Allan Nielsen (born 13 March 1971) is a Danish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

whose most notable period of football was four years at

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

with whom he won the 1999 League Cup, scoring the winning goal. He was also an integral part of the Denmark national team from 1996 to 2001, playing a total of 44 matches and scoring seven goals. He competed for Denmark in the international 1996 European Championship (Euro 1996),

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

and

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

tournaments.

Biography

Nielsen was born in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

, Denmark. Having never played a senior match for

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Foun ...

, whom he joined from the academy of Sædding-Guldager Idrætsforening (SGI), he moved abroad in 1989 to play for German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

team

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

at the age of 18. In his three years at the club, he played only six minutes in a single game in May 1991, as he came on as a substitute in a 7–3 win against

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. Failing to break through at Bayern Munich, he left the club in the summer 1991. Nielsen initially signed a three-year contract with

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

in June 1991, but he never played a game for the club. He swiftly moved back to Denmark, to play with OB in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

championship, where he debuted in September 1991. At Odense, he was a part of the team that won the 1993

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

and he was then brought to league rivals

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

in 1994. He played a single season for the club, where he was

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

, before he moved to main rivals

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

in 1995. In his year at Brøndby, the club won the

1995–96 Danish Superliga The 1995–96 Danish Superliga season was the 6th season of the Danish Superliga league championship, governed by the Danish Football Association. The Danish champions qualified for the UEFA Champions League 1996-97 qualification, while the seco ...

championship, and Nielsen was named Brøndby IF ''1995 Player of the Year''. He was called up for the Danish national team under national manager

Richard Møller Nielsen Richard Møller Nielsen (19 August 1937 – 13 February 2014) was a Danish football player and manager. He coached the Denmark national football team The Denmark men's national football team ( da, Danmarks herre-fodboldlandshold or ''herrelan ...

. Nielsen made his debut against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

on 16 August 1995. He came on as a substitute and following 45 seconds on the pitch, he scored the second goal in Denmark's 2–0 win. He was called up to represent Denmark at the

Euro '96 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

tournament hosted by England, where he scored one goal in his only match, the 3–0 win against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. After Euro 1996, Brøndby received a

transfer fee Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

of £1.65 million, when Nielsen moved to England to play for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

. He played nearly 100 league matches for Tottenham, and he was a pivotal player when the club won the 1999 League Cup. In the final minute, he scored a diving header to give Tottenham a 1–0 win against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, and Nielsen was subsequently honoured as "

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

". Following controversies with Tottenham manager

George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944), nicknamed "Stroller", is a Scottish former Association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. In his successful playing career, he made 455 appearances in England's Football ...

, Nielsen moved down a league in March 2000, when he was loaned out to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in the

English First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

in a three-month deal. During his time at Tottenham, he represented the Danish national team in five games at the

, scoring a single goal against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, as well as in two games at the Euro 2000 tournament. He permanently moved away from Tottenham after

, in July 2000, to play for English First Division team

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. He was signed by Watford manager

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

for £2.5million, which at the time was the highest fee the club had ever paid for a player. After three seasons at the club, Nielsen returned to Denmark in 2003 for Superliga

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

battlers

Herfølge Boldklub Herfølge Boldklub is a Danish football club founded in 1921. It is based in Herfølge, a southern suburb of Køge in the eastern part of Zealand. In 2009, the club shared its licence, and merged its professional football with Køge BK to form ...

in a role as player/assistant coach. Following a bad first half of the 2003–04 season, head coach

Johnny Petersen Johnny Petersen (born 27 November 1947) is a Danish football manager and former player who most recently was caretaker manager of Akademisk Boldklub. As a player, he represented Akademisk Boldklub and B 93 in his native country and FC St. Pau ...

was fired and Nielsen was promoted to player/coach, in a coaching partnership with former national team player and Esbjerg native

Michael Schjønberg Michael Schjønberg Christensen (born 19 January 1967) is a Danish Association football, football manager, club official, and former player. He is currently in charge of Faroese club 07 Vestur. During his active career, he played more than 100 ...

. They managed to finish just above the relegation zone at the end of the season. For the subsequent 2004–05 season, Nielsen decided to focus exclusively on coaching, but to no avail as Herfølge was relegated, and he announced his coaching days were over. On 20 August 2011, Nielsen married equestrian Tina Lund. The couple moved to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

in 2013, but returned to Denmark in 2021. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Nielsen drew controversy for spreading misinformation regarding COVID-19 and its vaccines.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nielsen goal.''

Honours

Odense *

: 1992–93 Brøndby *

: 1995–96 Tottenham Hotspur *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

: 1998–99 Individual *

Alan Hardaker Trophy The Alan Hardaker Trophy is an annual association football award presented to the Man of the Match in the EFL Cup final (also currently known as the Carabao Cup). The trophy is named after Alan Hardaker, the EFL's former secretary who conceived ...

: 1999 * Danish ''Player of the Year'': 1996

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Allan 1971 births Living people People from Esbjerg Danish men's footballers Association football midfielders FC Bayern Munich II players FC Bayern Munich footballers FC Sion players Odense Boldklub players F.C. Copenhagen players Brøndby IF players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Watford F.C. players Herfølge Boldklub players Bundesliga players Danish Superliga players Premier League players English Football League players Denmark international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in England Danish football managers Herfølge Boldklub managers Danish Superliga managers COVID-19 conspiracy theorists Sportspeople from the Region of Southern Denmark