Poul Nielsen


Niels Poul "Tist" Nielsen was a Danish football player, who is the joint all-time best goalscorer for the Danish national team with 52 goals from only 38 matches. He won a silver medal with the Danish team at the 1912 Summer Olympics. He played his career as a Striker for Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, with whom he won six Danish football championships. In Canada, he played for CNR Montreal and won a Dominion of Canada Championship in 1929.

Biography

As a young boy, Nielsen would sneak in to watch football games without paying, thus becoming a gratist, abbreviated to "Tist". Born in Copenhagen, Nielsen started playing football with Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, where he spent his entire senior career. He made his debut for the Danish national team on 5 May 1910 as the then youngest Danish national team player, at 18 years and 131 days of age. Nielsen's record would remain for eight years, until the 18 years and 51 days old Valdemar Laursen became the youngest Danish national team debutant.
, Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen, Harald Hansen, Paul Berth, Poul "Tist" Nielsen, Sophus Hansen, Nils Middelboe, Charles Buchwald, Oskar Nielsen, Emil Jørgensen, Vilhelm Wolfhagen.
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 later successfully defended 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 during 1913 and 1914. He scored 22 goals in his first nine national team games after 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 14 October 1923 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 during the 1910s and 1920s, the number of goals he scored for his country is still the national record, and was not equalled until Jon Dahl Tomasson scored his 52nd goal during June 2010. Nielsen's tally of 38 international matches was another Danish record, but it was exceeded by Michael Rohde during June 1931. Because his career spanned the nascent years of international football, Nielsen never got a chance to play in the World Cup; his only world game was the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Nielsen died in Copenhagen during August 1962, aged 70.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.2 July 1912Stockholm, Sweden4–1Won1912 Summer Olympics
2.25 May 1913Copenhagen, Denmark8–0WonFriendly
3.5 October 1913Stockholm, Sweden10–0WonFriendly
4.5 October 1913Stockholm, Sweden10–0WonFriendly
5.5 October 1913Stockholm, Sweden10–0WonFriendly
6.5 October 1913Stockholm, Sweden10–0WonFriendly
7.5 October 1913Stockholm, Sweden10–0WonFriendly
8.5 October 1913Stockholm, Sweden10–0WonFriendly
9.26 October 1913Hamburg, Germany4–1WonFriendly
10.26 October 1913Hamburg, Germany4–1WonFriendly
11.26 October 1913Hamburg, Germany4–1WonFriendly
12.26 October 1913Hamburg, Germany4–1WonFriendly
13.17 May 1914Copenhagen, Denmark4–3WonFriendly
14.17 May 1914Copenhagen, Denmark4–3WonFriendly
15.17 May 1914Copenhagen, Denmark4–3WonFriendly
16.5 June 1914Copenhagen, Denmark3–0WonFriendly
17.6 June 1915Copenhagen, Denmark2–0WonFriendly
18.19 September 1915Copenhagen, Denmark8–1WonFriendly
19.19 September 1915Copenhagen, Denmark8–1WonFriendly
20.19 September 1915Copenhagen, Denmark8–1WonFriendly
21.31 October 1915Stockholm, Sweden2–0WonFriendly
22.4 June 1916Copenhagen, Denmark2–0WonFriendly
23.4 June 1916Copenhagen, Denmark2–0WonFriendly
24.15 October 1916Copenhagen, Denmark8–0WonFriendly
25.15 October 1916Copenhagen, Denmark8–0WonFriendly
26.15 October 1916Copenhagen, Denmark8–0WonFriendly
27.15 October 1916Copenhagen, Denmark8–0WonFriendly
28.7 October 1917Copenhagen, Denmark12–0WonFriendly
29.7 October 1917Copenhagen, Denmark12–0WonFriendly
30.7 October 1917Copenhagen, Denmark12–0WonFriendly
31.7 October 1917Copenhagen, Denmark12–0WonFriendly
32.7 October 1917Copenhagen, Denmark12–0WonFriendly
33.6 October 1918Copenhagen, Denmark4–0WonFriendly
34.5 June 1919Copenhagen, Denmark4–0WonFriendly
35.5 June 1919Copenhagen, Denmark4–0WonFriendly
36.12 June 1919Copenhagen, Denmark5–1WonFriendly
37.12 June 1919Copenhagen, Denmark5–1WonFriendly
38.12 June 1919Copenhagen, Denmark5–1WonFriendly
39.21 September 1919Christiania, Norway3–2WonFriendly
40.21 September 1919Christiania, Norway3–2WonFriendly
41.2 October 1921Copenhagen, Denmark3–1WonFriendly
42.2 October 1921Copenhagen, Denmark3–1WonFriendly
43.2 October 1921Copenhagen, Denmark3–1WonFriendly
44.10 September 1922Fredrikstad, Norway3–3DrawFriendly
45.1 October 1922Copenhagen, Denmark1–2LostFriendly
46.14 September 1924Christiania, Norway3–1Won1924–28 Nordic Football Championship
47.14 September 1924Christiania, Norway3–1Won1924–28 Nordic Football Championship
48.5 October 1924Copenhagen, Denmark2–1WonFriendly
49.5 October 1924Copenhagen, Denmark2–1WonFriendly
50.14 June 1925Stockholm, Sweden2–0Won1924–28 Nordic Football Championship
51.21 June 1925Copenhagen, Denmark5–1Won1924–28 Nordic Football Championship
52.27 September 1925Aarhus, Denmark3–3DrawFriendly

Honours