Background
He was born November 20, 1957, in Assens.
He was born November 20, 1957, in Assens.
An extremely prolific goal scorer, he scored 319 league goals over the course of 15 seasons, having played in four different countries, namely the Netherlands and Switzerland. Eriksen was a Danish international in the 80"s, appearing with the nation in one World Cup and one European Championship. At the age of just 17, he made a debut for Svendborg FB in June 1975.
After two season with Svendborg, Eriksen switched to Odense BK, scoring 22 goals in each of his two seasons with the club
In January 1980, he moved to Roda JC in the Netherlands, never netting less than 16 goals in each of his four Eredivisie seasons. In 1984-1985, Eriksen joined Football Club Mulhouse in the French Ligue 2, finishing second in the goal scoring charts as the club narrowly missed on promotion, falling short in the playoffs.
In the summer, he returned to the Netherlands and joined Feyenoord, again surpassing the 20-goal mark as the Rotterdam outfit ranked in third position. Aged almost 29, Eriksen moved to Switzerland where he continued to display solid scoring form, for both Servette Football Club (having played alongside Karl-Heinz Rummenigge) and Football Club Luzern.
With the former, he led the scorers list in his first two seasons, notably scoring 36 in 34 games in 1987-1988 (second position overall, only two points behind champions Neuchâtel Xamax).
Eriksen closed his career at nearly 36 with his first club, hometown"s Svendborg FB.
Eriksen was also picked for Union of European Football Associations Euro 1988 in West Germany, playing twice in an eventual group stage exit (two 0–2 losses), starting against Italy. After ending his career, Eriksen suffered Alzheimer"s disease, and lived his last three years in a nursing home in Svendborg. After falling accidentally in his home he died on 12 February 2002, at only 44 years of age.
He was buried in Saint Nicolai Church in Svendborg on 20 February 2002.