Ryan Nelsen

Ryan Nelsen

Personal information
Full name	Ryan William Nelsen
Date of birth	18 October 1977 (1977-10-18)
Place of birth	Christchurch, New Zealand
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Tottenham Hotspur
Number	N/A
Youth career
0000–1995	Christchurch United
1997–1998	Greensboro College
1999–2000	Stanford Cardinal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–1998	Christchurch United	96	(12)
2001–2005	D.C. United	81	(7)
2005–2012	Blackburn Rovers	172	(8)
2012-	Tottenham Hotspur	0	(0)
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). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:00, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Ryan William Nelsen, ONZM (born 18 October 1977) is a New Zealand footballer who is a defender, and currently plays for Tottenham Hotspur. Nelsen captains the New Zealand national team, the All Whites.

Biography

Early life

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.

Club career

Christchurch United

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.

DC United

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.

Blackburn Rovers

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 up until 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. 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.

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. Under Steven Kean as manager following the sacking of Sam Allardyce, Nelsen was replaced as team captain of Blackburn in favour of Christopher Samba, Nelsen moving to vice-captain. Although he remained official club captain. Nelsen suffered a knee injury forcing him to miss the rest of the 2010-11 season. Following 2010-11 season, in which Blackburn avoided relegation, Nelsen recovered from the knee injury and made one appearance against Aston Villa in a 3-1 loss. Nelsen has since suffered another injury and flew to New Zealand to spend time with the medical experts who played a key role in the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup success.

Nelsen was released from Blackburn on 31st January 2012 following a string of injuries, and is widely expected to sign for Tottenham Hotspur, however no official confirmation has been made by the club as of yet.

Tottenham Hotspur

Nelsen was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in a free transfer on February 1, to replace defender Sébastien Bassong, who joined Wolves on loan.

International career

Nelsen made his New Zealand All Whites debut against Poland on 19 June 1999. 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. 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. 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.

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.

International goals

International goals

#	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 career statistics

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

Writing career

Nelsen and New Zealand author Tony Smith co-wrote the book Ryan Nelsen's Road to the World Cup.

Awards

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.

See also

• New Zealand national football team
• New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup
• New Zealand national football team results
• List of New Zealand international footballers

External links

• Ryan Nelsen – FIFA competition record
• NZ Football Profile
• Ryan Nelsen career stats at Soccerbase
• Ryan Nelsen at the MLS Official Website
• Ryan Nelsen at rovers.co.uk