Stig Tøfting

Football player infobox
playername= Stig Tøfting
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1969|8|14
cityofbirth = Hørning
countryofbirth = Denmark
height = height|m=1.76
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Arbejder Sport Aarhus
AGF Aarhus
years = 1989-1993
1993-1995
1994
1994, 1995
1995-1997
1997
1997-2000
2000
2000-2002
2002-2003
2003
2004
2005
2006-2007
clubs = AGF Aarhus
Hamburger SV
→Odense BK (loan)
→AGF Aarhus (loan)
AGF Aarhus
Odense BK
MSV Duisburg
AGF Aarhus
Hamburger SV
Bolton Wanderers
Tianjin Teda
AGF Aarhus
BK Häcken
Randers FC
caps(goals) = 95 (10)
8 (0)
7 (0)
70 (17)
12 (3)
69 (4)
7 (2)
48 (2)
14 (0)
17 (0)
29 (4)
23 (3)
30 (2)
nationalyears = 1990-1992
1993-2002
nationalteam = Denmark u-21
Denmark
nationalcaps(goals) = 5 (0)
41 (2)
manageryears = 2007-present
managerclubs = Randers FC (asst)

Stig Tøfting (born August 14, 1969 in Hørning), nicknamed "Tøffe", is a former Danish professional footballer who currently is assistant manager for Colin Todd in Randers FC in the Danish Superliga. Tøfting played most of his games as a defensive midfielder, and he was a hard-hitter who often engages in rash tackles. He started his career with AGF Aarhus, with whom he won two Danish Cups, and most notably went on to play for German clubs Hamburger SV and MSV Duisburg, as well as Bolton Wanderers in England.

He played 41 matches for the Danish national football team between 1993 and 2002, in which he scored 2 goals. With Thomas Gravesen, Tøfting formed a fearsome midfield duo on the national team from 1998 to 2002, playing the Euro 2000 and 2002 FIFA World Cup together.

Tøfting ended his playing career on December 1 2007, where his last match was a 2-0 defeat to Viborg FF.

Biography

Born in a suburb of Aarhus, Stig Tøfting started his career at Aarhus Gymnastik Forening (AGF), a team he would frequently return to throughout his career. He made his senior debut for the club on October 29, 1989, in the 1-0 victory against Aalborg BK. He won the 1992 Danish Cup with the team, and was among the players selected to represent the Danish under-21 national team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He played full time in Denmark's three matches at the tournament, though the team didn't advance beyond the group stage. Tøfting made his debut for the Danish senior national team on January 30, 1993, in a 2-2 friendly match draw with the United States. He made his debut under Denmark coach Richard Møller Nielsen, who dubbed Tøfting "Plæneklipperen" (the Lawn mower). Tøfting took part in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification game in March 1993.

Early career

In June 1993, Tøfting moved from AGF to German team Hamburger SV (HSV) in a transfer deal worth DEM 500,000. [Tøfting, 2005, p. 77] He took part in HSV's first three games of the 1993-94 Bundesliga season, before a knee injury side-lined him. He returned to the team in December 1993, but had a hard time forcing his way into the first team due to league restrictions on the number of foreign players in the starting line-up. [Tøfting, 2005, p. 86] He was loaned out to Danish club Odense BK, playing the last 7 games of the 1993-94 Superliga season as Odense finished in fourth place. He was loaned out to AGF in the first half of the 1994-95 Superliga season, before returning to HSV in winter 1994. He played a further three games for HSV as a substistute, before he was once again loaned out to AGF in April 1995.

Tøfting returned to AGF on a permanent contract in June 1995 in a transfer deal worth DKK 1,2 million. [da icon "Kontrakt på plads", "Politiken", June 24, 1995] He was named Man of the Match as he won his second Danish Cup triumph with AGF, and was called up for Denmark once again, after a three year hiatus. He was included in Møller Nielsen's Denmark squad for the 1996 European Championship (Euro 1996). He played the last 21 minutes of the 0-3 loss to Croatia, which eliminated Denmark from the Euro 1996 tournament. Under the new Denmark boss, Swedish coach Bo Johansson who was appointed in June 1996, Tøfting was initially left out of the Danish national team.

