.jpg) Nelsen as head coach ofToronto FC in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ryan William Nelsen[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1977-10-18)18 October 1977 (age 47)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–1998 | Greensboro Pride | ||
| 1999–2000 | Stanford Cardinal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1998 | Christchurch United | 96 | (12) |
| 2001–2005 | D.C. United | 81 | (7) |
| 2005–2012 | Blackburn Rovers | 172 | (8) |
| 2012 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Queens Park Rangers | 21 | (1) |
| Total | 375 | (28) | |
| International career | |||
| 2008 | New Zealand Olympic (O.P.) | 5 | (0) |
| 2012 | New Zealand Olympic (O.P.) | 3 | (0) |
| 1999–2012 | New Zealand | 49 | (7) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2013–2014 | Toronto FC | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ryan William NelsenONZM (born 18 October 1977) is a former New Zealand professional football player and former head coach ofMajor League Soccer sideToronto FC.
Nelsen commonly played as adefender, and his professional career began in 1995. He notably captained theNew Zealand national team and started his professional football career in his native country forChristchurch United. In 2001, he joined MLS sideD.C. United and went on to play 81 times in the league, scoring 7 goals. In 2005, he moved to England withPremier League sideBlackburn Rovers where he scored 8 times in 172 appearances. In 2012, he made a move toTottenham Hotspur but only managed 5 appearances (scoring once in anFA Cup tie againstBolton Wanderers, the re-arranged match followingFabrice Muamba's cardiac arrest) before joiningQueens Park Rangers in the summer of 2012. He agreed to return to MLS on 8 January 2013 by signing withToronto FC as head coach.[3] He was fired from Toronto FC on 31 August 2014.
After attendingOur Lady of the Assumption primary school andSt Thomas of Canterbury College, he moved to the United States to play forGreensboro College inNorth Carolina in 1997. After spending two years at Greensboro and leading The Pride to theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III championship match, only to lose toOhio Wesleyan University, he transferred toStanford University where he played his final two years of college football. He was named Stanford's Most Valuable Player as a junior and anNSCAA All-American as a senior while playing as a defensive midfielder. He graduated with a bachelor's degree inpolitical science.[4]
Nelsen played forChristchurch United from 1995 to 1998. Even after he relocated to the United States, he played his last season with the club when he was home for a semester's sabbatical from his university football scholarship withGreensboro College.
Nelsen was drafted fourth overall in the2001 MLS SuperDraft byD.C. United, with whom he spent four years inMajor League Soccer (MLS). After emerging as a starter in 2002, Nelsen was named team captain in 2003, replacingMarco Etcheverry, as well as winning the team's Defender of the Year Award and being named to the league'sBest XI. Again, in 2004 after leading United to its fourthMLS Cup, he was named the Best XI. In four years in MLS, Nelsen had seven goals and five assists.
Nelsen was signed byBlackburn Rovers on a free transfer in January 2005, shortly after the completion of the 2004 MLS season. In the summer of 2005, after just six months at the club, Nelsen signed a new three-year contract after impressing managerMark Hughes and helping to turn Blackburn's defence into one of the toughest in the Premiership. Nelsen was successfully awarded awork permit on appeal after the initial application had been refused due to New Zealand being ranked outside the top seventy in theFIFA World Rankings.
In the 2005–06 season, Blackburn qualified for theUEFA Cup with a sixth-place finish, but Nelsen missed the last few games after breaking his foot in a 2–0 win atCharlton Athletic. Nevertheless, his performances since arriving in England prompted much interest from rival clubs includingPortsmouth, whose bid for Nelsen was rejected by Blackburn. On 1 February 2006, he started and played the full ninety minutes alongsideAndy Todd in a 4–3 league victory overManchester United atEwood Park.
Nelsen was dealt with another blow before the start of the 2006–07 season, with a serious hamstring injury forcing him out until the new year. On his return to the team in anFA Cup fourth round win againstLuton Town, he was immediately made captain. In July 2007, he signed a new five-year deal with the club until the summer of 2012. He scored his first league goal for Blackburn with a header againstWigan Athletic on 26 April 2009 in a 2–0 win which helped Blackburn stay in the Premier League for another season. He then scored his second Premier League goal against Portsmouth with a header from a corner taken by David Dunn on 7 November 2009, and has also scored goals against Birmingham City and Fulham. On 11 April 2010, Nelsen came on for the injuredChristopher Samba against Manchester United atEwood Park in a 0–0 draw.[5] Nelsen made his 175th appearance for Blackburn Rovers, leading the team in a 3–2 defeat toEverton at Ewood Park on 17 April 2010. In all competitions, Nelsen made a total of thirty-three appearances and scored four goals in the 2009–10 season.
On 13 November 2010, he scored againstTottenham Hotspur atWhite Hart Lane for his first goal of the 2010–11 Premier League season. On 27 November, he played the full ninety minutes partneringChristopher Samba, but this time in a 7–1 rout againstManchester United atOld Trafford. He then added his second and third goals of the campaign by scoring againstWolverhampton Wanderers on 4 December in a 3–0 win and againstWest Ham United on 18 December in a 1–1 draw.
