Richard Møller Nielsen (19 August 1937 – 13 February 2014) was a Danish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He coached the

Denmark national football team The Denmark national football team ( or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark and Greenland in men's international Association football, football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing body for ...

that won the

UEFA 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 been inv ...

tournament. In 1995, he was awarded a gold version of the Medal of Merit. He was the father of Tommy Møller Nielsen.

Career

Nielsen was mostly known for his career as a football coach, but he played for

Odense BK Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

, and was capped twice for Denmark as a defender. An injury ended his career. Nielsen coached, among others,

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

, Odense BK and the Danish national youth team under head coach Sepp Piontek. In 1990 Piontek left his position as national coach, and replacement was required. Nielsen was mentioned early in the race for the job, but the

Danish Football Association The Danish Football Association (; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues, alongside the men's and women's national teams. Based ...

decided to look abroad for a new coach. They selected German Horst Wohlers as the new Danish coach, but he was unable to cancel his contract with German club Bayer Uerdingen, so Nielsen was appointed.

European Champions

The first aim for Nielsen was to qualify for the

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 been inv ...

in Sweden. Denmark started out with a secure home victory against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, followed by an away draw against Northern Ireland and a 2–0 home loss against Yugoslavia. Several players left the squad including

Michael Laudrup Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...

, Brian Laudrup and Jan Heintze, and several newspapers were demanding that Richard Møller Nielsen step down. Despite the criticism, the team won the rest of their games in the group, including a 2–1 away win against Yugoslavia. It was, however, not enough to qualify. The Danish team finished second in the group just behind Yugoslavia. However,

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

banned

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

from participating in the championship as a result of the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

, and Denmark was chosen as the replacement because the team had finished second behind Yugoslavia in the qualification group. The Danish team started out with a 0–0 against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and a defeat against hosts

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. A 2–1 win against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

ensured Denmark a place in the semifinals. The defending European champions,

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, were the next opponent. The match finished 2–2 in regular time and with a 5–4 win in the penalty shoot-out, Denmark secured a place in the final against reigning world champions

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Denmark won the final 2–0, becoming the highlight of Nielsen's coaching career; he went on to win the "World Manager of the Year" awarded by '' World Soccer''.

Confederations Cup winners

Denmark started the World Cup qualification for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

with three 0–0 draws, before winning 1–0 against Northern Ireland in Belfast. On the 25 August 1993, Michael Laudrup made a comeback in a 4–0 victory home against Lithuania after having reconciled with Nielsen. The comeback of Denmark's most renowned player at the time was not enough to secure a qualification. Laudrup never achieved the same success under Nielsen as he had enjoyed during the 1980s with Piontek as coach and

Preben Elkjær Preben Elkjær Larsen (; born 11 September 1957) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping the club to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie ...

next to him in the attack. The last game of the qualification was away against Spain in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, and the home team won 1–0, even though the Danes had been playing 11 against 10 for most of the game. Nielsen could, however, again secure a trophy for Denmark when they participated in the

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six Continental football championships, continental champions ...

in 1995. This time the Danish team beat Argentina 2–0 in the final. Nielsen had several players from the national Danish league in his squad, with players like Peter Schmeichel missing due to obligations with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. The Danish team qualified for the Euro 1996 tournament in England, but the team failed to retain the title. Denmark was knocked out in the group stage, where the team finished third behind Croatia and Portugal. The team drew with Portugal, lost to Croatia and won against Turkey in the last game. Nielsen left his position after the championship but is still considered the most successful coach of Denmark.

Finland and Israel

Nielsen went on to coach the Finland national football team and came close at securing a play-off game for the 1998 World Cup in France. The Finnish team also failed to qualify for the

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 ...

in Belgium and The Netherlands. In 2000, Nielsen took over as coach of the Israel national team, but Israel did not succeed in securing a place at the 2002 World Cup. It was Nielsen's last international job. He went on to manage the Danish second division team Kolding FC before retiring in October 2003.

has dedicated one of the stands at Odense Stadion to Richard Møller Nielsen Tribunen. The city of

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

has dedicated a square adjacent to the stadium after the city's legendary coach.

Death

Nielsen died on 13 February 2014, following the unsuccessful removal of a brain tumour in September 2013. He was survived by his wife, three children and six grandchildren.

Managerial statistics

Managerial honours

Club

Odense BK *

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

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

: 1983

International

Denmark *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

* King Fahd Cup:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Individual

* World Soccer Manager of the Year: 1992

References

External links

Danish national coach profile
*
Order of the Dannebrog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Richard Moller 1937 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Odense Danish men's footballers Denmark men's international footballers Danish football managers Odense Boldklub players Odense Boldklub managers Esbjerg fB managers Denmark national football team managers Finland national football team managers Israel national football team managers UEFA Euro 1992 managers 1995 King Fahd Cup managers UEFA Euro 1996 managers UEFA European Championship–winning managers FIFA Confederations Cup–winning managers Expatriate football managers in Israel Danish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Finland Men's association football defenders Boldklubben 1909 managers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Finland Danish expatriate sportspeople in Israel 20th-century Danish sportsmen