German success

As his contract ran out in the summer 1997, Tøfting moved from AGF to league rivals Odense BK on a free transfer. He did not get along well with Odense coach Roald Poulsen, and was suspended from the club in October 1997. Tøfting agreed a DKK 1 million move to defending Superliga champions Brøndby IF, but as Odense increased their asking price to DKK 2 millions, [da icon Søren Olsen, "Prisen steg til det dobbelte", "Politiken", October 4, 1997] the move fell through. He eventually moved back to Germany to play for MSV Duisburg in January 1998, in a DKK 600,000 transfer deal. [Tøfting, 2005, p. 128] Despite being a newly promoted team in the 1997-98 Bundesliga season, Duisburg reached the 1998 German Cup final, where they were defeated by Bayern Munich. Tøfting was once more part of a Denmark squad at a big tournament, when he was picked for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He again occupied the role as a bit-part player, with 60 minutes of play in two games his share of Denmark's five matches before elimination.

In June 1999, Stig Tøfting received a 20-days suspended jail sentence for assault, while on holiday in Aarhus. He played on for Duisburg without any repercussions from manager Friedhelm Funkel. In the 1999-00 Bundesliga season, Duisburg were dead last in the tournament, and Tøfting was loaned out to AGF in the last part of the 1999-2000 Superliga season. Here he was picked by Bo Johansson for the Danish Euro 2000 team. This time he took part in all Denmark's matches, but to no avail, as the team was eliminated in the group stage, having conceded 8 goals in three games. Following the Euro 2000, Tøfting once again moved on.

As his contract with Duisburg ran out in summer 2000, he moved back to former club HSV. With HSV, he took part in the UEFA Champions League tournament. When HSV manager Frank Pagelsdorf was fired in September 2001, Tøfting was worried about his status under new manager Kurt Jara, [Tøfting, 2005, p. 197] and he moved to English club Bolton Wanderers in February 2002.

Bolton

In moving to Bolton, Tøfting looked to secure his place in the Danish national team for the up-coming 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament. [da icon Jan B. Jensen, "Lynskifte skal redde VM", "Jyllands-Posten", February 8, 2002] In his fourth game for Bolton in March 2002, he suffered an injury which caused a two-month long recovery. He returned to play the last game of the 2001-02 Premier League season in May 2002, and new Denmark coach Morten Olsen included him in the Danish squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Tøfting played in all Denmark's matches at the tournament. His last appearance for the Danish national team would be the 0-3 defeat to England in the first knock-out round, as he announced his international retirement following the match.

During the 2002 World Cup, Danish weekly gossip magazine "Se & Hør" ran a story that Tøfting, when aged 13, had returned home from school to find the bodies of his parents. His mother had been shot by his father, who shortly thereafter turned the gun on himself. The story had been kept secret for years, as Tøfting had not yet told his children. Following the incident, "Se & Hør" chief editor Peter Salskov was fired. In celebrations among the Danish players following the 2002 FIFA World Cup, at "Café Ketchup" in Copenhagen, Tøfting head-butted the proprietor of the café. He stood trial in October 2002 and was convicted to four months in jail, which he served from April to July 2003.

He returned injured to Bolton following the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He struggled to secure a place in the starting line-up, and after the conviction in October, he got his contract reduced until summer 2003.

Football nomad

He was released early from prison in July 2003, in order to move to China to play for Tianjin Taida. When his contract expired in December 2003, he once again returned to AGF in February 2004. In July 2004, Tøfting was once more under charges for violence after he pushed a man in the chest following a traffic dispute, [da icon [http://www.dr.dk/sporten/fodbold/article.jhtml?articleID=185248 Stig Tøfting suspenderet i AGF] , Danmarks Radio, July 19, 2004] and received two fines of DKK 1,000 each. In December 2004, Tøfting was fired from AGF following a bust-up at an AGF players' Christmas lunch. [da icon [http://www.dr.dk/sporten/fodbold/superliga/article.jhtml?articleID=219012 Tøfting fyret efter håndgemæng] , Danmarks Radio, December 7, 2004] He agreed a contract with Swedish club BK Häcken in February 2005. At its expiry in January 2006, Tøfting moved back to Denmark to play for Randers FC in the second tier of Danish football, the Danish 1st Division. With Randers, Tøfting won the 2006 Danish Cup, and he helped the club gain promotion to the 2006-07 Danish Superliga championship.

Honours

*Danish Cup : 1992, 1996, 2006

Literature

*Stig Tøfting, "No regrets", People's Press, 2005, ISBN 87-91693-46-2

References

External links

* [http://www.dbu.dk/lbase/playerInfo.aspx?playerId=1568 National team profile]
*da icon [http://www.agf.co.dk/docs/Holdet/SpillerProfil.asp?id=639 AGF profile]
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/site/players/index.php?dumpPlayer=410 FootballDatabase career stats]
*it icon [http://realrizzo.altervista.org/toffe/bio.php Stig Tøfting fan club]