With Blackburn's tenth successive Premier League season, and their seventeenth in nineteen seasons, now underway, Nelsen welcomed the club's proposed takeover by Indian owned Venky's Group who has promised up to £100 million forSam Allardyce to spend on strengthening the squad – with Nelsen feeling that the squad could do with "freshing up." On 15 January 2011, he made his 200th appearance for Blackburn in the away game againstChelsea atStamford Bridge.[citation needed]
Nelsen signed a two-year contract extension with Rovers in late January 2011 which would keep him at the club until the summer of 2013.[6] UnderSteve Kean as manager following the sacking of Sam Allardyce, Nelsen was relieved as team captain of Blackburn in favour ofChristopher Samba, Nelsen moving to vice-captain. Nelsen suffered a knee injury forcing him to miss the rest of the 2010–11 season. Following the 2010–11 season, in which Blackburn avoided relegation, Nelsen recovered from the knee injury and made one appearance against Aston Villa in a 3–1 loss.
After fully recovering from his knee injury Nelsen was released from Blackburn on the transfer deadline day 31 January 2012 to sign for Tottenham Hotspur by Tottenham bossHarry Redknapp.[7]
Nelsen was signed byTottenham Hotspur on a free transfer on 2 February 2012, to replace defenderSébastien Bassong, who joinedWolves on loan. He was given the number 33 shirt.[8][9] He made his debut forTottenham on 11 February 2012 in the Premier League match againstNewcastle United, when he replacedLedley King in the seventy-fourth minute.
Nelsen made his first starting debut on 19 February 2012 againstStevenage in theirFA Cup tie.[10]
He scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur on 27 March 2012 in the seventy-fourth minute of an FA Cup tie againstBolton Wanderers in a replay of a previous game, due to Bolton midfielderFabrice Muamba having a cardiac arrest in the first tie.Tottenham Hotspur won the match 3–1 that day.
On 25 May 2012, he was released by Tottenham with fellow January signingLouis Saha. He made eight appearances scoring one goal.
On 18 June 2012, it was announced that Ryan Nelsen had signed a one-year deal withQueens Park Rangers. He scored the first goal with Rangers againstWigan Athletic heading the ball equalising the score to 1–1.[citation needed]
It was announced on 8 January 2013 that Nelsen had signed for Canadian MLS sideToronto FC as the club's new head coach.[11] However, he remained under contract with QPR and was in negotiations with their management regarding his release to take up the Toronto position.[3]
It was announced on 22 January 2013 that Nelsen would play his last game for QPR againstManchester City atLoftus Road on 29 January and would join Toronto FC on 1 February.[12] He played his last match for Queens Park Rangers on 29 January in a 0–0 draw against English champions, Manchester City, and was given a guard of honour by his teammates after the game.
Nelsen made hisNew Zealand debut againstPoland on 19 June 1999.[13][14] He was part of the All Whites' winning squad in the2002 OFC Nations Cup, scoring the only goal of a 1–0 win overrivalsAustralia in thefinal.[15]
Although he has been selected to play on numerous occasions, Nelsen had not represented New Zealand between his last appearance in 2004 and 2008 due largely to a recurring hamstring injury.[16]Nelsen captained the New Zealand U-23 squad for their first appearance at theOlympic Games againstChina. Although he was only available for the opening two matches as Blackburn had requested that he return in time to prepare for their opening Premier League game of the 2008–09 season againstEverton.[16][17]Nelsen captained the All Whites side as they qualified for the2010 FIFA World Cup, beatingBahrain in a two-legged playoff in November 2009.
On 10 May 2010, Nelsen was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the2010 FIFA World Cup.[18]
On 15 June, 28 years to the day after New Zealand made their second appearance in a FIFA World Cup Finals, their first since 1982, Nelsen captained New Zealand to their first ever point in a FIFA World Cup Finals match in a 1–1 draw with World Cup debutantsSlovakia. On 24 June, Nelsen again skippered the All Whites in a 0–0 draw withParaguay, but New Zealand were knocked out of the group stages. However, it is surely indisputable that New Zealand's biggest honour was to draw 1–1 withItaly, who were thereigning champions.
Nelsen was named in a football "World Cup Best XI" by American sports channel,ESPN on 10 July 2010.[19]
On 8 January 2013 Nelsen accepted an offer to become head coach ofMajor League Soccer sideToronto FC.[20] He started on 1 February in time for Toronto's pre-season. Nelsen won his first game as a head coach in the home opener againstSporting Kansas City in a 2–1 victory on 9 March, with both goals coming from newly acquired strikerRobert Earnshaw.[21] He was sacked, along with his assistants, on 31 August 2014[22] after winning three out of his last 13 matches.[23]
Nelsen and New Zealand author Tony Smith co-wrote the bookRyan Nelsen's Road to the World Cup.[24]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Christchurch United | 1995 | NZ Superclub League | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | Mainland Premier League | 26 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 28 | 5 | |||
| 1997 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 2 | – | – | 29 | 3 | ||||
| 1998 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 28 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 96 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 16 | ||
| D.C. United | 2001 | Major League Soccer | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2002 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 4 | ||||
| 2003 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 1 | ||||
| 2004 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 81 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 7 | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | 2004–05 | Premier League | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 20 | 0 | |
| 2005–06 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2006–07 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 39 | 1 | |||
| 2009–10 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 33 | 4 | |||
| 2010–11 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 30 | 3 | |||
| 2011–12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 172 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 208 | 8 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2011–12 | Premier League | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 2012–13 | Premier League | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 24 | 1 | |
| Career total | 375 | 28 | 36 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 435 | 33 | ||
New Zealand's goal tally first.
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Toronto FC | 8 January 2013[20] | 31 August 2014[22] | 64 | 17 | 18 | 29 | 71 | 97 | −26 | 026.56 |
In the2011 New Year Honours, Nelsen was appointed anOfficer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to football.[27][28]
D.C. United
Blackburn Rovers
New Zealand
Individual
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| International | |
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| National | |
