- Kai Johansen
Infobox Football biography
playername = Kai Johansen
fullname = Kai Johansen
dateofbirth =July 23 ,1940
cityofbirth =Odense
countryofbirth =Denmark
dateofdeath = death date and age|2007|5|13|1940|7|23
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
nickname = King Kai
position = Full back
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 19??-1963
1964-1965
1965-1970
clubs =Odense Boldklub
Greenock Morton
Rangers
caps(goals) = ??0 (??)
??0 (??)
238 0(9)
nationalyears = 1962-1963
nationalteam = Denmark
nationalcaps(goals) = 20 (0)Kai Johansen (
July 23 1940 –May 13 2007 ), born inOdense , was a Danish professional football defender who spent a large proportion of his career playing inScotland , most notably for Rangers.Kai Johansen began his football career in the small club of Korsløkke before moving to
Boldklubben 1909 inOdense as a striker. However, he was not successful, and moved to another of the major clubs in the city,Odense Boldklub . Here he found his natural place as a right full back and soon attracted attention from the Danish national manager. Johansen made his debut as a member of theDanish national football team onJune 11 1962 against Hungary. The following year and a half he played 20 national matches.After attracting international interest, Johansen was the first of a number of Scandinavian players signed by Greenock Morton in 1964. The following year, Johansen signed for Rangers on
June 24 1965 for £20,000 after impressing managerScot Symon with his performance for a European Select side against a UK Select inStanley Matthews ' testimonial.Johansen is best remembered for his goal in the 1966
Scottish Cup final. After a 0-0 draw against rivals Celtic, he scored a 25-yard goal to seal a 1-0 win for Rangers. He was the first ever foreign player to score in a Scottish Cup final. This cup victory earned Rangers qualification to the following season's Cup Winner's Cup and they reached the final for the second time in their history, only to lose against Bayern Munich. Johansen featured throughout the run to the final, including scoring a goal in the 2-1 first leg win againstBorussia Dortmund , the holders, who Rangers knocked out of the tournament.Becoming a professional footballer excluded Johansen from the national team, which at the time entirely consisted of amateurs. He undoubtedly would have had many more caps without this rule.
He retired in 1970 and returned to a career as a store owner. Before his career in Scotland, he had established a men's wear store in Odense. He also ran pubs in
Glasgow and on theCosta del Sol , before becoming a player's agent.He was diagnosed with
cancer in 2006 and died onMay 13 2007 . His death was marked with a minute's silence before Rangers' match against Kilmarnock that day.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6651555.stm|title=Rangers pay tribute to Johansen|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=May 13 ,2007 ]External links
* [http://www.dbu.dk/lbase/playerInfo.aspx?playerid=3113 Profile at the Danish Football Association's website] dk icon
* [http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/obituaries/display.var.1404472.0.kai_johansen.php Obituary from The Herald]References
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