Preben "Ben" Arentoft

5'6.5" 10st.5lb.
b. Copenhagen (Denmark) 1 November 1942
 

Debut 2 October 1971 (28y 335d) Final Game 1 May 1974 (31y 181d)
First Goal 16 October 1971 Final Goal 24 February 1973
CAREER: Bronshoj Boldklub;Greenock Morton Sep'65[69-6];Newcastle United  Mar'69 (£18,000)[46+4-2];Blackburn Rovers Sep'71 (£15,000);Helsingor IF Jan’74;Helsingborgs IF Jan’78-'80 (p-c).
INTERNATIONALS Denmark 9 apps
’65 v Fin,Swe,USSR,Ice.’71 v Por,Bel,Sco,Swe,WGe.
HONOURS  Fairs Cup win (Newcastle United) ’69.
 

FL          94 apps    3 gls   - 2 wdn                               6 ns    2 og
FAC      10  apps
FLC        4 apps
Total  108 apps   3 gls     - 2 wdn  - 55m et 30m    6 ns   2 og
LC         3 apps
 

The only route for foreign footballers into the Football League in the seventies was to pass through a Scottish club. Arentoft, a Danish international, signed for Hal Stewart's Morton and helped them to promotion whilst obtaining the residential qualifications for a move south of the border. He joined Newcastle, where he displayed thought and creativity in their midfield and gained great repute on Tyneside when his goal secured the club the Fairs Cup. Ken Furphy brought him to Ewood as he rebuilt the side that had been relegated to the Third Division but Arentoft was never comfortable among the chaos of a Third Division midfield scrap. Conversely he became a stylish left back, unusually cultured for this level and when asked to play centre back proved that intelligence and experience can overcome lack of physical dimensions. Never happy when Gordon Lee took over the club he decided to return to Denmark to resume his old profession of accountant. He subsequently became a senior manager with the Copenhagen City Council, was player coach at Helsingborgs and from his home in Stenlose had a sideline dealing in works of art. As befits an intelligent man he had much to offer society and became head of the juvenile probation service in Copenhagen.