 Nilsen during a show game against Liverpool | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1969-08-08)8 August 1969 (age 56) | ||
| Place of birth | Tromsø, Norway | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Kvaløysletta | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1987–1988 | Tromsø | 3 | (0) |
| 1989–1993 | Viking | 90 | (11) |
| 1993 | →1. FC Köln (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 1993–1999 | Sheffield United | 166 | (0) |
| 1999 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | Grazer AK | 13 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Molde | 20 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | Bryne | 24 | (0) |
| Total | 329 | (13) | |
| International career | |||
| 1989–1992 | Norway U21 | 19 | (2) |
| 1990–2000 | Norway | 32 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006 | Stavanger | ||
| 2007–2010 | Viking (assistant) | ||
| 2014– | Fløya (women) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Roger Nilsen (born 8 August 1969) is a Norwegianfootball coach and former player. Adefender, he played for the Norwegian clubsTromsø,Viking,Molde andBryne, and spent time abroad at1. FC Köln,Sheffield United,Tottenham Hotspur andGrazer AK. He made 32 appearances and scored three goals forNorway. He later worked as assistant coach at Viking.
Born inTromsø, Nilsen's career began inTromsø, but it was after he moved on toViking that he became established, winning Tippeligaen, theNorwegian top division in1991.[1] In his four seasons at Viking, Nilsen successfully became a regular in Norway's U21 team, and won his first senior cap in 1990. He was loaned to1. FC Köln, and was put up for sale towards the end of the 1993 season.
Having already signed Norwegian team-mateJostein Flo,Sheffield United bossDave Bassett added Nilsen in November 1993 for the fee of £500,000, beating Aberdeen to his signature.[2] Nilsen joined as the club fought unsuccessfully against relegation from the Premier League, and was a regular at left-back.
A popular figure at Bramall Lane, Nilsen played six seasons under five different managers, with a number of games at centre-back - particularly after United switched to a wing-back formation in 1997/98. He started the 1997 playoff final defeat at Wembley against Crystal Palace, and United's defeat to Newcastle in the FA Cup semi-final in 1998. It was in that cup-run where Nilsen had arguably his most memorable moment, during the quarter-final penalty shootout win over Coventry City. Never scoring for the Blades, and with Gareth Taylor having missed the first United penalty, Nilsen stepped up to convert the second - powering the ball past Steve Ogrizovic to put the Blades 1–0 up.[3]
Nilsen's final appearance came as he helped keep a clean sheet in a 3–0 win over West Brom in Feb 1999, before a surprise return to the Premier League saw him transferred to Tottenham Hotspur on a free.[4]
After making just two appearances at Spurs, Nilsen had a brief spell atGrazer AK before he returned home to play forMolde andBryne.[1] He left Bryne in 2003, but continued his career in the Norwegian third division withStavanger IF.[5]
Nilsen represented Norway at youth international level and played for theunder-20 team in the1989 FIFA World Youth Championship.[6] He played 19 matches and scored two goals forNorway U21.[7]
Nilsen made his debut for thesenior team in the friendly match againstCameroon on 31 October 1990. He scored his first goal for Norway againstSweden on 26 August 1992, and scored two goals in the 10–0 win againstSan Marino two weeks later. Nilsen was a part of the1994 FIFA World Cup squad, but did not play any matches in the tournament. He played his last match for Norway against Sweden on 4 February 2000. Nilsen was capped a total of 32 times, and scored three goals.[8]
In 2006, he retired and took over as head coach forStavanger IF, guiding the club to promotion to the second division. At the end of the season, Nilsen left the club to take up the assistant coach position at the Norwegian top-flight side Viking.[9] After managerUwe Rösler left in November 2009 he was briefly caretaker manager.[10] He was downsized from his assistant job after the 2010 season.[11]
In 2014, he succeededOdd-Karl Stangnes as manager ofIF Fløya's women's team, combined with a teaching job at theNorwegian College of Elite Sports in Tromsø.[12] In September 2018 Nilsen was sacked from his role managingFK Vidar with the club 2nd bottom in the 2nd division.[13]
Roger Nilsen is the brother of the former player and coachSteinar Nilsen.[14]
