| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Steen Nielsen | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1968-12-28)28 December 1968 (age 56) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Vejle, Denmark | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vejle | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1992 | Vejle | 92 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | OB | 44 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | Fenerbahçe | 50 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | OB | 29 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | OB | 41 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2001 | AB | 84 | (10) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Malmö FF | 29 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | AGF | 65 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 440 | (30) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–2002 | Denmark | 66 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | AGF (caretaker) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Brian Steen Nielsen (born 28 December 1968) is a Danish former professionalfootballer who played as adefensive midfielder. During his 16-year professional career, he had three stints atOdense Boldklub, and also played abroad for football clubs in Turkey, Japan and Sweden.
Steen Nielsen also made 66 appearances for theDenmark national team between 1990 and 2002, scoring three goals. After his retirement from his active career, he worked as the director of football at former clubAGF until 2014.
Born inVejle, Steen Nielsen started his senior career atVejle Boldklub (VB) in October 1988. He received the 1989Danish U21 Player of the Year award, and on 14 February 1990 he debuted for theDenmark national team. He came on as a half-time substitute in afriendly match 0–0 draw withEgypt, but he did not become a constant part of the team, playing three further games until June 1991. He switched from Vejle to rival teamOdense Boldklub (OB) in 1992, where he won the 1993Danish Cup trophy. After a year at OB, he made the jump abroad to play in Turkey forFenerbahçe.
The move to Fenerbahçe saw him return to the Danish national team in 1993, and during the last years of coachRichard Møller Nielsen's reign, Brian Steen was a part of the defensive midfield, playing many games alongsideJohn "Faxe" Jensen. He moved back to play for OB in 1995, who he represented when he competed for Denmark in theUEFA Euro 1996. After the championship, he moved to Japan to play forUrawa Red Diamonds, and following Møller Nielsen's retirement as Denmark coach in June 1996, Brian Steen was eventually dropped by new coachBo Johansson.
He moved back to OB once more in 1997, before playing forAkademisk Boldklub (AB), where his experience made him the naturalteam captain. His time at AB culminated in the 1999 Danish Cup triumph, at which time he had returned to the national team where he played a number of games in a midfield pairing with hard-hitterStig Tøfting. Following the emergence of the eight-year youngerThomas Gravesen on the national team, Brian Steen slowly took on the role of substitute following theUEFA Euro 2000. After 11 minutes of play in the2002 FIFA World Cup, under new coachMorten Olsen, his national team career had come to an end.
He ended his club career in Denmark withAGF, playing his last years alongside Stig Tøfting, though his stay at the club would be marked by him head-butting teammateNikolaj Hust at the club training. He was not sued by Hust, but the press got hold of the news and Brian Steen was charged by the police and was convicted of mild violence, resulting in ten £50 fines.[1] He stopped his career at Aarhus GF in the fall of 2004, but stayed around the club, both as acaretaker manager and he is the current sports director.
In April 2016, it was made public that his name was found amongst those in thePanama Papers. Allegedly, he set up a company in Panama with the intent of evading Danish tax.[2]
| Club | Season | League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vejle | 1988 | 1st Division | 7 | 0 |
| 1989 | 26 | 0 | ||
| 1990 | 25 | 0 | ||
| 1991–92 | Danish Superliga | 34 | 2 | |
| Total | 92 | 2 | ||
| Odense BK | 1992–93 | Danish Superliga | 31 | 4 |
| 1993–94 | 13 | 2 | ||
| Total | 44 | 6 | ||
| Fenerbahçe | 1993–94 | First League | 20 | 1 |
| 1994–95 | 30 | 3 | ||
| Total | 50 | 4 | ||
| Odense BK | 1995–96 | Danish Superliga | 29 | 2 |
| Urawa Reds | 1996 | J1 League | 6 | 0 |
| Odense BK | 1996–97 | Danish Superliga | 13 | 0 |
| 1997–98 | 28 | 1 | ||
| Total | 41 | 1 | ||
| Akademisk | 1998–99 | Danish Superliga | 28 | 2 |
| 1999–00 | 27 | 5 | ||
| 2000–01 | 29 | 3 | ||
| Total | 84 | 10 | ||
| Malmö | 2001 | Allsvenskan | 15 | 0 |
| 2002 | 14 | 0 | ||
| Total | 29 | 0 | ||
| AGF | 2002–03 | Danish Superliga | 21 | 2 |
| 2003–04 | 29 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05 | 15 | 1 | ||
| Total | 65 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 440 | 30 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
| 1991 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1992 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1993 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 11 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 66 | 3 | |
OB
AB
Denmark
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