Full name | Football Club Vikings |
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Founded | 2010; 15 years ago (2010) |
Owner | Johnni Nielsen |
Manager | Hope Tsai |
League | Taiwan Challenge League |
2024 | Taiwan Football Premier League, 8th of 8 |
Website | www |
F.C. Vikings, also known as the Taipei Vikings (Chinese: 臺北Vikings) are a Taiwanese club based in Taipei which has played in the Taiwan Football Premier League. They are currently in the Taiwan Challenge League.
History
Danish coach Johnni Nielsen and his family moved to Taiwan in 2009 for his daughter's healthcare. He is married to a Taiwanese woman. He is a UEFA B Licence and was a yough coach for Slagelse B&I. He would find Taiwanese clubs too old-fashioned and focused on intense fitness training for his son. He decided to teach his son himself in a local park which also enticed other underprivilege youth. Eventually this led to the establishment of FC Vikings as a non-profit football academy in 2010. Nielsen provided coaching pro-bono. He named the organization "Vikings" as a reference to his roots.
FC Vikings became the official football academy of Tatung FC (now Leopard Cat FC).
From 2020, the team competed in the Taiwanese second division after the formation of a professional adult team called Vikings PlayOne. It was formed from locals, Shih Hsin University students, and players based overseas. It won the 2023 second division title, and was promoted to the Taiwan Football Premier League for the 2024 season. However the team got relegated.
In January 2025, FC Vikings completed the acquisition of Philippines Football League side, Maharlika F.C..
References
- ^ "Danish football player founds nonprofit soccer club in Taiwan". Formosa News. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- ^ "About F. C. Vikings Taiwan". F.C. Vikings. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- ^ Smith, Jonathan (10 December 2020). "Johnni Nielsen: The Danish Coach Making A Difference In Taiwan". Sports Gazette. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- "Outstanding immigrants in Taiwan – Johnni Nielsen". Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network (in Vietnamese). 22 August 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- "A Danish coach mortgages his house to borrow money to help Taiwanese children realize their football dreams". Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network (in Vietnamese). 22 August 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- ^ Pan, Jason (1 January 2024). "Huang Wei-chieh youngest to win TFPL Golden Boot". Taipei Times. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- "F.C. Vikings move up to Premier League". Formosa News (in English and Chinese). 25 February 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- "Vikings FC Acquires 100% Ownership of Maharlika FC, Announces Player Loan Program". Matchday.ph. 21 January 2025. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
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