Kent Nielsen (born 28 December 1961) is a Danish professional

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 ...

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 ...

and former player, who is currently the head coach of

Silkeborg IF Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...

. He was named coach of the year by 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 ...

in 2014 after winning both the

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 ...

and the

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 ...

with AaB. He started his coaching career as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

of AGF, before getting his breakthrough with

AC Horsens Alliance Club Horsens (), commonly referred to as AC Horsens () or simply Horsens, is a Danish professional football club based in Horsens, Central Denmark Region. Founded in 1994, as a superstructure on Horsens fS (founded 1915), Stensballe ...

, guiding the club to promotion to the top-flight Superliga championship in 2005. He has also coached Superliga clubs

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

and OB. In his active career, Nielsen played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He won two Danish championships and a Danish Cup trophy with Brøndby IF. He played three years in England with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, before ending his career after winning the Danish Cup with AGF. He played 54 games and scored three goals for the Denmark national team, winning 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 ...

championship.

Playing career

Club career

The son of former Danish international Erik Nielsen, Kent Nielsen started his career in Erik's former club

Brønshøj Boldklub Brønshøj BK, full name Brønshøj Boldklub, is a Danish football club located in the outskirts of Copenhagen. The club was founded on 15 May 1919. History Early years Brønshøj BK's first decades were spent in local leagues in the Copenha ...

(in Copenhagen), alongside his brother Tommy. Kent Nielsen switched to the Danish team

in 1987, with whom he won the 1987 and 1988 Danish championships, as well as the 1989

. Following 91 first team games for Brøndby, Nielsen left the club in 1989. He was bought by English club

for a reported £500,000

transfer fee In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can onl ...

, and secured himself a place in the starting line-up in his two first seasons with the club. New Aston Villa manager

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...

did not see Nielsen as fitting into his 4–4–2 tactics and brought in replacement

Shaun Teale Shaun Teale (born 10 March 1964) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a defender from 1983 until 2004 and was notably part of the League Cup winning team of Aston Villa in 1994.He also played in the ...

,Ib Pilegaard, "Kent ude i kulden", B.T., 26 November 1991, p.12. and Nielsen looked to leave the club. In early 1992, he moved back to Denmark, to play for AGF. He won the 1992 Danish Cup with AGF, before he retired in 1994.

International career

Nielsen started his international career with the

Denmark national under-19 football team The Denmark national under-19 football team is a team under the Danish Football Association, selected among all Danish football players under the age of 19, to represent Denmark in international U / 19 football tournaments organized by FIFA and ...

in July 1979. He was called up for the

Denmark national under-21 football team The Denmark national under-21 football team has played since 1976 and is controlled by the Danish Football Association. Before 1976, the age limit was 23 years. Tournament record UEFA European U-21 Championship *''*Draws include knockout matche ...

in May 1983. Following two under-21 games, he made his debut for the senior Danish national team on 5 October 1983 in a

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

qualification game against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, making him the last Brønshøj player until this date, to represent the club on the national squad. He then reverted to the under-21 team. He played his second senior international game in January 1985, and was selected by national team manager

Sepp Piontek Josef Emanuel Hubertus "Sepp" Piontek (born 5 March 1940) is a German former football player and manager. Playing career Born in Wrocław during World War II, Piontek started his playing career with VfL Germania Leer. Between 1963 and 1972, the ...

for the Danish squad at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

, but spent the entire tournament as an unused substitute. He was a part of Olympic 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 that won the UEFA Euro 1992 tournament. In 1995, he was awarded a gold version of the Medal of ...

's team for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

qualification tournament, but was not called up to Piontek's squad for the Euro 1988. Under new national team manager Richard Møller Nielsen, Kent Nielsen became a constant member of the Denmark squad. After his return to AGF, he was selected to represent Denmark at the

. Nielsen played four of Denmark's five games, including the Euro 1992 final against

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 ...

, where he most famously cleared the ball off the goalline with a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

, avoiding a goal from Karl-Heinz Riedle. He ended his international career following the 2–0 win against Germany.

Managerial career

Following his retirement, Nielsen spent years as an amateur football manager until he and former Danish international Lars Lundkvist took over as co-managers of AGF in April 2000. He and Lundkvist kept AGF from being relegated, but left the club after the season end. In 2001, he was appointed manager of

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

, which he managed to

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

for the

. Against all odds, he led the team to survive the 2005–06 Superliga season. His success continued during the following season, and he was named 2006 Danish Coach of the Year. In the 2007–08 season, his team finished in a historic fifth place, despite having one of the lowest budgets in the league. Eventually, Nielsen's achievements with Horsens caught the attention of other clubs. In January 2009, he signed a four-year contract with his former club Brøndby IF. He managed Brøndby to 17 victories in 38 games. In March 2010, he was sacked, following a 1–3 defeat to

HB Køge HB Køge () is a professional Danish football club based primarily in the town of Herfølge, and secondly in the town of Køge, both in the Køge Municipality, part of 'Region of Zealand', in the eastern part of Zealand, south of Copenhagen. It ...

. On 11 October 2010 he replaced

Magnus Pehrsson Karl Magnus Pehrsson (born 25 May 1976) is a Swedish Association football, football manager and former professional player who is the Director of Football at Spanish club Vélez CF. Club career Pehrsson started his career in IFK Lidingö. He p ...

as manager of AaB. He led the club to the 2013–14 Danish Superliga championship and the 2013–14 Danish Cup.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Brøndby * Danish championship: 2 ::

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

: 1 :: 1989 ;AGF *

: 1 ::

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 ...

;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 ...

: 1 ::

Manager

;AaB *

: 1 :: 2013–14 *

: 1 :: 2013–14 ;Silkeborg *

: 1 :: 2023–24

References

External links

*
Kent Nielsen – Danish Superliga manager statistics
at danskfodbold.com
Kent Nielsen – Danish Superliga player statistics
at danskfodbold.com
Kent Nielsen
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Kent 1961 births Living people Footballers from Frederiksberg Danish men's footballers Denmark men's international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Brøndby IF players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Danish football managers Aston Villa F.C. players AC Horsens managers 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1992 players UEFA European Championship–winning players AaB Fodbold managers Aarhus Gymnastikforening managers Brønshøj Boldklub players Men's association football defenders Odense Boldklub managers Silkeborg IF managers Danish Superliga managers Expatriate men's footballers in England English Football League players 20th-century Danish sportsmen