Product Code Database
Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a New Zealand former professional football player and head coach.
Nelsen commonly played as a defender, and his professional career began in 1995. He notably captained the New Zealand national team and started his professional football career in his native country for Christchurch United. In 2001, he joined Major League Soccer side D.C. United. In 2005, he moved to England with Premier League side Blackburn Rovers.
In 2012, he made a move to Tottenham Hotspur but only managed 5 appearances before joining Queens Park Rangers later that year. From January 2013 to August 2014 he was head coach of Toronto FC in MLS.
In the 2005–06 season, Blackburn qualified for the UEFA Cup with a sixth-place finish, but Nelsen missed the last few games after breaking his foot in a 2–0 win at Charlton Athletic. Nevertheless, his performances since arriving in England prompted much interest from rival clubs including Portsmouth, whose bid for Nelsen was rejected by Blackburn. On 1 February 2006, he started and played the full ninety minutes alongside Andy Todd in a 4–3 league victory over Manchester United at Ewood 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 an FA Cup fourth round win against Luton 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 against Wigan 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 injured Christopher Samba against Manchester United at Ewood Park in a 0–0 draw. Nelsen made his 175th appearance for Blackburn Rovers, leading the team in a 3–2 defeat to Everton 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 against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane for his first goal of the 2010–11 Premier League season. On 27 November, he played the full ninety minutes partnering Christopher Samba, but this time in a 7–1 rout against Manchester United at Old Trafford. He then added his second and third goals of the campaign by scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 4 December in a 3–0 win and against West 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 for Sam 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 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
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. Under Steve Kean as manager following the sacking of Sam Allardyce, Nelsen was relieved as team captain of Blackburn in favour of Christopher 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 boss Harry Redknapp.
Nelsen made his first starting debut on 19 February 2012 against Stevenage in their FA Cup tie.
He scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur on 27 March 2012 in the seventy-fourth minute of an FA Cup tie against Bolton Wanderers in a replay of a previous game, due to Bolton midfielder Fabrice 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 signing Louis Saha. He made eight appearances scoring one goal.
It was announced on 8 January 2013 that Nelsen had signed for Canadian MLS side Toronto FC as the club's new head coach. However, he remained under contract with QPR and was in negotiations with their management regarding his release to take up the Toronto position.
It was announced on 22 January 2013 that Nelsen would play his last game for QPR against Manchester City at Loftus Road on 29 January and would join Toronto FC on 1 February. 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.
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. Nelsen captained the New Zealand U-23 squad for their first appearance at the Olympic Games against China. 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 against Everton. Nelsen captained the All Whites side as they qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, beating Bahrain 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 the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
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 debutants Slovakia. On 24 June, Nelsen again skippered the All Whites in a 0–0 draw with Paraguay, 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 with Italy, who were the reigning champions.
Nelsen was named in a football "World Cup Best XI" by American sports channel, ESPN on 10 July 2010.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition Ryan Nelsen Ryan Nelsen | 1st Team Profiles | ||
| Christchurch United | 1995 | NZ Superclub League | 2 |
| 1996 | 5 | ||
| 1997 | 3 | ||
| 1998 | 6 | ||
| D.C. United | 2001 | Major League Soccer | 0 |
| 2002 | 4 | ||
| 2003 | 1 | ||
| 2004 | 2 | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | 2004–05 | Premier League | 0 |
| 2005–06 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | 1 | ||
| 2009–10 | 4 | ||
| 2010–11 | 3 | ||
| 2011–12 | 0 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2011–12 | Premier League | 1 |
| Premier League | 1 | ||
| 1999 | ||||||
| 1 | 19 June | Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok | 0–0 | International Match | ||
| 2 | 22 June | Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat | 0–1 | International Match | ||
| 3 | 1 July | Shah Alam Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | 1–2 | International Match | ||
| 4 | 3 July | , Kuala Lumpur | 5–1 | International Match | ||
| 5 | 10 July | , Mexico City | 1–1 | International Match | ||
| 6 | 15 July | , Guadalajara | 0–1 | International Match | ||
| 7 | 24 July | Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara | 1–2 | 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||
| 8 | 28 July | Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara | 0–2 | 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||
| 9 | 30 July | Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara | 0–2 | 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||
| 2000 | ||||||
| 10 | 13 August | Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur | 0–0 | 2000 Merdeka Tournament | ||
| 11 | 17 August | Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur | 1–0 | 2000 Merdeka Tournament | ||
| 12 | 19 August | Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur | 2–0 | 2000 Merdeka Tournament | 1 (1) | |
| 13 | 6 June | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 5–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 14 | 8 June | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 2–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 15 | 11 June | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 5–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 16 | 13 June | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 7–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 17 | 20 June | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | 0–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 18 | 24 June | Stadium Australia, Sydney | 1–4 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 19 | 5 July | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 4–0 | 2002 OFC Nations Cup | 1 (2) | |
| 20 | 7 July | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 9–1 | 2002 OFC Nations Cup | 1 (3) | |
| 21 | 9 July | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 6–1 | 2002 OFC Nations Cup | ||
| 22 | 12 July | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | 3–0 | 2002 OFC Nations Cup | ||
| 23 | 14 July | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | 1–0 | 2002 OFC Nations Cup Final | 1 (4) | |
| 24 | 27 May | Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh | 1–1 | Friendly | 1 (5) | |
| 25 | 8 June | City Stadium, Richmond | 1–2 | Friendly | ||
| 26 | 18 June | Stade de France, Paris | 0–3 | 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||
| 27 | 20 June | Stade de Gerland, Lyon | 1–3 | 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||
| 28 | 22 June | Stade de France, Paris | 0–5 | 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||
| 29 | 12 October | Azadi Stadium, Tehran | 0–3 | AFC – OFC Challenge Cup | ||
| 30 | 2 June | Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide | 2–4 | 2004 OFC Nations Cup | ||
| 31 | 4 June | Marden Sports Complex, Adelaide | 10–0 | 2004 OFC Nations Cup | 2 (7) | |
| 32 | 6 June | Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide | 2–0 | 2004 OFC Nations Cup | ||
| 33 | 6 September | Stade Numa-Daly Magenta, Nouméa | 3–1 | 2008 OFC Nations Cup | ||
| 34 | 10 September | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 3–0 | 2008 OFC Nations Cup | ||
| 35 | 21 March | Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok | 1–3 | International Match | ||
| 36 | 9 September | King Abdullah Stadium, Amman | 3–1 | International Match | ||
| 37 | 10 October | Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa | 0–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 38 | 14 November | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | 1–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 39 | 24 May | MCG, Melbourne | 1–2 | International Match | ||
| 40 | 29 May | Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt | 1–0 | International Match | ||
| 41 | 1 June | Ljudski vrt, Maribor | 1–3 | International Match | ||
| 42 | 15 June | Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg | 1–1 | 2010 FIFA World Cup | ||
| 43 | 21 June | Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit | 1–1 | 2010 FIFA World Cup | ||
| 44 | 25 June | Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane | 0–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup | ||
| 45 | 9 October | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 1–1 | International Match | ||
| 46 | 29 February | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland | 2–3 | International Match | ||
| 47 | 7 September | Stade Numa-Daly Magenta, Nouméa | 2–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 48 | 11 September | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | 6–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 49 | 16 October | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | 3–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| Toronto FC | 8 January 2013 | 31 August 2014 |
D.C. United
Blackburn Rovers
New Zealand
Individual
|
|
