View source for Kent Nielsen

{{short description|Danish footballer and manager (born 1961)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Kent Nielsen
| image          = Kent Nielsen 20110831.jpg
| image_size     = 230
| caption        = Nielsen managing [[AaB Fodbold|AaB]] in 2011
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1961|12|28|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Frederiksberg]], Denmark
| height         = 1.92 m
| position       = [[Defender (association football)#Centre-back|Centre back]]
| youthyears1    = | youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 1980–1986 | clubs1 = [[Brønshøj Boldklub|Brønshøj]] | caps1 = 230 | goals1 = 34
| years2 = 1987–1989 | clubs2 = [[Brøndby IF|Brøndby]] | caps2 = 91 | goals2 = 7
| years3 = 1989–1991 | clubs3 = [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] | caps3 = 79 | goals3 = 4
| years4 = 1992–1994 | clubs4 = [[Aarhus Gymnastikforening|AGF]] | caps4 = 62 | goals4 = 7
| totalcaps = 462
| totalgoals = 52
| nationalyears1 = 1979–1980 | nationalteam1 = [[Denmark national under-19 football team|Denmark u19]]
| nationalcaps1 = 9 | nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 1983–1985 | nationalteam2 = [[Denmark national under-21 football team|Denmark u21]]
| nationalcaps2 = 11 | nationalgoals2 = 1
| nationalyears3 = 1983–1992 | nationalteam3 = [[Denmark national football team|Denmark]]
| nationalcaps3 = 54 | nationalgoals3 = 3
| manageryears1 = 2000–2001 | managerclubs1 = [[Aarhus Gymnastikforening|AGF Aarhus]] (assistant)
| manageryears2 = 2001–2008 | managerclubs2 = [[AC Horsens|Horsens]]
| manageryears3 = 2009–2010 | managerclubs3 = [[Brøndby IF|Brøndby]]
| manageryears4 = 2010–2015 | managerclubs4 = [[AaB Fodbold|AaB]]
| manageryears5 = 2015–2018 | managerclubs5 = [[Odense Boldklub|OB]]
| manageryears6 = 2019–     | managerclubs6 = [[Silkeborg IF|Silkeborg]]
| medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport|Men's [[Association football|football]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{fb|DEN}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[UEFA European Championship]]}}
{{medal|W|[[UEFA Euro 1992|1992 Sweden]]|}}
}}
'''Kent Nielsen''' (born 28 December 1961) is a Danish professional [[Association football|football]] [[manager (association football)|manager]] and former player, who is currently the head coach of [[Silkeborg IF]]. He was named coach of the year by the [[Danish Football Association]] in 2014 after winning both the [[Danish Superliga]] and the [[Danish Cup]] with [[AaB Fodbold|AaB]]. He started his coaching career as [[caretaker manager]] of [[Aarhus Gymnastikforening|AGF]], before getting his breakthrough with [[AC Horsens]], guiding the club to promotion to the top-flight Superliga championship in 2005. He has also coached Superliga clubs [[Brøndby IF]] and [[Odense Boldklub|OB]].

In his active career, Nielsen played as a [[Defender (association football)#Centre-back|centre back]]. He won two [[List of Danish football champions|Danish championships]] and a Danish Cup trophy with Brøndby IF. He played three years in England with [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]], before ending his career after winning the Danish Cup with [[Aarhus Gymnastikforening|AGF]]. He played 54 games and scored three goals for the [[Denmark national football team|Denmark national team]], winning the [[UEFA Euro 1992|Euro 1992]] championship.

