Thomas Kahlenberg

Brøndby

Born in Hvidovre, Denmark, Kahlenberg was fifteen years old when he moved from lower-league club Hvidovre IF to Brøndby. Kahlenberg progressed through the ranks at the club's youth system and said that he learned a lot from development to "behaving as a professional footballer". In April 2002, Kahlenberg signed his first professional contract with Brøndby. After the club's youth team coach Tom Køhlert was promoted to head coach, he made his Superliga debut against arch-rivals, København on 12 May 2002, in a 1–1 draw, at the penultimate match of the 2001–02 season and helped Brøndby secure the 2001–02 Danish championship on goal difference. Kahlenberg went on to make two appearances in all competitions. At the start of the 2002–03 season, Kahlenberg played in the central midfield for Brøndby, where he set up the attacks with his great technique and view for the game. Kahlenberg made his UEFA Champions League debut, coming against Dinamo Tirana in the first leg of the tournament second round, starting a match and played 67 minutes before being substituted, in a 1–0 win. In the return leg, Kahlenberg started the whole game, as he helped the club win 4–0 to progress to the next round. Kahlenberg made an interview over his frustration to score his first goal despite making good chances. But on 10 November 2002 he scored his first goal for Brøndby, in a 1–1 draw against Esbjerg fB. His performance led him to sign a contract extension, keeping him until 2006. Two…

Youth career

While playing youth football at Brøndby IF, Kahlenberg played a number of games for various Danish youth national teams on under-17 and under-19 levels from August 1999 to February 2002. In September 2002, Kahlenberg, who was recognized as one of the most talented Danish midfielders, was called up to Denmark under-21 national team for the first time. In his third appearance for the U21 side against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 on 1 April 2003, he set up two goals, as Denmark U21 won 3–0. Later in the year, Kahlenberg played in both legs of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification play-offs against Italy U21, as the U21 side lost through away goal following a 1–1 draw. In December 2004, he subsequently won the 2004 Danish under-21 Player of the Year award. Following UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship's qualification, Poulsen was called up to the Denmark U21 squad in November 2005. He played in both legs against Russia U21, as the U21 side won 4–1 on aggregate. Kahlenberg continued to play for the Denmark under-21 team until May 2006, when he was selected for the Danish squad for the 2006 European Under-21 Championship. As age restrictions are calculated from the start of the qualification matches, in September 2006, he competed in the tournament at age 23. Even though Denmark was eliminated in the preliminary group stage, Kahlenberg managed to score three goals in three games, and he was selected for the "Team of the Tournament". He…

After announcing his retirement from professional football, he moved to coaching. He was hired as a youth coach at HIK in March 2018. After two years in HIK, on 28 May 2020, Kahlenberg was appointed assistant coach of Denmark's U-16 national team. He left the position in July 2024.

In August 2009, Kahlenberg married his long–term girlfriend, Anne Zeuthen Jensen. They have three children, daughters Karla and Alma and son, Max. In addition to speaking Danish, Kahlenberg speaks German, having learned the language from school, and French, from his time at Auxerre. In September 2003, he hired Per Steffensen as his new agent in attempt to move abroad. He attended Falkonergårdens Gymnasium. Early in his football career, Kahlenberg quickly earned a fan club called 'Tommy Crew'. In December 2004, Kahlenberg was in Thailand when Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami took place, but escaped unharmed. Throughout his professional football career, he lived in Denmark, France and Germany. On 5 March 2020, Kahlenberg tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease called COVID-19 during the current pandemic, after having been infected at a birthday party in Amsterdam. This forced Brøndby, Lyngby and Ajax to place some of their players and coaches, who had recently met with Kahlenberg, into quarantine. Kahlenberg described his symptoms as similar to a flu and he was placed in home quarantine. Peter Madsen, another retired Danish football player who attended the same Amsterdam birthday party as Kahlenberg, also tested positive for the coronavirus. On 12 March, Kahlenberg was declared fully recovered.