Allan Rodenkam Simonsen was born on 15 December 1952 and is a Danish former footballer and manager.
25 Facts About Allan Simonsen
2.
Allan Simonsen represented Denmark at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1984 European Championship and 1986 World Cup tournaments.
3.
Allan Simonsen was voted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame in November 2008.
4.
Allan Simonsen won the 1971 and 1972 Danish championship with the club, as well as the 1972 Danish Cup to complete The Double.
5.
Allan Simonsen played all 34 games of the season, and scored 18 goals as Monchengladbach won the Bundesliga championship.
6.
Allan Simonsen was named the 1977 European Footballer of the Year, becoming the first Danish player to win that award.
7.
The race was tight, Allan Simonsen edged past English forward Kevin Keegan by three points and French midfielder Michel Platini by four points to win the prestigious prize.
8.
Allan Simonsen had been approached by Spanish club FC Barcelona in 1978, but Monchengladbach refused to let him go.
9.
When Barcelona signed Argentinian forward Diego Maradona in 1982, Spanish league restrictions meant Allan Simonsen was to compete with Maradona and Bernd Schuster for only two places allowed for foreign players in each starting line-up.
10.
Allan Simonsen saw it as a personal insult, and asked Barcelona for his contract to be annulled.
11.
Allan Simonsen rejected offers from Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, in order to play for a club with less stress and attention.
12.
Allan Simonsen then chose to return to his childhood club VB in 1983.
13.
Allan Simonsen missed the last half of the 1984 season for VB because of an injury he sustained at the 1984 European Championship, but the club managed to win the 1984 Danish championship without him.
14.
Allan Simonsen returned as a profile of the top-flight Danish 1st Division, but never reached his former form.
15.
Allan Simonsen retired from football in 1989 at age 37, and played his last game for VB in November 1989.
16.
Allan Simonsen played a total 282 games and scored 104 goals, including 208 games and 89 goals in the league, for Vejle Boldklub.
17.
Allan Simonsen debuted for the Danish national team under manager Rudi Strittich in the July 1972 friendly match against Iceland.
18.
Allan Simonsen played a crucial part for the Danish national team under manager Sepp Piontek, in Denmark's qualifying campaign for the 1984 European Championship.
19.
Allan Simonsen scored one of the most important Danish goals ever in this game, as he converted a penalty kick against English goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
20.
Allan Simonsen subsequently finished third in the vote for the 1983 European Footballer of the Year award.
21.
Allan Simonsen was once more a part of the Danish national team at the 1986 World Cup, Denmark's first World Cup participation.
22.
Allan Simonsen only played a single match at the tournament, coming on as a substitute against West Germany, as younger players had surpassed him.
23.
Allan Simonsen played a farewell match against Germany in September 1986 before ending his national team career.
24.
Allan Simonsen played a total 55 games for the Danish national team and scored 20 goals, according to the Danish Football Association.
25.
Allan Simonsen later coached the national teams of the Faroe Islands from 1994 to 2001 and Luxembourg from 2001 to 2004.