Mads Bech Sørensen

Mads Bech Sørensen (born 7 January 1999), sometimes known as Mads Bech,[4] is a Danish professional footballer who plays for English club Brentford as a central defender. He began his career in his native Denmark with AC Horsens and has been capped by Denmark at youth level.

Mads Bech Sørensen
Personal information
Full name Mads Bech Sørensen[1]
Date of birth (1999-01-07) 7 January 1999
Place of birth Horsens, Denmark[2]
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s) Central defender
Club information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 29
Youth career
0000–2011 Østbirk IF
2011–2015 AC Horsens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 AC Horsens 20 (1)
2017– Brentford 25 (0)
2020 → AFC Wimbledon (loan) 9 (0)
National team‡
2016–2017 Denmark U18 7 (1)
2017–2018 Denmark U19 13 (0)
2019– Denmark U21 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:47, 7 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11:47, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Club career

AC Horsens

A defender,[5] Sørensen began his youth career with Østbirk IF as a juvenile,[6] before transferring to the academy at AC Horsens in 2011.[7] After progressing through the youth ranks, he won his maiden call into the first team squad for a 1. division match versus HB Køge on 3 May 2015.[8] At age 16 years, three months and 26 days, Sørensen became Horsens' youngest-ever player when he started in the 1–1 draw and he remained on the pitch until being substituted for Malthe Boesen (the player who had previously held the record) after 75 minutes.[9] He made five further appearances during the remainder of the 2014–15 season and signed a new two-year contract on 9 June 2015.[8][10]

Over the course of the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, Sørensen continued to make a handful of appearances a season, mostly as a substitute, even after Horsens' promotion to the Superliga in 2016.[8] After signing a new three-year contract in May 2016, Sørensen made 10 appearances during the 2016–17 season and scored his first senior goal with a consolation in a 3–1 DBU Pokalen last-16 defeat to AGF Aarhus on 15 March 2017.[11] Sørensen appeared in Horsens' opening three matches of the 2017–18 season and scoring the first league goal of his career in a 4–1 victory over Lyngby on 23 July 2017.[8] Despite that excellent start to the season, he departed the club on 31 July,[5] just two days after his final appearance for the club.[8] In just over two years as a first team player at the CASA Arena, Sørensen made 25 appearances and scored two goals.[8] While a Horsens player, he filled the roles of left back, central defender and left midfield.[5]

Brentford

On 31 July 2017, Sørensen moved to England to join the B team at Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[5] Injuries to first team central defenders John Egan, Andreas Bjelland and Chris Mepham saw Sørensen feature as an unused substitute on five occasions during the 2017–18 season and he was promoted into the first team squad for the 2018–19 season.[8][12] He made his debut for the club with a start in an EFL Cup first round match versus Southend United on 14 August 2018,[13] but was substituted with a dead leg after half an hour of the 4–2 victory.[14] After returning to fitness, a knee injury suffered in October kept him out of action for ​2 1⁄2 months.[15] A season-ending injury suffered by central defender Yoann Barbet in late March 2019 allowed Sørensen to break into the starting lineup and he finished the 2018–19 season with 10 appearances.[13][16]

A medial collateral ligament injury suffered prior to Brentford's first friendly of the 2019–20 pre-season kept Sørensen out until late September 2019.[6][17][18] He resumed his involvement with the first team squad in November 2019 and made two appearances before signing a new ​3 1⁄2-year contract in January 2020.[19][20] Down the pecking order,[21] Sørensen departed on loan for the remainder of the season on 9 January 2020.[19] The COVID-19 pandemic led to his early return from the loan,[22] but he was ineligible to play during the remainder of the 2019–20 season,[23] with ended with defeat in the 2020 Championship play-off Final.[24]

After beginning the 2020–21 season making exclusively EFL Cup appearances,[25] by November 2020, injury and illness suffered by central defenders Pontus Jansson and new signing Charlie Goode respectively allowed Sørensen to break into the league lineup alongside Ethan Pinnock.[8][26][27][28] He started all but one match of Brentford's run to the EFL Cup semi-finals and emerged as a throw-in specialist, after receiving coaching from Liverpool throw-in coach Thomas Grønnemark.[25][29] On 24 January 2021, Sørensen scored his first Brentford goal with the opener in a 3–1 FA Cup fourth round defeat to Leicester City.[25]

