Marc Stephen Griffith Nygaard (born 1 September 1976) is a Danish former professional
footballer who played as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
.
Club career
Nygaard started his professional career in
SC Heerenveen in 1995. He stayed with Heerenveen until 1997. He was then signed by
MVV Maastricht. However, Nygaard only stayed with Maastricht one year before moving back to the
Eredivisie in 1998 now playing for
Roda JC. Nygaard stayed in Dutch football until 2003.
He was then signed by the Italian
Serie A side
Brescia Calcio
Brescia Calcio, commonly referred to as Brescia (), is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy, that currently plays in .
The club holds the record for total number of seasons (64) and consecutive seasons (18, from 1947–48 to 1 ...
.
Queens Park Rangers
Nygaard joined Rangers from the Italian side Brescia on free transfer in July 2005.
Nygaard made 72 appearances in all competitions during his two-and-a-half-year spell in W12, scoring 14 goals.
Randers FC
Nygaard made his first appearance for Randers in the quarter finals, of the
Danish Cup, against
Brøndby IF
Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...
. However, due to an injury Nygaard found himself sidelined. Nygaard returned to the squad soon after and was in the starting line against AGF. Nygaard scored his first goal in this match. He scored two goals and the game ended 4–1.
Nygaard continued what was by his standards the best form of his career, scoring two goals in the same match. This time it was on 4 May against
Esbjerg fB
Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Found ...
. However Randers FC failed to win the match and the game ended 3–2 to Esbjerg. Nygaard scored again on 7 May against
FC Midtjylland
FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Su ...
. He scored from 25 yards with a well placed kick at the right side of the goal. Nygaard had now scored in three successive matches. RFC however failed to maintain the lead and lost the match 2–1.
Nygaard ended his first campaign with Randers FC in great style. Randers met Brøndby IF in their final game of the season. After numerous chances, Nygaard succeeded in getting a penalty for his site. Nygaard himself took the penalty and scored the first goal. Nygaard's teammate Søren Berg scored the final goal and Randers won the game 2–1. Nygaard ended his first campaign at Randers with nine league appearances and six goals.
Following the new campaign Nygaard found himself side lined in the first match against AGF due to yellow cards from the previous season. However Nygaard returned in the next match against
FC Copenhagen
Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...
. He scored his first goal in the 2008–09 season against
FC Nordsjælland
Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...
in the final minutes. The game ended 1–1. Nygaard scored the equalizer against Esbjerg on penalty the game ended 1–1. After the goal Nygaard was forced to leave the field due to an injury in his leg. However the injury was not as serious as feared. Following Nygaard success at club level he was on 31 October called in for the national team. After Randers skipper
Ralf Pedersen had left the club to join
Viborg FF
Viborg Fodsports Forening ("Viborg Footsport Association"), or Viborg F.F. and VFF for short, is a Danish professional football club based in Viborg. The club was founded in 1896 and waited more than a century before winning its only national ...
Nygaard was selected as the new team captain.
Although he failed to impress in the second tier of English football, Nygaard had great personal success following the first half of the 2008–09 season. He managed to score in seven successive matches thereby becoming top scorer along with OB striker
Djiby Fall.
Nygaard finished the season with a record of 26 matches played and 16 goals scored. Nygaard won the topscorer-prize beating his nearest rivals with one goal.
His contract with Randers expired on 1 July 2010, and he became a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
. In August 2010 he signed with German
3. Liga
The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga.
The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...
club
SpVgg Unterhaching
Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league B ...
.
Personal life
Nygaard was born in Denmark to a Guyanese father and Danish mother.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nygaard, Marc
1976 births
Living people
Footballers from Copenhagen
Danish footballers
Denmark international footballers
Denmark under-21 international footballers
Danish people of Guyanese descent
Association football forwards
Boldklubben af 1893 players
SC Heerenveen players
MVV Maastricht players
Roda JC Kerkrade players
Royal Excel Mouscron players
Brescia Calcio players
Catania S.S.D. players
L.R. Vicenza players
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Randers FC players
Danish Superliga players
Belgian First Division A players
Eredivisie players
Serie A players
Serie B players
3. Liga players
Danish expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Belgium
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Danish expatriate sportspeople in England
Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate footballers in Germany