Per Nielsen

For the Danish musician and trumpet player, see Per Nielsen (musician). For the Danish Olympic shooter, see Per Nielsen (sport shooter).
Per Nielsen
Personal information
Full name Per Lundgren Nielsen
Date of birth (1973-10-15) October 15, 1973
Place of birth Århus, Denmark
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
1979–1993 Brøndby IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–2008 Brøndby IF[1] 394 (23)
National team
1993 Denmark U-19[2] 1 (0)
1994–1996 Denmark U-21[2] 19 (2)
2002–2006 Denmark[2] 10 (0)
Teams managed
2008–2010 Brøndby IF (youth)
2011–2014 Hvidovre IF
2015– Brøndby IF (women)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Per Lundgren Nielsen[3] (born October 15, 1973) is a retired Danish professional football (soccer) player who played in the central defense of Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga for his entire club career. With Brøndby, Nielsen won five Danish championships and three Danish Cups since his senior debut in 1993. He played 547 official games for Brøndby IF and scored 26 goals, and from 2002 to 2008 he was named team captain. He played 10 matches for the Denmark national football team and is noted for 19 matches for the national under-21 team from 1994 to 1996. Following his retirement, he has worked as first as an assistant coach, later as head coach. Currently he is at Brøndbys women's team.

Club career

Born in Århus,[3] Nielsen's parents moved to Brøndby when he was a child, and he enrolled at Brøndby IF at the age of five.[4] Nielsen made his senior debut in the Brøndby IF jersey on June 26, 1993,[4] and debuted in the Danish Superliga championship in March 1995.[1] Nielsen was touted as the long-term successor of central defender Uche Okechukwu and was permanently moved into the senior squad in December 1993, coming from a Brøndby youth team that sported several later first team regulars, including Kim Daugaard, Allan Ravn and later Danish national team player Ebbe Sand.[5]

Nielsen became a mainstay in the team during the 1995–96 Superliga season,[1] as Brøndby won the Danish championship, and established himself as a regular starter. He helped Brøndby repeat the Superliga win in the 1996–97 Superliga and the Double of both Superliga championship and Danish Cup title in 1998. Following the 2001–02 Superliga championship triumph with Brøndby, Danish international goalkeeper Mogens Krogh retired, and Nielsen was chosen as new team captain. After his second Danish Cup triumph in 2003, Nielsen was elected the 2003 Brøndby IF Player of the Year.[6]

In 2004, the Danish football players' association announced a strike action. Brøndby was still in European competition, and would be forced to field a team consisting of retired Brøndby professionals, youth team players and recent signings who had yet to become members of the players' association, in the August 2004 UEFA Cup qualification re-match against FK Ventspils. Two days before the match, Nielsen and team mate Dan Anton Johansen broke the strike and returned to the Brøndby training,[7] causing a lot of controversy in the process. The day after, the players' and football clubs' associations reached a provisorical agreement,[8] and Brøndby's first team players were selected for the match, though they were eliminated on aggregate.

He captained Brøndby to the Double of the 2004–05 Superliga and Danish Cup titles, and was named 2006 Brøndby IF Player of the Year.[6] In February 2008, Nielsen chose to resign from the position of team captain, stating that he would spend his remaining one and a half years at Brøndby helping the club move on, also if that meant him taking a place on the bench.[9] Stefán Gíslason was named his successor. Nielsen helped Brøndby win the 2008 Danish Cup, his last trophy with the team. Nielsen announced that he would retire as an active footballer in late June 2008. Instead he will continue as a scout in Brøndby. His last game in the blue and yellow jersey was his testimonial match against Spanish team Deportivo La Coruna on July 12, 2008.[10] Nielsen played a total 547 games in all competitions,[11] including 394 games and scored 23 goals for Brøndby in the Superliga.[1]

Coaching career

Three years Brondby IF youth coach. Then four years as Hvidovre IF head coach. In 2015 he overtook as coach at Danish women's champions Brondby IF.[12]

International career

Nielsen's first international game was a single under-19 national team match in December 1993.[2] He was called up to play for the Danish national under-21 team in March 1994, and went on to play 19 games and score two goals for the under-21 national team until July 1996.[2]

Despite winning several trophies with Brøndby, Nielsen never broke into the Danish national team, but he was selected to play for the league national team, consisting of the best players from the domestic Danish Superliga championship. He went on his first trip with the league national team in 1997, playing three games at the US Cup in California, United States.[13] He likewise took part in the league national team campaign in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela in 1999,[13] with injuries forcing him out of the 1998 tour. Nielsen was once again included in the Danish league national team's trip to California in 2004, where he made his 10th and last appearance for the team,[13] with injuries forcing him out of the 2003 tour. In January 2006, Nielsen was called up for his sixth trip with the Danish league national team. However, he chose not to travel with the team to the Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong, citing personal reasons, which national team coach Morten Olsen fully supported.[14]

Nielsen finally debuted for the Danish national team in September 2002 as a late substitute,[2] and he would go on to be among the fringe players of the Danish squad. He played a total 10 national team games until November 2006, helping Denmark qualify for the 2004 European Championship.[2]

Honours

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Per Lundgren Nielsen at DanskFodbold.com
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Per Nielsen – Alle hold (Alle kampe) at Danish Football Association
  3. 1 2 Per Nielsen at Haslund.info
  4. 1 2 (Danish) Brøndby IF profile
  5. ↑ Kurt Stendal, "Brøndbys unge garde", Berlingske Tidende, 6 December 1993.
  6. 1 2 Årets Spiller at Brøndby IF
  7. ↑ (Danish) Brøndby IF – 2004, Brøndby IF, 4 January 2005.
  8. ↑ (Danish) OK04: Spillerkonflikt afblæst, Dansk Metal 25 August 2004.
  9. ↑ (Danish) Per Nielsen overdrager anførerhvervet, Brøndby IF, 22 February 2008.
  10. ↑ Per Nielsen testimonial mod La Coruna, Brøndby IF, 27 June 2008.
  11. ↑ 1. holdsspillere i Brøndby IF at Brøndby IF
  12. ↑ "Nielsen succeeds Lisdorf as Brøndby coach". uefa.com. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 Per Nielsen – Ligalandshold (Alle uofficielle kampe) at Danish Football Association
  14. ↑ (Danish) Ligalandsholds-afbud fra Per Nielsen, DBU, 5 January 2006.
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