Steinar Nilsen

Steinar Nilsen

Personal information
Full name	Steinar Nilsen
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defender

Steinar Nilsen (1 May, 1972) is a Norwegian football manager. He also had a long active playing career behind him, mainly as a defender, before he retired in 2004.

Career

Nilsen played for Tromsø IL between 1989 and 1997, before he was sold to AC Milan. Nilsen never managed to make a big impact on the club, however, and thus moved to SSC Napoli, before returning to Tromsø IL in 2003.

In 2005, after Per Mathias Høgmo resigned his job as Tromsø I.L.-manager, Nilsen became assistant manager to Otto Ulseth, Høgmo's former assistant. A horrible start to Tromsø I.L.'s season saw Ulseth fired and Nilsen promoted to head manager. This move was criticised by many Norwegian sports commentators, with some, especially Ivar Hoff, claiming it would assuredly mean Tromsø I.L. would be relegated. However, Nilsen was exactly what Tromsø I.L. needed. He turned Tromsø I.L.'s poor form around, and they became, after a good run in the autumn-part of the season, safe from relegation. Nilsen also led Tromsø I.L. to a historic UEFA Cup victory over Galatasaray, making Tromsø I.L. the first Norwegian team (together with Viking F.K.) to reach the UEFA Cup's group stage. At the end of the 2005-campaign, Nilsen stepped down from his position as Tromsø I.L. manager, despite urges from many fans for him to stay longer.

In 2006, following another string of bad results, Tromsø I.L.-manager Ivar Morten Normark was fired and Nilsen once more stepped in as replacement manager for the remainder of the season, in hopes that he could save Tromsø I.L. from relegation. Nilsen's effect was not as noticeable on the team this time, however, and with four matches left of the season Tromsø I.L. looked like they would almost certainly be relegated. However, a string of three consecutive wins at the end of season put Tromsø I.L. in 10th place, meaning Nilsen had once more saved Tromsø I.L. from relegation.

In 2007, his first full season as Tromsø-manager, Nilsen led Tromsø to a comfortable 6th place finish, just a few points shy of European qualification.

In December 2007, Nilsen was involved in a bar brawl where the press initially reported that he had allegedly struck a bar guest with a beer glass. However, neither Nilsen nor the other guest confirmed this to the police, and the charges were dropped. Nilsen later stated that the incident had been emotionally hard, because of the big media focus.

November 21 2008 Nilsen signed a three year contract with SK Brann, to become the successor to Mons Ivar Mjelde who in October resigned as manager. On May 21st 2010 Nilsen's spell as manager for SK Brann ended when he was relieved of his contract after one of SK Branns worst starts in the Norwegian Premier League Tippeligaen in several decades. SK Brann, the 2007 Norwegian champions, by then stood with only ten points after twelve rounds and had suffered an early Cup exit to a team a couple of leagues below the Premiership. The players of SK Brann also questioned Nilsens leadership abilities, however Nilsen insisted that he is far from done with football managing.

Nilsens older brother, Roger Nilsen, was also a professional footballer and is as of July 2009 the assistant coach in Viking FK.

External links

• Steinar Nilsen at National-Football-Teams.com
• Nilsen profile at www.til.no Template:No icon
• Nilsen profile at Norwegian FA Template:No icon