Ivan Nielsen

Ivan Nielsen

Nielsen (centre, 1979)
Personal information
Date of birth	(1956-10-09) 9 October 1956 (age 60)
Place of birth	Frederiksberg, Denmark
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1975–1979	Fremad Amager
1979–1986	Feyenoord	195	(14)
1986–1990	PSV	83	(5)
1990–1991	Fremad Amager
1991–1992	B 1903	25	(1)
1992–1993	F.C. Copenhagen	20	(2)
1993	Næstved IF
National team
1977–1979	Denmark under-21	6	(1)
1980–1989	Denmark	51	(0)
Teams managed
1993	Næstved IF
1995–1996	Dragør Boldklub
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Ivan Nielsen (born 9 October 1956) is a Danish former professional football player, who most prominently played professionally for Dutch clubs Feyenoord Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven, winning the European Cup with PSV. A central defender, he was capped 51 times for the Danish national team, and represented his country at 1986 World Cup and two European Championship tournaments.

Born on Frederiksberg in Copenhagen, Ivan Nielsen started his senior career with Fremad Amager in 1975. He debuted for the Danish under-21 national team in September 1977, and went on to play six games and score one goal for the under-21 national team. In 1979, he moved abroad to play professionally with Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Dutch Eredivisie championship.

He was a part of the Feyenoord team which won the 1980 Dutch Cup, and made his debut for the Danish national team under national team manager Sepp Piontek in November 1980. In 1984, Nielsen and Feyenoord won both the 1984 Eredivisie championship and Dutch Cup trophy. He was called up for the Danish national team at the 1984 European Championship. He played full time in Denmark's four games at the tournament, before the team was eliminated in the semi-finals. He was also called up for the 1986 World Cup, where he played three games as Denmark reached the round of 16. After seven seasons at Feyenoord, he left the club in 1986.