| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ryan William Nelsen | ||
| Date of birth | 18 October 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1995 | Christchurch United | ||
| 1997–1998 | Greensboro College | ||
| 1999–2000 | Stanford Cardinal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–1998 | Christchurch United[2] | 96 | (12) |
| 2001–2005 | D.C. United | 81 | (7) |
| 2005– | Blackburn Rovers | 172 | (8) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2008 | New Zealand U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 1999– | New Zealand | 45 | (6) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:00, 5 September 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Ryan William Nelsen, ONZM[3][4] (born 18 October 1977) is a New Zealand footballer who plays as a defender, and is captain of Premier League club Blackburn Rovers. Nelsen captains the New Zealand national team, the All Whites. He joined Blackburn back in 2005 on a free transfer from D.C. United. Nelsen wears the number 6 jersey for both club and country.
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Nelsen was born in Christchurch. After attending Our Lady of the Assumption primary school and St Thomas of Canterbury College, he moved to the United States to play for Greensboro College in North Carolina in 1997. After spending two years at Greensboro and leading The Pride to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III championship match, only to lose to Ohio Wesleyan University, he transferred to Stanford University where he played his final two years of college soccer. He was named Stanford's Most Valuable Player as a junior and an NSCAA All-American as a senior while playing as a defensive midfielder. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science.[5]
Serendipitously, Nelsen - then 20 - was home for a semester's sabbatical from his university soccer scholarship with Greensboro College in the United States. He'd already had Three or Four seasons with Christchurch United before he went stateside.[2]
Nelsen was drafted 4th overall in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft by D.C. United, with whom he spent four years in Major League Soccer. After emerging as a starter in 2002, Nelsen was named team captain in 2003, replacing Marco Etcheverry in that role, as well as winning the team's Defender of the Year Award and being named to the league's Best XI. He was named to the Best XI again in 2004, after captaining DC to its fourth MLS Cup. In four years in MLS, Nelsen scored seven goals and added five assists.
Nelsen was signed by Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer in January 2005, shortly after the completion of the 2004 MLS season. In the summer of 2005, after just 6 months at the club, Nelsen signed a new three year contract after impressing manager Mark Hughes and helping to turn Blackburn's defence into one of the stingiest in the Premiership. Nelsen was successfully awarded a work permit on appeal after the initial application had been refused due to New Zealand being ranked outside the top 70 in the FIFA World Rankings.
In the 2005–06, Blackburn qualified for the UEFA Cup with a sixth place finish, but Nelsen missed the last couple of games after breaking his foot in a 2–0 win at Charlton Athletic. Nevertheless, his performances since arriving in England prompted much interest from rival clubs including Portsmouth, who's bid for Nelsen was rejected by Blackburn. On 1 February 2006, he started and played the full 90 minutes alongside then Andy Todd in a 4-3 league victory over Manchester United at Ewood Park.
Nelsen was dealt another blow before the start of the 2006–07 season, with a serious hamstring injury forcing him out until the new year. On his return to the team in an FA Cup fourth round win at Luton Town, he was immediately made captain. In July 2007, he signed a new five-year deal with the club which will see him there until at least the summer of 2012. He scored his first league goal for Blackburn with a header against Wigan Athletic on 26 April 2009 in a 2–0 win. He then scored his second Premier League goal against Portsmouth with a header from a corner taken by David Dunn on 7 November 2009, and has also scored goals against Birmingham City and Fulham. On 11 April 2010, Nelsen came on for the injured Chris Samba against Manchester United at Ewood Park in a 0-0 draw.[6] Nelsen made his 175th appearance for Blackburn Rovers, captaining the team in a 3–2 defeat to Everton at Ewood Park on 17 April 2010. In all competitions, Nelsen made a total of 33 appearances, and scored four goals, for Blackburn in 2009–10.
On 13 November 2010, he scored for Blackburn against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane for his first goal of the 2010–11 Premier League season. On 27 November, he played the full 90 minutes partnering Christopher Samba, but this time in a disastrous 7-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford. He then added his second and third goals of the campaign by scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 4 December in a 3-0 win and against West Ham United on 18 December in a 1-1 draw.
With Blackburn's tenth successive Premier League season (and their 17th in 19 seasons) now underway, Nelsen has welcomed the club's proposed takeover by Indian owned Venky's Group who has promised up to £100million for Sam Allardyce to spend on strengthening the squad – with Nelsen feeling that the squad could do with "freshing up". On 15 January 2011, he made his 200th appearance for Blackburn in the away game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.[7]
Nelsen signed a one-year contract extension with Rovers in late January 2011 which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2013.[8]
Nelsen made his New Zealand All Whites debut against Poland on 19 June 1999.[9][10] Although he has been selected to play on numerous occasions, Nelsen had not represented New Zealand between his last appearance in 2004 and 2008 due largely to a recurring hamstring injury.[11] Nelsen captained the New Zealand U-23 squad for their first appearance at the Olympic Games against China. Although he was only available for the opening two matches as Blackburn had requested that he return in time to prepare for their opening Premier League game of the 2008–09 season against Everton.[11][12] Nelsen captained the All Whites side as they qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, beating Bahrain in a two-legged playoff in November 2009.
On 10 May 2010, Nelsen was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[13]
On 15 June, 28 years to the day after New Zealand made their first appearance in a FIFA World Cup Finals, Nelsen captained New Zealand to their first ever point in a FIFA World Cup Finals match in a 1–1 draw with World Cup debutants Slovakia. On 24 June, Nelsen again skippered the All Whites in a 0–0 draw with Paraguay, but New Zealand were knocked out of the group stages.
Nelsen was named in a football "World Cup Best XI" by American sports channel, ESPN on 10 July 2010.[14]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Minute | Final Score | Result | Competition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 August 2000 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Malaysia | 2–0 | Win | Merdeka Tournament Invitational Friendly | |||||
| 2 | 5 July 2002 | Albany, New Zealand | Tahiti | 30' | 4–0 | Win | 2002 OFC Nations Cup | ||||
| 3 | 7 July 2002 | Albany, New Zealand | Papua New Guinea | 54' | 9–1 | Win | 2002 OFC Nations Cup | ||||
| 4 | 14 July 2002 | Auckland, New Zealand | Australia | 78' | 1–0 | Win | 2002 OFC Nations Cup | ||||
| 5 | 27 May 2003 | Edinburgh, Scotland | Scotland | 1–1 | Draw | Friendly | |||||
| 6 | 4 June 2004 | Adelaide, Australia | Tahiti | 82' | 10–0 | Win | 2004 OFC Nations Cup | ||||
| Last updated 15:00, 17 June 2011 (UTC) | |||||||||||
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Christchurch United | 1995 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| 1996 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 5 | |
| 1997 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3 | |
| 1998 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 6 | |
| Total | 96 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 16 | |
| DC United | 2001 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 2002 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 | |
| 2003 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | |
| Total | 81 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 7 | |
| Blackburn Rovers | 2004–05 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| 2007–08 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 | |
| 2009–10 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 4 | |
| 2010–11 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 3 | |
| 2011–12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 172 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 208 | 8 | |
| Career totals | 357 | 27 | 32 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 412 | 31 | |
Nelsen and New Zealand author Tony Smith co-wrote the book Ryan Nelsen's Road to the World Cup.[17]
On 31 December 2010, as part of the 2011 New Year's Honours, Nelsen was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for his services to football.[3][4]
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