Brian Steen Nielsen (born 28 December 1968) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. During his 16-year professional career, he had three stints at Odense Boldklub, and also played abroad for football clubs in Turkey, Japan and Sweden.

Brian Steen Nielsen
Personal information
Full name Brian Steen Nielsen
Date of birth (1968-12-28) 28 December 1968 (age 55)
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
Men's football
Representing  Denmark
FIFA Confederations Cup
Winner 1995 Saudi Arabia
CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions
Runner-up 1993 Argentina
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Steen Nielsen also made 66 appearances for the Denmark 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 club AGF until 2014.

Biography

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Born in Vejle, Steen Nielsen started his senior career at Vejle Boldklub (VB) in October 1988. He received the 1989 Danish U21 Player of the Year award, and on 14 February 1990 he debuted for the Denmark national team. He came on as a half-time substitute in a friendly match 0–0 draw with Egypt, but he did not become a constant part of the team, playing three further games until June 1991. He switched from Vejle to rival team Odense Boldklub (OB) in 1992, where he won the 1993 Danish Cup trophy. After a year at OB, he made the jump abroad to play in Turkey for Fenerbahçe.

The move to Fenerbahçe saw him return to the Danish national team in 1993, and during the last years of coach Richard Møller Nielsen's reign, Brian Steen was a part of the defensive midfield, playing many games alongside John "Faxe" Jensen. He moved back to play for OB in 1995, who he represented when he competed for Denmark in the UEFA Euro 1996. After the championship, he moved to Japan to play for Urawa Red Diamonds, and following Møller Nielsen's retirement as Denmark coach in June 1996, Brian Steen was eventually dropped by new coach Bo Johansson.

He moved back to OB once more in 1997, before playing for Akademisk Boldklub (AB), where his experience made him the natural team 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-hitter Stig Tøfting. Following the emergence of the eight-year younger Thomas Gravesen on the national team, Brian Steen slowly took on the role of substitute following the UEFA Euro 2000. After 11 minutes of play in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, under new coach Morten Olsen, his national team career had come to an end.

He ended his club career in Denmark with AGF, playing his last years alongside Stig Tøfting, though his stay at the club would be marked by him head-butting teammate Nikolaj 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 a caretaker manager and he is the current sports director.

In April 2016, it was made public that his name was found amongst those in the Panama Papers. Allegedly, he set up a company in Panama with the intent of evading Danish tax.[2]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[3]
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

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year
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

Honours

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OB

AB

  • Danish Cup: 1999[4]

Denmark

References

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  1. ^ "Skadeeksempler – Strafbare handlinger" (in Danish). Willis insurance. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006.
  2. ^ "Læk afslører: Danske landsholdsstjerner havde hemmelige skattelyselskaber". dr.dk. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  3. ^ Brian Steen Nielsen at National-Football-Teams.com
  4. ^ "POKAL 1998/1999". haslund.info. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
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