the beginning, Heerenveen saw him as a second-keeper behind Steppe, but Ellegard impressed so much in training that the trainer Ron Jans made him first-choice. Despite Ellegard playing 28 matches and impressing both the audience and the trainers with his play, they decided not to renew his contract, because Vandenbussche was coming back from his injury. On 23 January 2012, Ellegaard signed a three-year contract with Swedish club IF Elfsborg as a free agent. On 24 January 2020, Ellegaard returned to Denmark and signed with Danish 2nd Division club FC Helsingør. He reached promotion to the Danish 1st Division in his first six months with the club. On 22 December 2021, 38-year old Ellegaard announced his retirement from football. However, on 2 May 2022, Ellegaard came out of retirement, when he signed a short-term contract with Danish Superliga club AaB for the rest of the season. International career Ellegaard made his debut for the Danish under-16 youth national team in September 1998, and went on to represent various youth national teams for a combined total of 56 games. He made his debut for the Denmark U21 national team in September 2004, and represented the team at the 2006 Under-21 European Championship tournament in May 2006. While at Manchester City, Ellegaard served as a stand-in for Thomas Sørensen in the initial Denmark national team training sessions ahead of the 2004 European Championship. He was not a part of the Danish squad at the tournament. In the fall of 2007, while playing for Randers, Ellegaard was called up as the Danish third choice goalkeeper due to the injury of Jesper Christiansen. In August 2008, Ellegaard was called up for the national team again, due to a new Jesper Christiansen injury. Career statistics Honours IF Elfsborg Allsvenskan: 2012 Svenska cupen: 2014 Individual Randers FC Player of the year: 2007–08 Eredivisie ING Fair Play-reward Denmark's best penalty keeper – Recent statistics showed that out of 29 Danish keepers, Ellegaard is the best one in saving penalties, making him a penalty specialist. He is known for his "double save" in a penalty against AFC Ajax. He had a fantastic 45% rate in penalty saves, which made him the best Danish penalty keeper. References External links Danish Superliga statistics 1983 births Living people Danish men's footballers Denmark youth international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Association football goalkeepers Hvidovre IF players Manchester City F.C. players Hertha BSC