Per Lundgren Nielsen^[3] (Danish pronunciation:[ˈpʰɛɐ̯ˈne̝lsn̩]; born 15 October 1973) is a Danish former professionalfootballer who played in thecentral defense ofBrøndby IF in theDanish Superliga for hisentire club career. With Brøndby, Nielsen won fiveDanish championships and threeDanish Cups since his senior debut in 1993. He played 547 official games for Brøndby IF and scored 26 goals, and from 2002 to 2008 he was namedteam captain. He played 10 matches for theDenmark national football team and is noted for 19 matches for thenational under-21 team from 1994 to 1996. Following his retirement, he has worked as first as an assistant coach, later as head coach. Since 2015 he has been coaching Brøndby's women's team.

Per Nielsen

Personal information
Full name	Per Lundgren Nielsen
Date of birth	(1973-10-15)15 October 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth	Århus, Denmark
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1979–1993	Brøndby IF
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–2008	Brøndby IF[1]	394	(23)
International career
1993	Denmark U-19[2]	1	(0)
1994–1996	Denmark U-21[2]	19	(2)
2002–2006	Denmark[2]	10	(0)
Managerial career
2008–2010	Brøndby IF (youth)
2011–2014	Hvidovre IF
2015–	Brøndby IF (women)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Born inÅrhus,^[3] Nielsen's parents moved toBrøndby when he was a child, and he enrolled at Brøndby IF at the age of five.^[4] Nielsen made his senior debut in the Brøndby IF jersey on 26 June 1993,^[4] and debuted in theDanish Superliga championship in March 1995.^[1] Nielsen was touted as the long-term successor of central defenderUche Okechukwu and was permanently moved into the senior squad in December 1993, coming from a Brøndby youth team that included several future first team regulars, includingKim Daugaard,Allan Ravn and laterDanish national team playerEbbe Sand.^[5]

Nielsen became a mainstay in the team during the1995–96 Superliga season,^[1] as Brøndby won the Danish championship, and established himself as a regular starter. He helped Brøndby repeat the Superliga win in the1996–97 Superliga andthe Double of both Superliga championship andDanish Cup title in 1998. Following the2001–02 Superliga championship triumph with Brøndby, Danish internationalgoalkeeperMogens Krogh retired, and Nielsen was chosen as newteam captain. After his second Danish Cup triumph in 2003, Nielsen was elected the 2003 Brøndby IFPlayer of the Year.^[6]

In 2004, the Danish football players' association announced astrike action. Brøndby was still in European competition, and would be forced to field a team consisting of retired Brøndby professionals, youth team players and recent signings who had yet to become members of the players' association, in the August 2004UEFA Cup qualification re-match againstFK Ventspils. Two days before the match, Nielsen and teammateDan Anton Johansen broke the strike and returned to the Brøndby training,^[7] causing a lot of controversy in the process. The day after, the players' and football clubs' associations reached a provisorical agreement,^[8] and Brøndby's first team players were selected for the match, though they were eliminated on aggregate.

He captained Brøndby to the Double of the2004–05 Superliga and Danish Cup titles, and was named 2006 Brøndby IFPlayer of the Year.^[6] In February 2008, Nielsen chose to resign from the position ofteam captain, stating that he would spend his remaining one and a half years at Brøndby helping the club move on, also if that meant him taking a place on the bench.^[9]Stefán Gíslason was named his successor. Nielsen helped Brøndby win the 2008 Danish Cup, his last trophy with the team. Nielsen announced that he would retire as an active footballer in late June 2008. Instead he will continue as a scout in Brøndby. His last game in the blue and yellow jersey was histestimonial match against Spanish teamDeportivo La Coruna on 12 July 2008.^[10] Nielsen played a total 547 games in all competitions,^[11] including 394 games and scored 23 goals for Brøndby in the Superliga.^[1]

Following three years Brondby IF youth coach, he spent four years as Hvidovre IF head coach. In 2015, he took over as coach for Danish women's championsBrondby IF.^[12] In April 2019 Per Nielsen prolonged his contract withBrondby IF so that he would stay with the team until 2021.^[13] The team won the championship in 2019.^[14]

Nielsen's first international game was a singleunder-19 national team match in December 1993.^[2] He was called up to play for theDanish national under-21 team in March 1994, and went on to play 19 games and score two goals for the under-21 national team until July 1996.^[2]

Despite winning several trophies with Brøndby, Nielsen never broke into the Danish national team, but he was selected to play for the league national team, consisting of the best players from the domestic Danish Superliga championship. He went on his first trip with the league national team in 1997, playing three games at theUS Cup inCalifornia, United States.^[15] He likewise took part in the league national team campaign in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela in 1999,^[15] with injuries forcing him out of the 1998 tour. Nielsen was once again included in the Danish league national team's trip to California in 2004, where he made his 10th and last appearance for the team,^[15] with injuries forcing him out of the 2003 tour. In January 2006, Nielsen was called up for his sixth trip with the Danish league national team. However, he chose not to travel with the team to theCarlsberg Cup inHong Kong, citing personal reasons, which national team coachMorten Olsen fully supported.^[16]

Nielsen finally debuted for the Danish national team in September 2002 as a late substitute,^[2] and he would go on to be among the fringe players of the Danish squad. He played a total 10 national team games until November 2006, helping Denmark qualify for the2004 European Championship.^[2]

• Danish Superliga:1995–96,1996–97,1997–98,2001–02,2004–05
• Danish Cup:1997–98,2002–03,2004–05,2007–08
• Brøndby IFPlayer of the Year: 2003, 2006

• Danish Women League: 2015, 2017, 2019

• Per Nielsen national team profile at theDanish Football Association(in Danish)
• Brøndby IF profile(in Danish)