David Jean Nielsen (born 1 December 1976) is a Danish professional

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, and former player. He played for a number of Danish clubs, as well as

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

in Germany and English clubs

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

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and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. His greatest triumph was the 1997

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 ...

victory, which he won with Danish club

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. He played 46 matches and scored 33 goals for various Danish youth national teams between 1992 and 1997, including eight games and three goals for the Denmark U21 national team. Nielsen has attracted controversy at various times in his career for falling into serious gambling debt, assaulting a teammate and then, in November 2008, admitting matchfixing in a Danish game played in 2004.

Playing career

Born in

Sønderborg (; ) is a Denmark, Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 28,333 (1 January 2025),Skagen Skagen () is the northernmost town in Denmark, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in North Denmark Region, Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalbo ...

, Nielsen started playing youth football in

Skagen Skagen () is the northernmost town in Denmark, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in North Denmark Region, Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalbo ...

and

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast on the North Jutlandic Island in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The ...

. He scored 17 goals in 24 matches for the Danish under-16 and under-17 national teams. He received offers from English club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and

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in Germany, but decided to stay in Denmark, as he was brought to OB in the top-flight

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

in May 1993, 16 years old. Here he became known for his elaborate goal celebration, a round off stretch jump with a backtuck. He was loaned out to

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish language, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping stre ...

in January 1996, where he got his national breakthrough with 10 goals in 13 league games. When his Odense contract ran out in the Summer 1996, he moved abroad to play for

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

championship. He did not find playing success with the club, and after half a year in Germany, Nielsen moved back to Denmark to play for

in a DEM 600,000 transfer deal in February 1997. He played three and a half years at Copenhagen, with whom he won the 1997

. He was club top goalscorer in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and was elected 1999 Copenhagen Player of the Year. He was loaned out to English club

in the second tier of English football, the English First Division in October 2000, as Grimsby had a hard time scoring goals. When his loan deal ended in March 2001, Nielsen moved on to English club

on a free transfer. He joined

on loan in December 2001, and scored five goals in five games during his loan spell, including one against his parent club, prompting Norwich manager

Nigel Worthington Nigel Worthington (born 4 November 1961) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of York City. He played a defender and a midfielder, playing his club football for Ballymena United, Notts County ...

to pay £210,000 to Wimbledon to secure his services on a permanent basis. Whilst playing for Norwich City he was a member of the team that reached the final of the First Division

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

s in May 2002. However, he was unable to maintain his initial impressive scoring rate and left the club at his own request to return to Denmark in August 2003. He signed with Superliga club AaB, where he rediscovered his goalscoring ability. Following a training ground bust-up with teammate Allan Gaarde in February 2005, Nielsen was fired by the club. Within days, he was hired by league rivals

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

, to replace Egyptian striker

Mohamed Zidan Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed Zidan (; born 11 December 1981) is an Egyptian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early career Mohamed Zidan was born in Port Said to an Egyptian family. His career started as a s ...

. He was let go by FCM in May 2006, and he moved abroad to play for Norwegian club

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. He became an immediate hit scoring seven goals in 21 matches, but left the club during the reign of manager Stig Inge Bjørnebye. On 20 July 2007, he signed a three-year contract with the

side OB. On 26 March, he went on a loan deal with the Norwegian club

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...

for the rest of 2008. Nielsen was sold to the Norwegian club Brann as a part of a deal where Njougu Demba Nyren went in the opposite direction in January 2009. During his stay in Brann, Nielsen has spent most of his time as a substitute, and when he had been playing, he had the role as a facilitator for the other striker Erik Huseklepp. After his contract with Brann expired in June 2010, Nielsen planned to stay in Bergen and, together with Per Ove Ludvigsen and Kjetil Knutsen, to offer organized soccer practice for kids through a company called Max Fotball.

Controversies

By April 2004, David Nielsen and fellow AaB teammate Jimmy Nielsen had racked up a debt of €201,000 with

bookmakers A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out gambling, bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Harry Ogden, stood at Newmarket Racecourse, Newmark ...