AFC Wimbledon (loan)

On 9 January 2020, Sørensen joined League One club AFC Wimbledon on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[19] Prior to the season being ended early, he made 9 appearances and helped the Dons to avoid relegation to League Two.[20][22]

International career

Sørensen won his maiden call into the Denmark U18 squad in September 2016 and made 7 appearances during the 2016–17 season,[4] captaining the team and scoring once in a 4–2 friendly victory over Belarus U18 on 18 October.[30] He was promoted into the U19 squad in January 2017 and made two appearances during the remainder of the 2016–17 season.[4] In mid-August 2017, Sørensen was named as captain of the Denmark U19 squad for the 2017 Four Nations Tournament,[31] in which he made two appearances.[4] He made his U21 debut with two 2021 European U21 Championship qualification appearances in October 2019.[4]

Personal life

Sørensen began his sporting career as a handball player, before switching to football.[6] He is an Arsenal supporter.[6]

Career statistics
As of match played 6 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
AC Horsens 2014–15[8] 1. division 6 0 0 0 — — 6 0
2015–16[8] 5 0 1 0 — — 6 0
2016–17[8] Danish Superliga 6 0 3 1 — 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 10 1
2017–18[32] 3 1 — — — 3 1
Total 20 1 4 1 — 1 0 25 2
Brentford 2017–18[32] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2018–19[13] 8 0 1 0 1 0 — 10 0
2019–20[20] 1 0 1 0 0 0 — 2 0
2020–21[25] 16 0 2 1 5 0 — 23 1
Total 25 0 4 1 6 0 — 35 1
AFC Wimbledon (loan) 2019–20[20] League One 9 0 — — — 9 0
Career total 54 1 8 2 6 0 1 0 69 3
  1. Appearance in Danish Superliga relegation play-offs

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Brentford" (PDF). English Football League. p. 8. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. Mads Bech Sørensen at Soccerbase
  3. "Mads Bech Sørensen – Defender – First Team". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  4. "Landsholdsdatabasen spiller information". www.dbu.dk. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  5. "Mads Bech Sørensen joins Brentford B". Brentford FC. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  6. Slavin, Chris. "Mads grasps his chance after making the right sporting choice". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. "AC Horsens sælger Mads Bech til Brentford F.C." www.achorsens.dk. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  8. Mads Bech Sørensen at Soccerway. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  9. "Mads Bech: Tilfreds med min debut". www.achorsens.dk. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  10. "AC Horsens skriver med rekorddebutant". bold.dk. 9 June 2015.
  11. "Mads Bech Sørensen forlænger kontrakten for 3 år". achorsens.dk. 28 May 2016.
  12. "Mads and Marcus promoted to First Team". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  13. "Games played by Mads Bech Sørensen in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  14. Mads Bech Sorensen on injury return (Interview). brentfordfc.com. 23 December 2018. Event occurs at 0:48. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  15. "Watch: Mads Bech Sorensen on injury return". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  16. Storer, Tom; Warlow, Robert (5 May 2019). "Yoann Barbet confirms decision over his Brentford future". footballlondon. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  17. Thomas Frank on Dynamo Kyiv draw (Interview). brentfordfc.com. 13 July 2019. Event occurs at 4:41. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  18. "🗣 "I've been waiting for three months now so it was great to be back"". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  19. "Mads Bech Sorensen signs new long term contract". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  20. "Games played by Mads Bech Sørensen in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  21. "A reunion at Wimbledon convinced Mads to make the move". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  22. "Kamohelo Mokotjo and Nikos Karelis extend contracts to season end". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  23. McDougall, John (11 June 2020). "Loan rules explained for players returning to Premier League and Championship". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  24. "Fulham beat Brentford to reach Premier League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  25. "Games played by Mads Bech Sørensen in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  26. "Stoke v Brentford Preview: Potters look to move into top six". StaffsLive Journalism. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  27. "Pontus Jansson has ankle surgery". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  28. "Update on Charlie Goode". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  29. The Warm Up: How did Mads Bech Sørensen get that long throw? (Interview). brentfordfc.com. 20 November 2020. Event occurs at 28:59. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  30. "Danish defender watched again". ClubCall.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  31. "Mads Bech Sorensen captains Denmark to victory". Brentford FC. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  32. "Games played by Mads Bech Sørensen in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
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