Poul Nielsen - Biography

Biography

As a young boy Poul would sneak into football matches without paying, thus becoming a gratist (free rider), abbreviated to "Tist". Born in Copenhagen, Nielsen started playing football with Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB), where he spent his entire senior career. He made his debut for the Danish national team on May 5, 1910, as the then youngest Danish national team player at 18 years and 131 days of age, breaking Vilhelm Wolfhagen's age record from 1908. Nielsen's record would stand for eight years, until the 18 years and 51 days old Valdemar Laursen became the youngest Danish national team debutant.

Poul Nielsen made his debut in a Danish national team that was playing its first game since winning silver medals at the 1908 Summer Olympics, and he was included in the Danish squad for the 1912 Summer Olympics tournament. He played one game at the 1912 Olympics, the 4–1 win against the Netherlands, where he scored his first national team goal in his third national team game. Denmark went on to successfully defend their Olympic silver medal, losing 2–4 to Great Britain in the final game, without Nielsen in the team. After the 1912 Olympics, Nielsen started scoring goals for the Danish national team at a record-setting pace, while guiding KB to two Danish championships in a row in 1913 and 1914. He scored 22 goals in his first nine national team games following the 1912 Olympics, from May 1913 to June 1916, including six goals in a 10–0 win against Sweden and all four Danish goals in a 4–1 win against Germany. His tally in June 1916 was 23 goals in 12 national team games.

He was a part of the KB team that won the 1917, 1918, 1922 and 1925 Danish championships, while still scoring plenty of goals for the Danish national team. On October 14, 1923, Poul Nielsen broke Sophus Hansen's record from 1920, as Nielsen became the first Dane to play 32 international games. He ended his national team career in September 1925, having scored a total 52 goals in 38 matches, including 26 goals against Norway and 15 goals against Sweden. Although Nielsen played in the 1910s and 1920s, the number of goals he scored for his country still stands as the national record, and was not equalled until Jon Dahl Tomasson scored his 52nd goal in June 2010. Nielsen's tally of 38 international matches was another Danish record, but it was broken by Michael Rohde in June 1931. Because his career spanned the nascent years of international football, Poul Nielsen never got a chance to play in the World Cup; his only appearance on the world stage was the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Poul "Tist" Nielsen died in Copenhagen in August 1962, aged 70.