Mikkel Beck

Biography

Beck is the son of former Danish footballer Carl Beck, who played for AGF in the Danish first division in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Beck started his career with Danish lower league club Kolding IF, before playing a single season in the Danish Superliga for B 1909. He moved abroad to play professionally for German 2. Bundesliga club Fortuna Köln in 1993. Following a back injury which kept him out from August 1994 to February 1995, Beck scored in each of his first five games after recovery, and he received his first call-up for the Danish national team in May 1995. He scored three goals in his first six national team games and was subsequently voted the 1995 Danish Sports Talent of the Year. He was included in the Danish national squad for the Euro 1996 in England, where he played two games. Following the tournament, he was sold to English Premier League club Middlesbrough.

Despite reaching the 1997 FA Cup final in his first season with Middlesbrough, the club were relegated to the English First Division at the end of the season after a three-point deduction for failing to play a fixture. Beck stayed with the club and was an important part of the squad which won promotion to the Premier League the very next year. After 24 goals in 91 league matches for Middlesbrough, he moved to league rivals Derby County in March 1999 for £500,000. Beck failed to replicate the form he had shown with Boro; an indication of his lack of success at Derby was him being consistently voted in supporter's polls as the worst player ever to appear for Derby. He did however score a dramatic late equaliser in a 3-3 draw with Southampton in October 1999. Seeking playing time, Beck underwent loan deals to English lower league clubs. He signed a two-month loan deal to Nottingham Forest in November 1999, but after a month at the club, scoring once against Portsmouth, he was recalled by Derby, as the club experienced a lack of strikers. He sat a single match on the bench before Derby bought Belgian striker Branko Strupar and Beck was once more out of the team. He was then loaned out to QPR in February 2000 for three months. Despite good play for QPR, Beck was recalled in April 2000 in order to go on loan to Danish Superliga club Aalborg Boldspilklub (AaB) for the rest of the 1999–2000 Superliga season.

During his last year at Middlesbrough, and through the rest of his time in England, Beck had lost his place in the Danish national team. At AaB, he scored eight goals in ten matches and led the team to the Danish Cup final, gaining an international recall for Euro 2000. He played in two matches at the tournament and was subsequently purchased by French Division 1 club Lille for £500,000. Unhappy with Lille coach Vahid Halilhodžić's principle of rotating the players, Beck went on loan to AaB once again in February 2002. Despite hoping to be called up to the Danish national team for the 2002 World Cup, Beck was injured in the months before the tournament and was not considered for the squad. Back at Lille, he suffered a string of injuries which kept him out of football for 18 months. In September 2003, he trialled with Spanish side Córdoba CF but became injured after only two training sessions. In January 2004, he trained with English First Division club Crystal Palace, but injuries resurfaced during his stay at Palace. He failed to earn a contract and Beck retired.

Following his retirement, he became a player agent.

International goals