Werner Nilsen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Werner "Scotty" Nilsen (February 4, 1904 – May 10, 1992) was a former
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
player who played as a forward. He is one of the highest scoring players in United States soccer history, scoring 131 goals in 239 games with the
Boston Soccer Club The Boston Soccer Club was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Boston Bears for the Fall 1929 ASL season. In 1925, the ASL and the St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL) boycotted the National Challenge Cup, now known as t ...
. He won five consecutive
National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...
s during his career, and four doubles. Born in Norway, he earned two
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
with the United States national team in 1934. He is a member of the
National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...
.


Club career


Early career

Nilsen played for Norwegian club Skiens Grane before moving to the United States in 1923. When he arrived, he settled in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
where he began playing for local amateur and semi-professional soccer teams including the Norwegian-Americans and Hub F.C., both in the Boston and District League.


Boston

In 1926, Nilsen signed with the
Boston Soccer Club The Boston Soccer Club was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Boston Bears for the Fall 1929 ASL season. In 1925, the ASL and the St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL) boycotted the National Challenge Cup, now known as t ...
of the American Soccer League (ASL). At the time, the ASL was establishing itself as one of the top leagues, both nationally and internationally, and the Wonder Workers were a rising team in the league. Nilsen began as a right half, then moved into the front line as either a center forward or right inside. He won his first league cup (Lewis Cup) in 1927, then his first league title in the 1927–28 season. The next year, he tied János Nehadoma of the Brooklyn Wanderers as the top goal scorers with 43 goals a piece. He also joined Viking F.C. for a tour of
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
. Viking F.C. was an ad hoc traveling team composed of U.S.-based players with ethnic roots in Scandinavia.


Fall River

Nilsen began the 1929–30 season in Boston, but was transferred to the Fall River F.C. after three games. In Fall River, he played alongside Bert Patenaude on the front line. The onset of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
in 1929, combined with the costs imposed by the "Soccer Wars" between the ASL and United States Football Association (USFA) led to severe financial problems with the league and its teams. This led to the rapid collapse of several teams and the eventual collapse of the ASL in 1933. Before these happened, Nilsen would win his first "double" as the 'Marksmen' took the 1929–30 league title and the 1930 National Challenge Cup. With financial problems mounting, Sam Mark, owner of the 'Marksmen', merged the team with the New York Soccer Club to form the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
. The Yankees competed in the spring 1931 season. While the league standings reflect the Yankee name, the team won the 1931 National Challenge Cup under the Fall River F.C. name. As in 1928, Nilsen joined a collection of U.S.-based Scandinavian players in 1931 to make a tour of that region, this time as part of Brooklyn Gjoa.


New Bedford

To make matters more confusing, in summer of 1931 the Yankees moved to
New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...
, merged with Fall River F.C. and became the second team to be named the
New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer Leag ...
. Despite the turmoil, Nilsen and his teammates added another "double" to their resumes as they took both the 1932 league title and the
National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...
. In league play, Nilsen finished second to ex-teammate Patenaude for the scoring title. The Whalers won the 1932 Challenge Cup title over the St. Louis-based Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. Both legs of the cup final were held in St. Louis. The first ended in a 3–3 tie. A week later, Whalers won the game and the title with a 5–2 victory; Nilsen scoring one of the goals. After the games, Whaler's Scottish international Alex McNab decided to join Stix as a player/coach for the 1932–33 season. McNab convinced several of his Whalers teammates, including Nilsen, Billy Gonsalves, Bill McPherson and Billy Watson to also make the move west.


St. Louis

The addition of the core of the Whalers team to an already strong Stix, Baer and Fuller team created a team which dominated the St. Louis and Challenge Cup competitions for several years. The team ran away with the 1932–33 St. Louis Major League title, then won the 1933 National Challenge Cup title, giving Nilsen his third "double". Stix, Baer and Fuller won both games, 1-0 and 2–1 over the
New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...
. Nilsen again scored in the second game. Stix, Baer and Fuller repeated the double the next year as it again won the league and open championships, giving Nilsen five consecutive Open Cup titles and four "doubles". Following the 1934 National Challenge Cup title game,
St. Louis Central Breweries F.C. Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. was a U.S. soccer club which played in the St. Louis Soccer League from 1931 to 1934. The team was known as Hellrungs from 1929 to 1931, St. Louis Central Breweries F.C. from 1934 to 1935 and St. Louis Shamrocks from 1 ...
took over sponsorship of the team. Nilsen remained with Central Breweries which won the 1934–35 league championship, but did not participate in the team's 1935 Challenge Cup victory due to injury. The team experienced yet another name change, this time to the St. Louis Shamrocks. Shamrocks went to both the 1936 and 1937 Challenge Cup finals, but lost both times. In 1937, Nilsen joined his last team, South Side Radio before retiring at the end of the 1937–38 season. Nilsen was inducted into the St. Louis Old Time Soccer Players Hall of Fame in 1983.


International career

In 1934, Nilsen earned two
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
with the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
when he was selected to the
1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, senior men's national teams. It took place in Kin ...
roster. His first game with the U.S. came on a May 24, 1934 World Cup qualification victory over
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. His next game did not end as successfully for the U.S. as it lost to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
on May 27, 1934, in the finals first round.


Managerial career

Nilsen coached the St. Louis Raiders during the 1946–47 season.


Personal life

According to the Soccer Hall of Fame, Nilsen worked as a machinist and a men's clothing model in both Boston and St. Louis.


National Soccer Hall of Fame

The
National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...
inducted Nilsen in 2005 as part of a process of recognizing significant pre-1950s players. According to the Hall of Fame, "We were aware that in the early decades of the Hall of Fame a number of outstanding players had slipped through the cracks of the selection process. In order to correct these oversights we established a Blue Ribbon panel consisting of historians Colin Jose, Roger Allaway and Hall of Famer
Walter Bahr Walter Alfred Bahr (April 1, 1927 – June 18, 2018) was an American professional soccer player, considered one of the greatest ever in the United States. He was the long-time captain of the United States men's national soccer team, U.S. men's ...
, to review the credentials of all Veterans from the pre-NASL era. Out of a total of 150 players who met the eligibility criteria, the panel unanimously recommended, and the Board approved, the special induction of these five players." Nilsen and Alex McNab, teammates on both the Whalers and Stix, Baer and Fuller were among the five selected.


See also

*
List of United States men's international soccer players born outside the United States A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nilsen, Werner 1904 births 1992 deaths Footballers from Skien Norwegian men's footballers American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Boston Soccer Club players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players New York Yankees (soccer) players New Bedford Whalers players St. Louis Soccer League players Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. players St. Louis Central Breweries players St. Louis Shamrocks players South Side Radio players American soccer coaches National Soccer Hall of Fame members 1934 FIFA World Cup players Norwegian emigrants to the United States Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders St. Louis Kutis S.C. coaches 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen