Nils Lennart Roland Nilsson (born 27 November 1963) is a Swedish 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'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
and former player. He was most recently the head coach of
Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...
club
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
. As a player, Nilsson played
116 games for
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, making him the sixth most capped player in the Swedish national team. He also won the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
and played in the semi-finals of the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, the
European Championships
The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
, and the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
during a playing career lasting over two decades. He won his first major honour as a manager in 2010 with Malmö FF when the team won Allsvenskan. On 1 April 2011
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
confirmed Nilsson as the club's new manager to replace
Ståle Solbakken
Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Norway national team.
During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, and h ...
who left Copenhagen to become manager of
1. FC Köln in the summer of 2011.
Nilsson joined Copenhagen on 1 June 2011 but was sacked after six months on 9 January 2012.
Playing career
Born in
Helsingborg
Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...
, Nilsson began his playing career, during which he played predominantly as a
right back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
, as a seventeen-year-old with his hometown club
Helsingborgs IF
Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superet ...
. He quickly established himself as a first-team player with ''Di Röe'', earning himself the reputation of being one of the top youngsters in Swedish football. The quality of his performances was such that in 1983 he was signed by
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
, who at that point were the pre-eminent team in Sweden.
Despite the promise that he had shown at Helsingborg, Nilsson spent most of his first two seasons with IFK on the bench. However, he did eventually establish himself in the team, first becoming a regular starter during the 1985 season. It was during the latter end of that season that IFK began their run to the semi-final of the European Cup; IFK knocked out the likes of
Fenerbahçe and
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
before eventually falling to
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
on penalties. Nilsson missed one of the penalties in the shootout.
On 1 May 1986, shortly after IFK's European Cup exit, Nilsson made his international debut. Sweden's opponents in that game were
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, the match ended 0–0. During the year that followed he played a key role in IFK's
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
success, during which the team knocked out, amongst others,
Internazionale
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...
before beating
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
in the final. Besides this, IFK also won the
Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...
in 1987.
Nilsson left IFK in December 1989, joining
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
of the English
Football League 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 ...
for £375,000. Despite being relegated at the end of his first season with the club, Nilsson decided to stay and helped them gain promotion at their first attempt. During the time he spent at Wednesday, Nilsson became a real favourite amongst the club's fans as his performances proved to be a catalyst for a footballing renaissance at
Hillsborough. In the years that Nilsson played for the club, Wednesday won the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
in 1991, finished runner-up in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
and the League Cup in 1993, and played in Europe for the first time in thirty years. A number of Wednesday's fans still consider Nilsson to be the best right-back, and perhaps even the best foreigner, to ever play for the club. This was confirmed in 2007 when he came out top in a poll on Vital Football to find the club's greatest ever right-back.
While playing for Sheffield Wednesday, Nilsson also took part in two international tournaments for his country. The
1990 World Cup proved to be disastrous for Sweden, who were in the same group as
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, and
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
; Sweden lost all three matches 2–1. However, the team bounced back in
Euro 1992
The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA.
Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...
, which they hosted, as they reached the semi-finals. Nilsson played in all the games played by Sweden in both tournaments.
In January 1994, Nilsson announced that he was suffering from homesickness and asked to be sold to a Swedish club. His manager,
Trevor Francis
Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player foll ...
, convinced him to remain with the club until the end of the season in return for being given an unconditional release at that time. After leaving Sheffield Wednesday, Nilsson rejoined Helsingborg. That summer Nilsson also represented his country in the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, he played every second as the team finished, somewhat surprisingly, in third place.
Nilsson spent the following three years playing for Helsingborg, during which time the club finished as runner-up in both the Allsvenskan and the
Svenska Cupen
Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...
. In 1996, he was awarded the
Guldbollen
Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish football award given by ''Aftonbladet'' and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year.
History
The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and between 1946 to 1965 it was ...
, a trophy given each year to the best player from Sweden. At this point, Nilsson had planned to see out the rest of his career with his hometown club. However, in 1997
Ron Atkinson
Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits.
Nick ...
, who had signed Nilsson when he was manager at Sheffield Wednesday and was now Director of Football at
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
, made a £200,000 offer to sign him; an offer that Nilsson accepted.
Despite being 33, Nilsson was far from being the club's oldest player;
Steve Ogrizovic and
Kevin Richardson were both in their late thirties, whilst
Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...
was forty.
Nilsson spent one further season at Coventry before once again returning to Helsingborg, where he spent the following two seasons. The last international tournament in which Nilsson played was
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 was ...
. He started Sweden's opening game against the co-hosts,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
; however, he was substituted at half-time in the game with a concussion after a defensive error, which allowed
Bart Goor to put Belgium ahead, Nilsson played no further part in the tournament. Despite this snub, he played a further four games for Sweden, the last coming on 11 October 2000 against
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, the result of that game, like his international debut, was 0–0.
Under his managing years with
GAIS, Nilsson occasionally had to make "comebacks" and play himself due to player injuries.
Managerial career
Coventry City
Coventry City were relegated from the Premier League in May 2001, and following a poor start to their first season in
Division One
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 ...
,
Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...
resigned from the club. Nilsson was brought in as a player-caretaker manager, despite having no managerial experience, in place of Strachan. Following a number of wins in his caretaker role, Nilsson was given the manager's job on a permanent basis, and the club briefly topped Division One after the turn of the new year. However, Coventry City failed to live up to this early promise and the team were dogged by inconsistency for most of the season. In January 2002 vetern manager Jim Smith was appointed as Nilsson's assistant and in April 2002 Nilsson announced his retirement from playing in order to focus on managing the club. This was not to prove successful, and, with Coventry out of the play-off chase, Nilsson and Smith were sacked in April 2002. Nilsson was manager for 43 league games and achieved a win percentage of 44.13%, a return bettered by only four other Coventry City managers.
GAIS
After leaving Coventry, Nilsson briefly worked as a youth team coach at Helsingborg, before he was appointed
GAIS manager on 18 December 2003. The club was promoted to
Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...
in 2005 for the first time in six years, after beating
Landskrona BoIS
Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap ( en, Landskrona Ball and Sports Society, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Sweden, Swedish professional Football club (association football), football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently pla ...
2–1 on aggregate in the promotion/relegation play-off.
Malmö FF
On 10 October 2007,
Malmö FF
Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...
announced that Nilsson had signed a four-year contract as manager, replacing
Sören Åkeby
Sören Åkeby (born 23 February 1952) is a Swedish association football, football manager and former player.
Career
Along with Zoran Lukić, Åkeby managed Djurgårdens IF Fotboll, Djurgårdens IF from 1999 to 2003. The two were very successful ...
.
This proved to be a controversial move, since Malmö are the main rivals of Helsingborg and IFK Göteborg, two of Nilsson's former clubs. He enjoyed little success during his first two seasons at Malmö FF, and his side finished in mid-table positions in both 2008 and 2009. In 2010, however, he finally managed to create a winning team from the squad left by Åkeby, and the team enjoyed top league positions throughout the season finally winning the league. Nilsson managed the club for the last time in a
Svenska Cupen
Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...
fixture, which Malmö FF won 3–0 against
Halmstad BK
Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish Association football, football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved members ...
at
Örjans Vall
Örjans Vall is a football stadium in Halmstad, Sweden, built in 1922.
History
The stadium was originally named ''Halmstads Idrottsplats'' (eng: Halmstad's Sports Ground), and was inaugurated by the Crown Prince of Sweden Gustaf Adolf, later ...
,
Halmstad
Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Socia ...
.
Copenhagen
After a long period of rumors it was announced on 1 April 2011, Nilsson would take over as manager in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
after
Ståle Solbakken
Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Norway national team.
During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, and h ...
.
Nilsson joined the club on 1 June 2011.
On 9 January 2012, just six months after his recruitment, despite leading the Danish Superliga at the time, he was sacked and replaced by the sporting director
Carsten V. Jensen
Carsten Vagn Jensen (; born 28 February 1963), colloquially known as Carsten V. Jensen or simply CV, is a Danish former footballer and coach, who is currently director of football of Brøndby IF.
Career
He started his career with Næstved IF in ...
.
Career statistics
International
: ''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nilsson goal''.
Honours
Player
IFK Göteborg
*
Swedish Champion:
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
,
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
,
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
*
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
:
1986–87
Sheffield Wednesday
*
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 ...
:
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
Helsingborgs IF
*
Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...
:
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
Sweden
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
third place:
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
Individual
*
Guldbollen
Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish football award given by ''Aftonbladet'' and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year.
History
The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and between 1946 to 1965 it was ...
: 1996
*
Swedish Defender of the Year
Fotbollsgalan is an official and annual Swedish sports awards ceremony honoring achievements in Swedish football. It is organised by Swedish Football Association and televised by TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to:
*TV4 (Poland), a private Polish televi ...
: 1996, 1999
Manager
Malmö FF
* Allsvenskan:
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
Individual
*
Swedish Manager of the Year: 2010
See also
*
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
In men's association football, a cap is traditionally awarded in international football to a player making an official match appearance for their national team. In total, over 600 players have played in 100 or more international matches. The re ...
References
External links
F.C. Copenhagen profileMalmö FF Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nilsson, Roland
1963 births
Living people
Expatriate footballers in England
Swedish footballers
Footballers from Skåne County
Sweden international footballers
Sweden under-21 international footballers
Sweden youth international footballers
Swedish expatriate footballers
Olympic footballers of Sweden
Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
1990 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1992 players
1994 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
FIFA Century Club
Allsvenskan players
Helsingborgs IF players
IFK Göteborg players
Premier League players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Coventry City F.C. players
GAIS players
Swedish football managers
Coventry City F.C. managers
GAIS managers
Malmö FF managers
F.C. Copenhagen managers
IFK Göteborg managers
Expatriate football managers in Denmark
Expatriate football managers in England
Swedish expatriate football managers
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England
Association football defenders
UEFA Cup winning players
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Danish Superliga managers
Allsvenskan managers
English Football League managers
FA Cup Final players