Katrine Søndergaard Pedersen (born 13 April 1977) is a Danish former footballer and current coach who serves as the head coach of Canadian Northern Super League club Ottawa Rapid FC.
She has played for and captained Denmark, for whom she accrued a national record 210 caps. Pedersen is a member of the Danish Football Hall of Fame.[1]
At club level, Pedersen spent the final years of her career with Norwegian club Stabæk,[2] as a result of Stabæk taking over the bankrupt club Asker FK at the end of 2008.
Most of Pedersen's club football has been played outside Denmark. During 2002–03 she played for the English professional club Fulham Ladies, where she won a domestic treble.[3] When Fulham reverted to semi-professional status several players left and Pedersen moved to Norway to join the Toppserien club IF Fløya based in Tromsø. After two seasons there she moved to spend the 2006 season playing in Stockholm, Sweden for the Damallsvenskan club Djurgården/Älvsjö. For the 2007 season, she moved back to Norway to play for Asker SK in Oslo,[4] and stayed there during 2008.
At the end of 2014, Pedersen joined Australian club Adelaide United.[5]
Pedersen made her senior international debut in September 1994; a 1–0 win over the Netherlands in Hoogezand. She was in her national team in the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship in North West England, and was captain at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 in China. She also played in earlier World Cup competitions in 1995 (as an 18-year-old)[6] and 1999, as well as UEFA Women's Championships in 1997, 2001 and 2009.[7]
When Pedersen was named in national coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller's squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 she was the most experienced active player in Europe, with 203 caps.[8] Pedersen was named Danish women's player of the year in 2007, 2011, and 2013.[1] In November 2013, she announced her pregnancy and retirement while accepting the Danish Player of the Year award.[9] Her total of 210 international appearances is 81 more than her countryman, Peter Schmeichel. She was four games short of Birgit Prinz's record for European players.
In August 2015, Pedersen was named an assistant coach with the Denmark women's national team.[10]
In December 2020, it was announced that she would become the head coach of AGF Fodbold in the Danish Women's League beginning in the summer of 2021.[11]
In October 2024, she was announced as the first head coach of Ottawa Rapid FC in the Canadian Northern Super League, ahead of the inaugural season in 2025.[12]
As of 10 October 2024, Pedersen was among four Danish women to have a UEFA Pro Coaching Licence.[1]
Pedersen works as a teacher[6] and football trainer at a high school in Oslo, Norway. In May 2011, her autobiography "Katrine" was published in Denmark.[13] Pedersen is in a relationship with fellow former football player, Maiken Pape.[14]
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