Ole Madsen

Despite his qualities, Ole Madsen never played in the top-flight Danish championship, but stayed with local lower-league clubs. Madsen made his senior debut with minor league team BK Stefan in 1954. In 1958, he moved to Danish 3rd Division team Hellerup IK (HIK). He helped HIK gain promotion for the Danish 2nd Division for the 1961 season, where the club stayed for three seasons. For the 1964 season, HIK was relegated to the 3rd Division once more. Despite a low-key club career, Madsen's international performances for the Denmark national team got the attention of European professional clubs. As an amateur player, he was a free agent able to sign with any professional club without the need of a transfer fee. In 1963, a contract with Italian club Atalanta was hindered by a broken nose and subsequent hospitalization. He was offered a contract by Spanish club FC Barcelona in 1964, but he turned it down in order to stay an amateur with the Denmark national team and HIK in the Danish 3rd Division. In 1965, Madsen signed a professional contract with Dutch team Sparta Rotterdam, where he enjoyed success. He stayed three seasons with Sparta, with whom he won the 1966 KNVB Cup. He scored the only goal, as Sparta beat ADO Den Haag 1–0 in the KNVB Cup final. In the Eredivisie championship, he scored a total 22 goals in 71 games for Sparta. When his contract with Sparta ended in 1968, several big clubs were poised to sign Madsen. However, he decided to return to Denmark in 1968, in…

Within his first year at HIK, Madsen made his debut for the Denmark national team in October 1958. He was not selected for the 1960 Summer Olympics, but became a mainstay in the team following that tournament. He was eventually named team captain, and scored six goals in three games against Luxembourg to help Denmark qualify for the 1964 European Nations' Cup. He captained Denmark to a fourth-place finish in the final tournament. Madsen was the first Danish player ever to receive votes in the 1964 European Footballer of the Year poll, getting one point and a shared 19th place. He was subsequently named 1964 Danish Player of the Year. On 20 June 1965, Madsen scored an extraordinary goal in an international game against the Sweden. The ball fell to him in an inconvenient angle, with himself facing away from goal, but he hit the ball awkwardly with his heel, and it went past Swedish goalkeeper Arne Arvidsson for a 1–0 lead. Denmark eventually won the game 2–1, the first Danish victory against their neighbors in 14 years. He was then seen as the most popular Danish footballer since Pauli Jørgensen. When he signed a professional contract in 1965, he was automatically banned from the amateur-only national team. Following his return to HIK in 1968, Madsen was once more part of the Danish selection. He was the first player to benefit from new rules by the Danish Football Association allowing ex-professionals to re-enter the national team. He was called up for Denmark in May 1969,…