Sophus Hansen made his début as goalkeeper for the national team in a friendly against England in London in 1911. He was injured four minutes before half-time, and Denmark had to use defender [Svend Aage Castella] as a substitute goalkeeper for the rest of the match. At the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Denmark had a bye in round one and defeated Norway and the Netherlands convincingly to reach the final. Here they lost 4-2 to Great Britain (England) winning Olympic silver. Hansen played in all three matches of the Danish team. He was also a member of the team at the 1920 Olympics at Antwerpen and played in Denmark’s only match against Spain. Hansen’s mistake allowed Spain to score the only goal of the match for a 1-0 victory. This action entered the Danish language as a catchphrase: “Da Sophus gled i Antwerpen“ (English: “When Sophus slipped in Antwerp”), although he probably neither slipped nor did the game take place in Antwerpen – but in the Bruxelles (Brussels) district of Saint-Gilles. This was his 31st and final match for Denmark’s national team, a record at the time. In 1919, Sophus Hansen was also the first Danish player to reach the mark of 25 caps. In 2014, he was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.
Hansen started playing in 1902 in the youth team of BK Frem from København (Copenhagen). During his career in the first team of the working class club from 1906-21 he played 160 matches. From 1922-34 he was a football referee and officiated around 20 international matches including the 1930 Mitropa Cup final. He was also a well-respected football lawyer. At the time of his death, he lived in the Østerbro district of København. Sophus was the older brother of two time Danish football international Hans Hansen.
Denmark