The now former assistant coach of FC Copenhagen, Jens Berthel Askou, has been presented as new coach at Scottish outfit Motherwell.
The 42-year-old will formally begin his duties as manager next week, subject to the approval of a work permit.
“This is a really proud moment for me,” says Jens Berthel Askou to the Motherwell website.
“It’s a huge honour to be selected to become the manager of Motherwell Football Club". Having spoken extensively with members of the Club Board, it was clear from the outset that our ideas, ambitions and morals align.
“We are all ambitious people, and we’re all hungry for success. I can’t wait to arrive in Scotland and begin planning for the season ahead. There is a lot of work to be done, but it’s highly exciting.”
Before joining Danish second-tier club Vendsyssel, he served as a player-assistant manager at both Skive and Thisted. He later took on the role of manager at Vendsyssel, where he got the club promoted to the Danish top-flight, before relocating to the Faroe Islands in 2019 to manage HB Tórshavn.
Following a successful tenure at HB Tórshavn, he joined Danish club AC Horsens in 2021. Over the course of two seasons, he successfully guided the team back to Denmark’s top division, his second promotion as a manager.
In 2023, he moved on to Sweden, taking the helm at IFK Göteborg in the Allsvenskan. Shortly after his arrival, he earned two Manager of the Month awards before he moved on to the Czech Republic the following summer.
Askou took on the role of assistant manager at Czech club Sparta Praha, where he spent six months and played a key role in leading the team to the league phase of the Champions League.
In January 2025, he joined FC Copenhagen as assistant manager, where he not only reached the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League but also secured the domestic double by winning both the league and the cup.
“This has been a more rigorous process to recruit our new manager due to the incredible number of applications for the role,” Kyrk Macmillan, chairman of the board at Motherwell says.
“We had a high number of impressive applicants, but we were really drawn to Jens. His track record of working with big clubs, delivering success and developing young players matches up with all our philosophies here at Motherwell Football Club. He has handed 26 teenagers debuts in five-and-a-half seasons, which I think is evidence of Jens implementing his ideas and morals."