Rene Skovgaard Carlsen (born 30 September 1979) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a left-back. During his career, he played professionally for Randers FC and Valur.
Career
Carlsen made his breakthrough as part of Vorup FB who were competing in the lower tier Jutland Series,[3] before moving to newly formed Randers FC in 2003.[a] He won promotion to the Danish Superliga with Randers during the 2003–04 season,[4] and made his professional debut in the top tier on 1 August 2004 starting in a 1–0 home loss to Herfølge Boldklub, before coming off in the 76th minute for Kim Østergaard Nielsen.[5] He made a total of 23 league appearances that season,[6] which saw Randers suffer relegation to the 1st Division after finishing bottom of the league.[7]
After relegation, Carlsen was often injured and moved down the depth chart as Peter Christiansen was preferred at left-back by head coach Lars Olsen.[8] On 25 September 2006, it was announced that Carlsen would move to Icelandic club Valur as his contract expired on 1 January 2007.[9][10] He made his European debut for Valur as they lost 2–0 to Cork City on 23 June 2007 in the UEFA Intertoto Cup first round.[11] The following season he also made his first UEFA Champions League appearance in a 2–0 first-round away loss to BATE Borisov on 25 July 2008.[12]
Carlsen returned to Denmark in January 2009, signing with Danish 1st Division club Fredericia after a successful trial.[13] He retired in 2010, where he began coaching ninth tier club TMG from Mårslet.[14]
Style of play
Carlsen was described by former Randers FC's teammate Christian Kemph as "aggressive" and "not afraid of going forward".[8] Despite lacking top-level speed, he compensated with good positioning and a fine skillset which made him a strong crosser of the ball.[8]
After football
After his retirement from football, Carlsen coached at lower level and played amateur football while residing in Aarhus.[8] He finished his training as a carpenter in the summer of 2013.[8]
Notes
^Randers Freja changed its name to Randers FC in 2003.
^"Randers FC 0–1 Herfølge BK". danskfodbold.com – DBU's Officielle Statistikere. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.