Nils Middelboe
Encyclopedia
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
athlete
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
and football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player as well as a football referee, who most prominently represented the Denmark national football team
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
at the 1908
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
, 1912
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
and 1920 Summer Olympics
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
, winning silver medals in 1908 and 1912. He became the first ever goalscorer for the Danish national football team, when he scored in Denmark's debut game at the 1908 Summer Olympics. In 1913 he moved abroad to play for English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
club Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
, and became the first foreign player to ever represent that club.
Middelboe was a man of great height for his time (standing at 6 foot 2 inches), which led to the media naming him "The Great Dane". He was also well respected as a gentleman of the game.
Personal
Middelboe was an amateurAmateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
footballer throughout his career. He was a qualified lawyer and during his time at Chelsea he was employed at a bank in London. He would have gained thrice the salary as solely a professional footballer than he did as a banker-cum-amateur footballer, but he was (in his own words) "by no means mad about football". So as not to interfere with his career, Middelboe played in all home games, but was not required to travel to away games while at Chelsea.
Career
Middelboe made his senior debut for Kjøbenhavns BoldklubKjøbenhavns Boldklub
Kjøbenhavns Boldklub or KB is a Danish sports club based in Copenhagen. The club was founded April 26, 1876 on the grassy fields in outer Copenhagen which later became Fælledparken. Football and cricket has been played in KB since 1879, making KB the oldest football club on Continental Europe and...
(KB) in 1903, at the age of 16. At KB, he played alongside his older brothers Einar Middelboe and Kristian Middelboe
Kristian Middelboe
Kristian Middelboe was a Danish amateur football player in the defender position, who won a silver medal with the Danish national team in the 1908 Summer Olympics football tournament. He played a total four games for the Danish national team...
, of whom Kristian also played for the Danish national team. From 1904 to 1913 Nils won five KBU
Copenhagen football champions
The Copenhagen football champions were the winners of a league tournament held under various names in the years 1903–1936. It replaced The Football Tournament as the finest Danish football tournament of its time....
football championships with KB, while he also excelled in athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
competitions. He was a Danish triple jump
Triple jump
The triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, bound and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a...
and 4 x 100 metres relay
4 x 100 metres relay
The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race...
champion, and he set Danish records in the 800 metres
800 metres
The 800 meter race is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle distance track event. The 800 meter is run over two laps of the track and has always been an Olympic event. During indoor track season the event is usually run on a 200 meter track, therefore requiring four laps...
(with a time of 2:05.20) and triple jump (13.29 m).
Occupying the half-back role, he won silver medals with Denmark in both the 1908
Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Bohemia were forced to withdraw before the tournament started after losing their FIFA membership.-Semi-finals:-Bronze medal match:The French were so shocked by their humiliating 17-1 defeat against Denmark that they declined to play for the bronze medal; therefore, the Netherlands played Sweden for...
and 1912 Olympic Games
Football at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Football at the 1912 Summer Olympics was one of the 102 events at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. It was the fourth time football was on the Olympic schedule. The tournament was contested between 11 nations, all of them from Europe, with Great Britain winning the gold medals...
, the latter as captain of the side. His goal against France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...
in 1908 was the first ever goal scored by an official national team in Olympic football. Middelboe won his 11th cap for Denmark in a friendly against Sweden
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...
, at the time this made him Denmark's all-time leading appearance maker. In all, he played 15 games and scored 7 goals for the Danish national team from 1908 to 1920. Interestingly, the three times Middelboe played for his country while at Chelsea, he always represented KB, as opposed to Chelsea.
Nils Middelboe is renowned as the first non-British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
international to play for Chelsea, during his stint at the club between 1913 and 1923. Originally he had signed for Newcastle, however with the permission of the Newcastle Director, he switched to Chelsea. He made his debut on the 15 November 1913 against Derby
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
- a 2-1 win for Chelsea. As a show of faith from the players, he was appointed captain - despite never having previously played for the Chelsea first team. In all, he played 175 matches for Chelsea until 1923.
After his days at Chelsea, he played for the amateur sides of Corinthian F.C. and Casuals F.C.
Casuals F.C.
Casuals F.C. were an amateur football club based in London, formed in 1878.They were founder members of the Isthmian League in 1905 and won the FA Amateur Cup in 1936....
until 1926. In 1929 he was appointed a Director of the English League Division Three south East London based side Clapton Orient. He returned to Denmark in 1936, where he coached KB to the Danish football champions
Danish football champions
The Danish football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in Denmark. The title has been contested since 1913, in a varying form of competitions. Since 1991, the winners have been found through the Danish Superliga championship...
hip in 1940.
In April 1946, Chelsea played KB in a friendly, arranged to celebrate that club's 70th anniversary. The chairman of KB announced that, owing to Middelboe's "long and happy association" with Chelsea, there was no other club they would rather be facing.
Honours
- Danish championshipDanish football championsThe Danish football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in Denmark. The title has been contested since 1913, in a varying form of competitions. Since 1991, the winners have been found through the Danish Superliga championship...
- 1913 as player
- 1940 as manager