==Playing career==

===Club career===
The son of former [[Denmark national football team|Danish international]] [[Erik Nielsen (footballer born 1937)|Erik Nielsen]], Kent Nielsen started his career in Erik's former club [[Brønshøj Boldklub]] (in Copenhagen), alongside his brother Tommy. Kent Nielsen switched to the Danish team [[Brøndby IF]] in 1987, with whom he won the 1987 and 1988 [[List of Danish football champions|Danish championships]], as well as the 1989 [[Danish Cup]]. Following 91 first team games for Brøndby,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://brondby.com/article.asp?aid=32438 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040807190741/http://www.brondby.com/article.asp?aid=32438 |archive-date=7 August 2004 |title=Brøndby IF}}</ref> Nielsen left the club in 1989. He was bought by English club [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] for a reported £500,000 [[transfer fee]],<ref name="bt"/> and secured himself a place in the starting line-up in his two first seasons with the club. New Aston Villa manager [[Ron Atkinson]] did not see Nielsen as fitting into his [[4-4-2 formation|4–4–2]] tactics and brought in replacement [[Shaun Teale]],<ref name="bt">Ib Pilegaard, "Kent ude i kulden", [[B.T. (tabloid)|B.T.]], 26 November 1991, p.12.</ref> and Nielsen looked to leave the club. In early 1992, he moved back to Denmark, to play for [[Aarhus Gymnastik Forening|AGF]]. He won the 1992 Danish Cup with AGF, before he retired in 1994.

===International career===
Nielsen started his international career with the [[Denmark national under-19 football team]] in July 1979. He was called up for the [[Denmark national under-21 football team]] in May 1983. Following two under-21 games, he made his debut for the senior [[Denmark national football team|Danish national team]] on 5 October 1983 in a [[1984 Summer Olympics]] qualification game against [[Poland national football team|Poland]], making him the last Brønshøj player until this date, to represent the club on the national squad. He then reverted to the under-21 team. He played his second senior international game in January 1985, and was selected by national team manager [[Sepp Piontek]] for the Danish squad at the [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986 World Cup]], but spent the entire tournament as an unused substitute. He was a part of Olympic manager [[Richard Møller Nielsen]]'s team for the [[1988 Summer Olympics]] qualification tournament, but was not called up to Piontek's squad for the [[UEFA Euro 1988|Euro 1988]].

Under new national team manager Richard Møller Nielsen, Kent Nielsen became a constant member of the Denmark squad. After his return to AGF, he was selected to represent Denmark at the [[UEFA Euro 1992|Euro 1992]]. Nielsen played four of Denmark's five games, including the [[UEFA Euro 1992 Final|Euro 1992 final]] against [[Germany national football team|Germany]], where he most famously cleared the ball off the goalline with a [[bicycle kick]], avoiding a goal from [[Karl-Heinz Riedle]]. He ended his international career following the 2–0 win against Germany.

==Managerial career==
Following his retirement, Nielsen spent years as an amateur football manager until he and former Danish international [[Lars Lundkvist]] took over as co-managers of [[Aarhus Gymnastikforening|AGF]] in April 2000. He and Lundkvist kept AGF from being relegated, but left the club after the season end. In 2001, he was appointed manager of [[Danish 1st Division]] club [[AC Horsens]], which he managed to [[Promotion and relegation|promotion]] for the [[Danish Superliga]]. Against all odds, he led the team to survive the [[2005–06 Danish Superliga|2005–06 Superliga]] season. His success continued during the following season, and he was named 2006 Danish Coach of the Year. In the [[Danish Superliga 2007-08|2007–08]] season, his team finished in a historic fifth place, despite having one of the lowest budgets in the league.

Eventually, Nielsen's achievements with Horsens caught the attention of other clubs. In January 2009, he signed a four-year contract with his former club Brøndby IF. He managed Brøndby to 17 victories in 38 games. In March 2010, he was sacked, following a 1–3 defeat to [[HB Køge]].<ref>Christian Heide-Jørgensen, [http://politiken.dk/sport/fodbold/superligaen/article933255.ece Kent Nielsen fyret i Brøndby], [[Politiken]], 25 March 2010</ref>

On 11 October 2010 he replaced [[Magnus Pehrsson]] as manager of [[AaB Fodbold|AaB]]. He led the club to the 2013–14 Danish Superliga championship and the 2013–14 Danish Cup.

