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Rasmus Ankersen

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Rasmus Ankersen
Born
Rasmus Ankersen

(1983-09-22) 22 September 1983 (age 41)
Herning, Denmark
NationalityDanish
Occupation(s)Author, Public speaker, CEO
Known forSport Republic

Rasmus Ankersen (born 22 September 1983) is an author, public speaker, director of football at Southampton and president of Göztepe.

He is the co-founder and CEO of Sport Republic, the major shareholder of Premier League club Southampton and TFF First League club Göztepe.[1] Ankersen was Director of Football at Brentford between 2015 and 2020.[2] He also has a part-time role as chairman of Danish Superliga club Midtjylland.[3]

Early football career

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Ankersen had a short career as a professional football player with Midtjylland in Denmark, before suffering a serious knee injury in his first senior game.[4] He then studied for UEFA's A Licence, and became the assistant-coach for the under-17 team at a club.[3]

Brentford owner Matthew Benham became the majority shareholder of Midtjylland in 2014 and installed Ankersen as chairman of the club.[5] Ankersen stepped down from the role at the same time he left Brentford.[6]

Brentford

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I am convinced that this is the start of a journey to something special at Brentford Football Club. It is an honour for me to be asked to play a role in Brentford's bright future.

— Rasmus Ankersen on joining Brentford.[7]

Ankersen was appointed as co-director of football at Brentford in the summer of 2015, along with Phil Giles.[8] Their responsibility was to oversee the football operations of the club as well as being responsible for managing the recruitment of new players and technical staff.[8]

In December 2021, Ankersen stepped down from his position at Brentford to set up a sports investment fund.[6][9]

Sport Republic

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Main article: Sport Republic

Sport Republic was founded in December 2021 by Ankersen and Henrik Kraft.[10] Ankersen was listed as CEO and Kraft was listed as chairman of the company.[10] Sport Republic is backed by Serbian billionaire Dragan Šolak.[11]

On 4 January 2022, Sport Republic bought English club Southampton.[12] On 19 August 2022, Sport Republic acquired a 70% controlling stake in Turkish side Göztepe.[13] Ankersen was appointed chairman of Göztepe.[13]

Following Southampton’s relegation from the Premier League at the conclusion of the 2022–23 season, Sport Republic announced organisational changes at the club.[14] Ankersen continued as CEO of Sport Republic, overseeing football strategy.[14]

In October 2024, it was reported that Ankersen's position was 'under scrutiny' from Šolak along with that of Southampton manager Russell Martin following a poor start to the 2024–25 season.[15]

Published work

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Ankersen has published several books, including; A Winner's DNA, Mid-level DNA, Education of a Winner, The Gold Mine Effect and Hunger in Paradise with Danish publisher Turbulenz.[16]

In his books, he draws on experiences traveling around the world to live with, work with and inspect some of the world's best talent environments in sports. Due to the popularity of his books, he has been dubbed a 'high performance expert'.[17]

The attention gained from his written work has led to many high-profile public speeches, appearing in popular media outlets such as CNN[17] and Sky.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Sport Republic completes takeover of Southampton FC". southamptonfc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  2. ^ "BRENTFORD FC LIMITED – Officers (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Q & A with Rasmus Ankersen". p. End of answer to question one. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. ^ "So much for "the table never lies" – data unravels football's biggest lie of all". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  5. ^ Harris, Jay (11 December 2021). "Tribute night to Rasmus Ankersen, the man who helped sculpt modern Brentford". The Athletic. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Brentford co-director of football Rasmus Akersen to step down at the end of the year". Sky Sports. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Brentford appoint Rasmus Ankersen as new co-director of football". The Guardian. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Midtyjlland chief Rasmus Ankersen joins Brentford as co-director". ESPN. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Rasmus Ankersen to leave Brentford FC". Brentford FC. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  10. ^ a b Tanner, Jack (5 January 2022). "Who are the people behind Saints' new owners Sports Republic?". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  11. ^ Walker, Shaun (27 January 2022). "Dragan's den: meeting Southampton's new billionaire owner". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Southampton takeover: Dragan Solak-backed company buys Premier League club". BBC Sport. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Southampton owners acquire 70 per cent stake in Turkish club Goztepe S.K". The Athletic. 19 August 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Sport Republic announces organisational changes". Southampton FC. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  15. ^ "First Premier League boss to be sacked this season edges closer with club's board 'split'". The Mirror. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Forlaget Turbulenz – Guldminerne". Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  17. ^ a b "YouTube Interview". CNN. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  18. ^ "YouTube Interview". Sky News. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
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