Lars Elstrup

Infobox Football biography
playername = Lars Elstrup
fullname = Lars Dahl Elstrup


nickname =
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1963|3|24|mf=y
cityofbirth = Råby
countryofbirth = Denmark
height =
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1981-1985
1986
1986-1988
1988-1989
1989-1991
1991-1993
clubs = Randers Freja
Brøndby IF
Feyenoord Rotterdam
Odense BK
Luton Town
Odense BK
caps(goals) = 136 (59)
7 (2)
65 (9)
28 (17)
60 (19)
44 (24)
nationalyears = 1988-1993
nationalteam = Denmark
nationalcaps(goals) = 34 (13)

Lars Dahl Elstrup (born March 24, 1963) is a Danish former professional football (soccer) player, who played for a number of Danish clubs, as well as Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam and Luton Town in England. He played 34 matches and scored 13 goals for the Denmark national football team, and was a part of the Denmark team which won the 1992 European Championship.

Biography

Born in Råby near Randers, he made his senior debut for local club Randers Freja in the 1981 season. For five seasons, he was a proven goalscorer in the lower divisions of Danish football for Randers Freja. Before the 1986 season, Elstrup moved to the defending 1985 Danish 1st Division champions Brøndby IF. He played just seven league games and scored two goals for Brøndby, before he moved abroad to play for Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam. He played two years at Feyenoord, but did not score many goals for the club.

In 1988, he moved back to Denmark to play for Odense Boldklub. He scored 14 goals in 16 games in his first season at Odense, and was called up for the Danish national team by national manager Sepp Piontek. He made his national team debut in August 1988 against Sweden, and scored both Danish goals in the 2-1 victory. He scored another two national team goals against Sweden, in a 6-0 victory in June 1989. He played the first half of Odense's 1989 Danish 1st Division championship winning season, before he moved abroad to play in England in the summer 1989.

Elstrup signed for English club Luton Town in a £650,000 transfer deal, setting a Luton transfer record. Playing two seasons at Luton, he was the club's top goalscorer of the 1990-91 season. After the season, he moved back to play for Odense. He was selected by national manager Richard Møller Nielsen as a part of the Danish national team squad for the 1992 European Championship. He played in two matches at the tournament, and scored the winning goal in the group stage 2-1 win against France. He also scored one of Denmark's five goal scorers in the semi-final penalty shootout against the Netherlands, though he watched from the bench when Denmark won the tournament final 2-0 against Germany.

In 1993, Elstrup had doubts about his footballing future, as he felt he was living under the expectations of others,Pierre Collignon, "Hvor blev de af: Lars Elstrup: Frigørelsen", "Jyllands-Posten article", December 5, 1999] and he entered "Solens Hjerte" (Heart of the Sun), a part of the sect "Wild Goose Company". He moved away from the sect in December 1999, [Mads Glenn Wehlast, "Afklaret Elstrup: Klar til kone og børn", "Ekstra Bladet", 3 January 2000] and in January 2000 Elstrup tried to re-enter professional football with Odense Boldklub. Following a week at the club, he broke with Odense as he was not a part of the first team squad. [Kim Mikkelsen, "Storm står fast: Elstrup færdig i OB", "B.T. article", January 26, 2000] He broke with the sect later that year, after being arrested over a bizarre incident in which he exposed himself in public and then slapped a young boy. [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,356588,00.html News in Brief] , "The Observer", August 20, 2000] He was later fined DKK 10,000 for making death threats towards one of the sect leaders. In July 2001, he defecated on Trafalgar Square in London, until he was escorted away by a security guard. He moved back to live on Funen, and stayed out of the public eye.

Honours

*Danish 1st Division: 1989
*1992 European Championship

References

External links

* [http://www.dbu.dk/lbase/playerInfo.aspx?playerid=3952 Danish national team profile]
* [http://www.lutonfc.com/wherearetheynow-elstrup.asp Luton FC - Where Are They Now?]
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/php/spieler.php?id=21332 National Football Teams profile]