Gunnar Nielsen (born 7 October 1986) is a Faroese 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 ...

who last played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Icelandic club FH. Nielsen has also represented HB,

Boldklubben Frem Boldklubben Frem (also known as Frem, BK Frem or BK Frem Copenhagen) is a Danish sports club based in the Valby- Sydhavnen area of Copenhagen. It is best known for its semi-professional football team. Since its foundation in 1886, Frem has won ...

Gøtu Ítróttarfelag Gøtu Ítróttarfelag, commonly known as just GÍ, was a football club based in Gøta, in the Faroe Islands. History It was founded in 1926. The club colours were yellow and blue. They played at the Serpugerdi Stadium and won 6 league titles ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan, commonly known as Stjarnan, is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær.and in the top 10 in the World and they have won the League ...

and the

Faroe Islands national football team The Faroe Islands national football team ( fo, Føroyska fótbóltsmanslandsliðið) represents the Faroe Islands in association football and is governed by the Faroe Islands Football Association (FSF). The FSF became a member of FIFA in 198 ...

at all age levels. Nielsen is considered to be one of the best Faroese players of all time.

Club career

FIFA WC-qualification 2014 - Austria vs Faroe Islands 2013-03-22 - Gunnar Nielsen 03

Born in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

, Nielsen was signed by

for a "small" but undisclosed fee on 2 July 2007 from

BK Frem Boldklubben Frem (also known as Frem, BK Frem or BK Frem Copenhagen) is a Danish sports club based in the Valby- Sydhavnen area of Copenhagen. It is best known for its semi-professional football team. Since its foundation in 1886, Frem has wo ...

. Nielsen, who was on trial with Rovers in May, told the club website: "I am very pleased – it is a massive chance for me just to develop. I'm glad the manager and staff believe in me and I won't let them down." He transferred

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

of the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

on a six-month loan on 8 August 2008, before returning to Blackburn on 30 December 2008. Nielsen signed for

on a two-and-a-half-year contract in 2009 and joined

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side

on loan shortly afterwards. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which r ...

on 28 March. He was suspected to have sustained a thumb injury during a game against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

in April, meaning he returned to City for a scan, which confirmed the suspected injury. Nielsen made his

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 ...

debut on 24 April 2010 as a substitute for injured

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player. Given started his career at Celtic, however he neve ...

in the 76th minute during Manchester City's stalemate against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. As a result, he became the first Faroese footballer to play in the Premier League. In the summer of 2010, he signed a contract extension with Manchester City that ran until 2012. On 23 July 2010 Nielsen joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

team

on loan until January 2011. He made his debut for Tranmere in a 2–1 defeat by

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

on 7 August, After picking up an injury on international duty, he spent over three months out, before returning to the first team at Tranmere in December 2010. He was released by Man City at the end of the 2011–12 season. However, weeks later he rejoined the Manchester City squad, but was again released by the club after signing former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international Richard Wright on transfer deadline day. He officially left the club on 7 December and told the Manchester City website he hopes to join a team in England or the Scandinavian Region in January 2013. In early April 2013, Nielsen signed for

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).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 ...

. Nielsen immediately debuted for the club on 8 April 2013, a 1–0 defeat to

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

. On 3 July 2013, Nielsen signed a 2-year deal with

where he had previously spent six months on loan in 2008. He left Motherwell on 4 March 2015, by mutual consent. On 4 April 2015, Nielsen signed a one-year contract with the Icelandic club

. He made his debut for them on 27 April, in an

Icelandic Super Cup The Icelandic Men's Super Cup (Icelandic: ''Meistarakeppni karla'') is an annual football game between the reigning champions of the Úrvalsdeild karla and the Icelandic Cup holders (or, if the same team holds both titles, between the title-holde ...

win over KR. At the end of the 2015 season, Nielsen was elected player of the year for

both by the players and the management. On 28 October 2015, Nielsen signed a three-year contract with 2015

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic champions FH.

International career

Nielsen made his international debut for the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

after starting in a 2–1 win over

on 22 March 2009. On 3 June 2016, he captained the team for the first time in a 2–0 friendly defeat against

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Honours

FH * Úrvalsdeild:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Stjarnan *

: 2015

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * *
Boldklubben Frem profile

Faroesoccer.com – see ''Landsdystir'' (statistics regarding the Faroe Islands national team)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Gunnar 1986 births Living people Footballers from Tórshavn Faroese men's footballers Faroe Islands men's international footballers Faroese expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Men's association football goalkeepers Havnar Bóltfelag players Boldklubben Frem players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players National League (English football) players Faroese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Faroe Islands men's under-21 international footballers Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar players Stjarnan players Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players Faroe Islands men's youth international footballers Faroese expatriate sportspeople in England Faroese expatriate sportspeople in Wales Faroese expatriate sportspeople in Iceland