Key Takeaways
Sophus Nielsen was a legendary Danish footballer born in Copenhagen.
Made history at the 1908 Summer Olympics by scoring 10 goals in a single match.
Finished his Olympic career as one of the top goal scorers with 13 goals.
Post-retirement, he coached and contributed significantly to Danish football development.
Sophus Nielsen was born in Copenhagen, and he began his football journey with local team Boldklubben Frem. His senior debut came shortly in October 1904. Nielsen was a versatile forward, capable of playing as both centre forward and inside forward. In addition to this, he was a skilful player with tricky dribbles,shots, and also a great heading ability. The player had bandy legs as well, making it difficult for opponents to tackle the ball away from him.
Nielsen was nothing short of a legend in Copenhagen, as he was the idol of several youth players. This included the likes of later Danish international team captain Pauli Jørgensen. In terms of silverware, the Danish forward won the 1911 Baneklubberne Tournaments with Frem.
After serving his apprenticeship as a blacksmith with Burmeister & Wain, Sophus Nielsen and his unemployed carpenter brother Carl decided to travel to Europe as journeymen. However, they were only able to make it till Kiel in Holstein. As destiny would have it though, they managed to meet the chairman of local football club Holstein Kiel, whom Sophus knew from an earlier trip with Frem.
The chairman provided Sophus and Carl with jobs, as a master blacksmith and joiner respectively. In exchange, the brothers agreed to play amateur football for Holstein Kiel. It was here that Nielsen became a sensation among German football lovers.
Nielsen later returned to Frem, where he played the remainder of his footballing career. His last game for Frem was in May 1921.
International legacy
It was for the 1908 Summer Olympics that Nielsen was called up to the first official Denmark national team selection. He went on to make history, scoring a goal in Denmark's first ever national team game that saw them beat France B 9-0. On 22th October 1908, Denmark played France A and the Danes won 17–1. Nielsen made history on that night, scoring an astounding 10 goals. The goals were in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 39th, 46th, 48th, 52nd, 64th, 66th, and 76th minute respectively.
However, they ended up losing to Great Britain in the final, and hence finished the tournament with the silver medal. As for Nielsen, he finished the tournament as top scorer with 11 goals.
His record was matched in the 1912 Olympics, as Germany's Gottfried Fuchs scored ten in a 16–0 win against Russia. It was only until 2001 that this legendary record was broken, as Australia's Archie Thompson scored 13 goals in an unbelievable 31–0 thrashing of American Samoa.
4 years later, Nielsen won another silver medal with Denmark in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He scored 3 goals in 2 games this time, thus scoring a total of 13 goals in Olympic football competitions. This made him the all-time top goal scorer in Olympic Football history alongside Hungary's Antal Dunai. Another interesting fact is that Nielsen still represented Frem in the Danish national team while playing for Holstein Kiel.
In addition to these, the Danish legend took part in another 12 international games, scoring four goals in the process. He finished international career in October 1919.
Life after retirement
Nielsen got into coaching after retiring as a player. He coached the Frem youth team from 1924 to 1926. In addition to this, he was a temporary coach in a number of Danish clubs. In 1940, he also became the first manager of the Denmark national team (as opposed to the temporary coaches of the past), and he also pioneered the education of Danish coaches. He also made speeches and seminars around the country on coaching and training.
Thus Nielsen's contribution to Danish football was beyond just as a player. He will forever be remembered as a footballing legend of his country.