==Managerial statistics==
{{Updated|1 June 2025}}<ref>{{Soccerway coach|kent-nielsen/195694}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"			
|+ Managerial record by team and tenure
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|Nat
!rowspan="2"|From
!rowspan="2"|To
!colspan="8"|Record	
|-
!{{Tooltip|G|Games managed}}
!{{Tooltip|W|Games won}}
!{{Tooltip|D|Games drawn}}
!{{Tooltip|L|Games lost}}
!{{Tooltip|Win %|Winning percentage}}	
|-
|[[AC Horsens|Horsens]]
|{{flagicon|Denmark}}
|1 July 2001
|31 December 2008
{{WDL|261|104|67|90}}
|-
|[[Brøndby IF|Brøndby]]
|{{flagicon|Denmark}}
|1 January 2009
|25 March 2010
{{WDL|48|20|11|17}}
|-
|[[AaB Fodbold|AaB]]
|{{flagicon|Denmark}}
|11 October 2010
|30 June 2015
{{WDL|184|77|46|61}}
|-
|[[Odense Boldklub|OB]]
|{{flagicon|Denmark}}
|1 July 2015
|21 May 2018
{{WDL|110|40|23|47}}
|-
|[[Silkeborg IF|Silkeborg]]
|{{flagicon|Denmark}}
|1 July 2019
|''Present''
{{WDL|234|99|52|83}}
|-
!colspan="4"|Total
{{WDLtot|837|340|199|298}}
|}

==Honours==

=== Player ===
;Brøndby
*'''[[Danish football championship|Danish championship]]: 2'''
:: [[Danish 1st Division 1987|1987]], [[Danish 1st Division 1988|1988]]
*'''[[Danish Cup]]: 1'''
:: 1989

;AGF
*'''[[Danish Cup]]: 1'''
:: [[1991–92 Danish Cup|1992]]

;Denmark
*'''[[UEFA European Championship]]: 1'''
:: [[UEFA Euro 1992|1992]]

=== Manager ===
;AaB
*'''[[Danish Superliga]]: 1'''
:: [[2013–14 Danish Superliga|2013–14]]
*'''[[Danish Cup]]: 1'''
:: [[2013–14 Danish Cup|2013–14]]

;Silkeborg
*'''[[Danish Cup]]: 1'''
:: [[2023–24 Danish Cup|2023–24]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{DBU player|3996}}
*[http://www.danskfodbold.com/traener.php?ligaid=2001&coachid=4043 Kent Nielsen – Danish Superliga manager statistics] at danskfodbold.com {{in lang|da}}
*[http://www.danskfodbold.com/spiller.php?ligaid=2001&spillerid=9170 Kent Nielsen – Danish Superliga player statistics] at danskfodbold.com {{in lang|da}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111005153426/http://brondby.com/player.asp?sid=267&id=33 Kent Nielsen] at [[Brøndby IF]]
*{{NFT player|pid=19471}}

{{Silkeborg IF squad}}
{{Danish Superliga head coaches}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Awards
| bg = Gold
| fg = Black
| bordercolor = Black
| list1 =
{{Danish Football Hall of Fame}}
{{Danish Football Manager of the Year}}
}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Denmark squads
|bg = #e11b22
|fg = white
|bordercolor = silver
| list1 =
{{Denmark Squad 1986 World Cup}}
{{Denmark Squad 1992 European Championship}}
}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Managerial positions
| list1 =
{{AGF managers}}
{{AC Horsens managers}}
{{Brøndby IF managers}}
{{AaB managers}}
{{OB managers}}
{{Silkeborg IF managers}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Kent}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Footballers from Frederiksberg]]
[[Category:Danish men's footballers]]
[[Category:Denmark men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Denmark men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:Brøndby IF players]]
[[Category:Aarhus Gymnastikforening players]]
[[Category:Danish football managers]]
[[Category:Aston Villa F.C. players]]
[[Category:AC Horsens managers]]
[[Category:1986 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 1992 players]]
[[Category:UEFA European Championship–winning players]]
[[Category:AaB Fodbold managers]]
[[Category:Aarhus Gymnastikforening managers]]
[[Category:Brønshøj Boldklub players]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:Odense Boldklub managers]]
[[Category:Silkeborg IF managers]]
[[Category:Danish Superliga managers]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:20th-century Danish sportsmen]]