30]
		Second round	Rayo Vallecano	0–1	2–1	2–2 (a)	[31][32]
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	Second qualifying round	Sūduva	1–0	1–0	2–0	[33][34]
		Third qualifying round	B36 Tórshavn	3–0	2–1	5–1	[35][36]
		Play-off round	West Ham United	0–3	1–3	1–6	[15]

See also

• Viborg FF (women)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Viborg FF.

• Official website (in Danish)
• Viborg FF at Danish Football Association (in Danish)