in the same year as the club celebrated its centennial. Superliga years (1997–1999) Aarhus Fremad appointed former Bayern Munich and Denmark international Viggo Jensen as their new head coach for the 1997–98 Danish Superliga season. The club played its first match in the Superliga on 25 July 1997 against city rivals AGF. The game ended in a 2–1 win on goals by Søren Hermansen and Ulrich Gregers, who secured the win for Fremad at their temporary home field, Aarhus Idrætspark in front of 15,000 spectators. On the field for Fremad were players such as Brian Priske, Henrik Bundgaard and Kim Østergaard Nielsen, besides the goalscorers. The club avoided relegation their first season in the Superliga, despite the death of chairman Hammerholt halfway through the season, a day before the first spring game against AaB. Hermansen, who scored in the season opener, ended the season with 19 league goals and was only surpassed in the league-topscorer standings by Ebbe Sand from Brøndby IF. Aarhus Fremad suffered relegation after the 1998–99 season, ending in 11th place. This would mark the start of a long decline for the club. FC Aarhus and financial crisis (1999–2004) In 1999 the first team merged with Skovbakken IK to form the club FC Aarhus with the goal of becoming one of the top clubs in Denmark. However, the merger only survived for six months, as the club had a debt of 1.8 million DKK. Instead, the Fremad board decided to continue their professional department under the name of FC Aarhus for the next four years with the continued ambition of reaching the Superliga. The beginning of the new millennium was a tumultuous time in FC Aarhus, as frequent replacements in the head coaching seat signalled. Between 1999 and 2004, the club had six different coaching teams. A high point of this period occurred in the summer of 2002 when English footballing giants Manchester United won 5–0 over current FC Aarhus and former Aarhus Fremad players in a pre-season friendly, with goals scored by e.g. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Diego Forlán and Ryan Giggs. David Beckham also made an appearance during the match. In 2003, as bankruptcy threatened the project, FC Aarhus was disbanded and Aarhus Fremad resurrected, with the club going back to its traditional virtues with a strong focus on volunteers. In 2004, the club relegated to the Danish third tier after five seasons in the second