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

. AaB director Lynge Jacobsen decided to help out financially and arranged for

gambling addiction Problem gambling, ludopathy, or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to DSM-5 if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological ga ...

counselling. In his 2008 autobiography, Nielsen admitted playing to deliberately lose a Superliga match between AaB and his former club Copenhagen in May 2004. As AaB had lost the Danish Cup final to Copenhagen earlier that year, winning the Superliga would propel Copenhagen into the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and hand their

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-berth as the Danish Cup winners on to the losing finalists from AaB. Nielsen was also motivated by his gambling debts,"David Nielsen har ikke betalt sin gæld"
Nordjyske.dk. 26 May 2004 as UEFA Cup qualification would wield him a personal DKK300,000 bonus. AaB and Copenhagen drew the match, and Copenhagen eventually won the 2003–04 Superliga championship by one point. In February 2005, Nielsen was sacked by AaB when he physically attacked teammate Allan Gaarde during a training session, leaving him with a concussion. Nielsen later explained in his autobiography that Gaarde was "pretentious... talking loudly about wine in Italian. "I told him: 'The next time you speak Italian I will break you in half. You're not f***ing Italian – you spent eight months there.' So when he did it again I decided to break his shitting legs like sticks. I jumped at him and bang. Jackpot. Felt good." During the pre-season of 2010–11, in a friendly against English side

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, he made a 'shocking high-footed' tackle against winger Robert Snodgrass, who was injured and missed the start of the campaign.

Managerial career

Nielsen was appointed assistant manager of Løv-Ham on 27 May 2011. Later that summer, he was appointed manager of Nest-Sotra. After saving the club from relegation from the 2. Divisjon in 2011, he led them to a fourth place in 2012 and promotion to the 1. division in 2013. On 11 November 2013, he was appointed assistant manager of

. After just seven months, he was appointed manager, when Ronny Deila left for the vacant managing position at

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

. On 26 May 2015, Strømsgodset announced that Nielsen would step down as manager in mutual agreement with the club. On 17 June 2015, he signed a three-year contract as manager for

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 ...

club

. On 30 September 2017, he signed a three-year contract as coach for

team AGF. In May 2022 Nielsen left AGF by mutual consent. On 8 December 2023, Nielsen signed a contract with

Kifisia Kifisia or Kifissia (also Kephisia or Cephissia; , ) is a municipality and one of the most affluent northern suburbs in the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Attica, Greece, mainly accessed via Kifissias Avenue, running all the way f ...

in the

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

for the remaining six months of the season. He was dismissed on 29 January 2024, only six weeks after being appointed. Nielsen returned as manager of

on 5 March 2024 on a contract running until the end of the season following the sacking of

Magne Hoseth Magne Hoseth (born Magne Hoset on 13 October 1980) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career, he played for Averøykameratene, Molde, Copenhagen, Viking, Aalesund, Stabæk, Notodden and Kristia ...

. In late August 2024 he was presented as the new manager of

Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club based in the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founde ...

, on a contract spanning the rest of 2024. After four league games, Lillestrøm had gathered one point and a goal difference of 2–12, and were bottom of the table. Nielsen was sacked in the evening of 30 September. The sole point came against Rosenborg, where his son Noah Holm played and scored, according to ''VG'' the first time a son scored against his father's team in Norway since 1987.

Personal life

Nielsen was born in Denmark to a DR Congolese father and a Danish mother.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Copenhagen *

: 1997 Individual *Copenhagen Player of the Year: 1999

Manager

Lyngby *

: 2015–16

References

External links

*
David Nielsen
official

statistics at danskfodbold.com
Ex-Canaries – Norwich City profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, David 1976 births Living people People from Skagen Danish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers Danish people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Odense Boldklub players Lyngby Boldklub players AaB Fodbold players F.C. Copenhagen players Danish Superliga players Grimsby Town F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players FC Midtjylland players IK Start players SK Brann players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Bundesliga players Eliteserien players Danish Superliga managers Strømsgodset Toppfotball managers Lyngby Boldklub managers Aarhus Gymnastikforening managers Eliteserien managers Nest-Sotra Fotball managers Lillestrøm SK managers AC Horsens managers Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Danish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Norway Expatriate football managers in Greece Danish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Danish 1st Division managers Frederikshavn fI players Footballers from the North Jutland Region English Football League players