Nils Middelboe

Nils Middelboe ( born October 5, 1887 in Brunnby ( Sweden); † September 21, 1976 in Frederiksberg) was a Danish footballer. He was 1908 and 1912 Vice Olympic Champion with the Danish national team.

Club career

Middelboe made ​​his debut in the first team of Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB ) in 1903, at the age of 16 years. In KB he played alongside his older brothers Einar and Kristian Middelboe, the latter was also the Danish national team. Between 1904 and 1913 Nils five times won the championship with Copenhagen KB, during which he was also a successful athlete. He was 1910 and 1911 Danish title in the triple jump and the 4 x 100 meter relay. The Danish record he held both the 800 meters ( 2:05,2 min ) and in the triple jump ( 13.29 m).

Middelboe was an amateur player throughout his career. Between 1913 and 1922 he played 175 times for Chelsea as the first non - British player. During his time with the Blues, he worked as a lawyer at a bank. His amateur status meant that he could not be with many away games Chelsea doing, but he was from the outset captain. The 1.88 m tall center-half was known in the press as "The Great Dane " ( The Great Dane ) and was considered a fair sportsman.

After his time at Chelsea he played until 1926 when the two clubs amateur Corinthian FC ( 1922-1924 ) and Casuals FC ( 1924-1926 ). In 1936, he returned as manager of Kjøbenhavns Boldklub back to Denmark and was with the club in 1940 Danish title.

National

Middelboe was one of the best Danish players in the early years of the Danish national team. His opening goal in the 1-0 9-0 win over France at the Olympic Games 1908 represents the first official international goal of the Danes and was also the first goal scored by a national goal in the Olympics. In this tournament, he reached with his team the final, which was lost to the British selection with 0:2.

His second Olympic silver medal he won in 1912. During this tournament he was the captain of the squad of the best European Continental team and had to admit defeat ( 2:4 ) again only in the finale of the British selection. Even eight years later in the Olympic tournament in 1920 Middelboe was there. In his last international match against Spain but he was defeated in the preliminary round 0-1.

Overall, he played 1908-1920 15 times for the Danish selection, scoring seven goals. Ten times he led Denmark as a captain on the field.