F.C . Copenhagen
Which team did Michael Gravgaard play for from 2005 to 2007?
Michael Gravgaard Michael Julius Gravgaard ( born 3 April 1978 ) is a Danish former football player , who effectively ended his playing career at FC Nantes in May 2010 . Despite the fact of having a contract with FC Nantes until July 2011 , his club was not interested to honour the contract , and opted instead in May 2010 , to try to file him as lifetime injured towards their insurance company . When this attempt ultimately got unapproved by the French authorities , and Gravgaard had passed all additional health checks , the club then opted in January 2011 , to dismiss him permanently from the club – a half year prematurely . Forced by that , Gravgaard announced in January 2011 , that he would now end his active playing career for good , and that he would continue – at least for the next half year – to work as a football commentator , pundit and analyst , at the Danish TV channel Canal 9 . During his active career , he always played the position as centre back . Except for some of the matches played during his stay at Viborg FF , where he also occasionally played as a striker . His international career took place from August 2005 until September 2007 , where he played 18 matches and scored five goals for the Danish national team . Club career . Early career . Born in Spentrup , eight kilometres North of Randers , Gravgaard started his senior career with local club Randers Freja in 1996 . Initially playing in the lower-league Danish 2nd Division , Gravgaard helped the club win promotion to the 1st Division in 1999 . He entered the Danish top-flight football relatively late in his career , as he foremost wished to pursue an academic career . Only after graduating as an accountant , Gravgaard signed a contract in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship , when he moved to Viborg FF in July 2002 . Viborg . At Viborg , he established himself as one of the best central defenders in the Superliga , and he was at times used , with relative success , as a striker . In his three seasons at Viborg , he appeared in 94 league games for the club and he scored 18 goals . In the summer break 2005 , Gravgaard moved on to league rivals F.C . Copenhagen ( FCK ) , alongside Viborgs goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen . FC Copenhagen ( FCK ) . He quickly established himself among the key players of FCK , and due to his heading ability , he soon earned the nickname of Copenhagen Air Force among the FCK fans . In the January 2007 transfer window , he was linked with a move to the English Premier League , where both Newcastle United and West Ham were rumoured to offer him a contract . None of the rumours were however converted to a transfer , and so he continued to play for FCK until July 2008 . Nantes . On 6 July 2008 , he signed a contract for three years with FC Nantes in the French Ligue 1 . In the first half of the 2008–09 season , he played for FC Nantes in 14 games of Ligue 1 . Performance wise , the first 14 games of the season was unfortunately very bad for the club with : eight defeats , three draws and three wins . For the next eight games , the coach decided not to offer anymore playing time for Gravgaard . In January 2009 , he then agreed with the club , that he was free to sign a loan contract with another club , in case any offers would arrive . Loan to Hamburger SV . In response to the long-term injury of Bastian Reinhardt , the Hamburger SV decided to sign a half year loan contract from 1 February to 30 June , with Michael Gravgaard . During spring 2009 , he played for the club in 12 Bundesliga games , seven Europa League games , and one German Cup game . He managed together with Hamburger SV to reach the semifinal in both the Europa League and German Cup ; but in both cases the club was unfortunate to be kicked out of the tournament by the Bundesliga rivals from Werder Bremen . Return to Nantes . When he returned from his loan contract to FC Nantes in July 2009 , he agreed to have an operation of his toe done . In the past year he had been playing with a lot of pain from his toe , due to chronic tendonitis , and the operation was believed to cure the problem . Unfortunately the operation failed , and he therefore agreed to have a second operation in December 2009 . The second operation left him with a stiff toe , but succeeded to remove the pain . By the end of March 2010 he was ready to play football games again , but for the remaining part of the season he was never given a chance for a comeback . Instead the club decided in May 2010 , to try to file him as having a lifetime injury , to their insurance company . In August 2010 , the filing of Gravgaard as lifetime injured was approved by ( the department for Occupational Health , under the French ministry for Labour ) . This decision was however appealed by Gravgaard , as he was convinced not to have any physical problems , that could force him to stop his football career . on 16 September , he won the appeal , and regained the legal right to continue his football career . When he asked FC Nantes to accept his return on the training field , the club however also required him to first pass a series of additional medical tests . Gravgaard at the same time announced , that he most likely would pass all the tests , but that he felt his future prospects anyway were rather bad . Because earlier in 2010 , FC Nantes had told him not to count on anymore playing time for the first team of the club . And when he then asked them , for an agreement where he instead could be released from his ongoing contract , with the purpose of becoming entirely free to seek a new contract with another club , they had also refused . By the time of September 2010 , the only hope Gravgaard therefore had , was that FC Nantes would change their mind , and accept him to leave the club for free , which would make it possible for him to sign a contract with a new club , where he could play for the remaining part of his career . Four months later , when he had passed all additional medical tests , he once again tried to show up at the training field . This time however , he now got the message , that he had been permanently dismissed from the club . As Gravgaard had an ongoing contract with FC Nantes until July 2011 , and did not receive any salary since May 2010 , he consequently opted to launch a court case against his club , where a final ruling will arrive in June 2011 . After being dismissed by FC Nantes , Gravgaard announced in Jan.2011 , that he would now end his active playing career for good , and that he would continue – at least for the next half year – to work as a football commentator , pundit and analyst , at the Danish TV channel Canal 9 . International career . He was selected for the Danish national team in August 2005 . He played the second half , coming on as a substitute for Per Nielsen , and scored the goal to 3–0 , in a 4–1 friendly match win against England . Gravgaard played his first full international match on 7 September 2005 , against Georgia . In the following two games against Greece and Kazakhstan , he scored a goal in each match . The start of his national team career thus featured three goals in five games , an impressive tally for a central defender . On 2 June 2007 , Gravgaard stopped the attacking fan from reaching referee Herbert Fandel in the 2008 UEFA qualifier fan attack in an international match against Sweden which was subsequently abandoned . He played his latest and 18th game for the national team in September 2007 . Honours . - Team - Danish 2nd Division : 1998–99 , with Randers - Danish Superliga : 2005–06 and 2006–07 , with FCK - Royal League : 2005–06 , with FCK - Individual - 2005 Danish Superliga profile ( by the Superliga managers ) - 2005 Danish profile of the year ( by the player association ) - 2005 Danish team of the year ( by the player association ) - 2006 Danish Superliga autumn profile ( by Tipsbladet ) - 2006 Danish profile of the year ( by the player association ) - 2006 Danish team of the year ( by the player association ) External links . - Danish national team profile