John Lauridsen

Born in Ribe, Jutland, Lauridsen played his youth football in Gredstedbro and Vejle Boldklub, before he made his senior debut in the Danish 1st Division with Esbjerg fB in 1978. He played 16 matches the following season, as the club won the league. Lauridsen made his Danish national team debut on 12 August 1981, in a 2–1 friendly win in Finland in which he scored the equalizer at the 27th minute (the first of his three international goals). Also that summer, he was supposed to travel to England to sign for Ipswich Town, but the ferry did not make the journey due to bad weather conditions, and the deal fell through. Shortly after, football agent Fernand Goyvaerts phoned the player with an offer from Spain's RCD Español, which he accepted, joining the Catalans in early 1982 and becoming a full-time professional. The first half-season notwithstanding, Lauridsen never featured in less than 30 matches for Español – known as Espanyol from 1995. He contributed with a career-high 41 appearances in the 1986–87 campaign as his team finished in a best-ever third in La Liga, and also helped it reach the final of the following year's UEFA Cup – eight games, 304 minutes, two goals – which ended in a penalty shootout defeat against Bayer 04 Leverkusen; he played in more than 250 competitive matches for the club during his seven-year spell, as one of only two foreign players – the other being Cameroon's Thomas N'Kono. While at Espanyol, Lauridsen was included in the Danish squad for the…

Danish 1st Division: 1979 UEFA Cup: Runner-up 1987–88