Frederiksbjerg in the City of Aarhus has always had a special place in my heart. The reasons are manifold; Almost seven decades ago I encountered this world in Montanagade 55, st.tv. – back then in the 1950s a poor working-class neighborhood with two-room apartments heated with kerosene or coke and with a toilet in the backyard. Seven years ago, I returned to Aarhus after 38 years in the other regions of Denmark. I moved into Joh. Baunes Plads 6, where five-room apartments with conversation kitchens, designer furniture, wine cabinets and digital iPads are “indispensable” for me and my neighbors’ everyday lives. In addition, Frederiksbjerg offers a food market on Ingerslev Boulevard every Wednesday and Saturday all year round, lots of cafés and restaurants in Jægergårdsgade and good specialty shops in MP Bruuns Gade and on Skt. Pauls Kirkeplads.
Dalgas Avenue – the only football pitches within Ringgaden
The National Exhibition in 1909 was very crucial for the development of Aarhus. At the beginning of the last century, only 80,000 inhabitants lived in Aarhus Municipality, while today the number is more than 370,000. Historically, the population of Aarhus has grown much faster than in Denmark as a whole, which can be attributed in particular to the development of the railway and the port, as well as the city’s location with a forest and beach. The first football tournament in Aarhus was held in 1902 on the exercise ground at Galgebakken, but after the National Exhibition, Aarhus City Council decided to establish football pitches on a larger area at Dalgas Avenue. And relatively quickly, both Aarhus Gymnastics Association (AGF – founded in 1880 and with football from 1902) and Arbejdernes Idrætsklub Aarhus (AIA – founded in 1918) got their own pitches and clubhouses on Dalgas Avenue. Football in Denmark was class-based in larger cities like Aarhus. “Workers’ clubs” were established, who were dissatisfied with the conditions in bourgeois clubs such as AGF, where especially chairmen and board members were recruited from the city’s largest businesses. Both AIA, Idrætsklubben Skovbakken (founded 1927), Fuglebakken (founded 1938) and Aarhus Fremad (founded 1947) were established as workers’ clubs with “the whites” from Fredensvang as the “hereditary enemy”. The same applied to Idrætsforeningen Arbejdersport Aarhus – colloquially ASA – which was founded on 22 April 1933.
ASA – “We embrace all members and support talents in a fun and trusting football environment”
ASA was founded in the interwar period as part of the Social Democrats declared goal of abolishing the bourgeoisie’s patent on sports. One of the club’s first chairmen was Orla Hyllested (1912-2000), who was also mayor of Aarhus Municipality from 1971 to 1981. For almost 100 years, ASA has been a strong cultural and social meeting place for children, young people and seniors. And many students, who have moved to Aarhus from all over the country, have benefited and enjoyed ASA’s social club environment. Currently, the club currently has more than 900 members, divided into 50 teams. ASA’s core values are a committed community with time and space for all members. These values are made visible through the “FC Dementia” project, which is a valuable part of the club’s social activities. With financial support from the Health Insurance “Danmark”, Tryg-Fonden and the National Board of Health and Welfare, the club offers people affected by dementia a tailored offer of football activities. Research has documented that physical activity can mitigate and alleviate the negative effects of the development of the disease in people with dementia. And a social community can counteract loneliness and strengthen quality of life and sense of identity, which can otherwise be threatened by the disease.
ASA’s league team is without a home ground in Aarhus Municipality
I am particularly impressed by the number of girls and female players in ASA – from U8 team to the club’s best team, which has just been promoted to the A-league among Denmark’s 10 best clubs. ASA’s amateurs, who pay a fee, now face full-time and part-time professional players from top clubs such as FCK, Brøndby, FCM, FCN, OB and AGF. Promotion to the A-league has meant that ASA has been met with several unrealistic and financially expensive stadium requirements for a home ground from the Danish Football Association (DBU), including 500 covered seats and at least 1000 lux in the light poles. ASA cannot meet these requirements at Dalgas Avenue, just as Aarhus Municipality has not been able to designate an alternative home ground within the municipality, neither at the temporary scaffolding stadium in Vejlby nor at Riisvangen. The consequence is that ASA will play its home games at XL Park in Vorup in the season 2026/2027 – more than 50 kilometres from Frederiksbjerg. In my opinion, this case is extremely embarrassing, both for DBU and Aarhus Municipality. The DBU should waive such demands on amateur clubs as ASA and the Municipality of Aarhus should cover all additional expenses that ASA has in connection with playing “home games” in Randers. Despite these unfairnesses, ASA won the first “home game” of the new season against local rivals AGF with 3-1. On Saturday, ASA’s women will face a very difficult away game against the defending Danish champions from HB Køge.
Debut as a division club for men
The club’s best senior men’s team has also achieved great progress in recent seasons. On Saturday afternoon, the club will play a division match for the first time ever at Dalgas Avenue, when another promoted team – Ringsted – visits. ASA is now one of four Aarhus division clubs: AGF in the Superliga, Aarhus Fremad (1st division), VSK and Brabrand (2nd division) and ASA in the 3rd division.
Danish football has become increasingly commercial over the past decade. The DBU’s financial requirements for licensed clubs, both for youth and senior, create frustration and powerlessness in amateur clubs like ASA. And in my opinion, this development is a serious threat to one of the sport’s central principles – that qualification in the form of promotion and relegation is based on sporting results and not financial capital.