Rasmus Ankersen Explained

Rasmus Ankersen
Birth Name:Rasmus Ankersen
Birth Date:22 September 1983
Birth Place:Herning, Denmark
Nationality:Danish
Occupation:Author, Public speaker, CEO
Known For:Sport 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

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.

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.

Brentford

Ankersen was appointed as co-director of football at Brentford in the summer of 2015, along with Phil Giles.[6] 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.

In December 2021, Ankersen stepped down from his position at Brentford to set up a sports investment fund.[7] [8]

Sport Republic

See main article: Sport Republic. Sport Republic was founded in December 2021 by Ankersen and Henrik Kraft.[9] Ankersen was listed as CEO and Kraft was listed as chairman of the company. Sport Republic is backed by Serbian billionaire Dragan Šolak.[10]

On 4 January 2022, Sport Republic bought English club Southampton.[11] On 19 August 2022, Sport Republic acquired a 70% controlling stake in Turkish side Göztepe.[12] Ankersen was appointed chairman of Göztepe.

Following Southampton’s relegation from the Premier League at the conclusion of the 2022–23 season, Sport Republic announced organisational changes at the club.[13] Ankersen continued as CEO of Sport Republic, overseeing football strategy.

Published work

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.[14]

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'.[15]

The attention gained from his written work has led to many high-profile public speeches, appearing in popular media outlets such as CNN and Sky.[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sport Republic completes takeover of Southampton FC . southamptonfc.com . 2022-01-04.
  2. Web site: BRENTFORD FC LIMITED – Officers (free information from Companies House) . beta.companieshouse.gov.uk . 2019-08-22.
  3. Web site: Q & A with Rasmus Ankersen . End of answer to question one . 2019-08-22.
  4. Web site: So much for "the table never lies" – data unravels football's biggest lie of all . www.newstatesman.com . 2019-08-22.
  5. Web site: Harris . Jay . 11 December 2021 . Tribute night to Rasmus Ankersen, the man who helped sculpt modern Brentford . subscription . 5 June 2023 . The Athletic.
  6. Web site: 16 May 2015 . Midtyjlland chief Rasmus Ankersen joins Brentford as co-director . 5 June 2023 . ESPN.
  7. Web site: 10 December 2021 . Brentford co-director of football Rasmus Akersen to step down at the end of the year . 5 June 2023 . Sky Sports.
  8. Web site: 10 December 2021 . Rasmus Ankersen to leave Brentford FC . 5 June 2023 . Brentford FC.
  9. Web site: Tanner . Jack . 5 January 2022 . Who are the people behind Saints' new owners Sports Republic? . 5 June 2023 . Southern Daily Echo.
  10. Web site: Walker . Shaun . 27 January 2022 . Dragan’s den: meeting Southampton’s new billionaire owner . 5 June 2023 . The Guardian.
  11. Web site: 4 January 2022 . Southampton takeover: Dragan Solak-backed company buys Premier League club . 5 June 2023 . BBC Sport.
  12. Web site: 19 August 2022 . Southampton owners acquire 70 per cent stake in Turkish club Goztepe S.K . subscription . 5 June 2023 . The Athletic.
  13. Web site: 22 May 2023 . Sport Republic announces organisational changes . 5 June 2023 . Southampton FC.
  14. Web site: Forlaget Turbulenz – Guldminerne . 2019-08-22.
  15. Web site: YouTube Interview . 2019-08-22 . CNN.
  16. Web site: YouTube Interview . 2019-08-22 . Sky News.