Werner Nilsen

Scotty Nilsen
Personal information
Full name	Werner Nilsen
Date of birth	February 4, 1904
Place of birth	Skien, Norway
Date of death	May 10, 1992 (aged 88)
Place of death	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team
19xx–19xx	Skiens Grane
1923–1925	Norwegian-Americans
1925–1926	Hub F.C.
1926–1929	Boston Soccer Club
1929–1930	Fall River F.C.
1931	→ New York Yankees
1931–1932	→ New Bedford Whalers
1932	Boston S.C.
1932–1937	St. Louis Central Breweries F.C.
1937–1938	South Side Radio
International career
1934	United States
Managerial career
1946–1947	St. Louis Raiders
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Werner "Scotty" Nilsen (February 4, 1904 – May 10, 1992) was a former

caps with the United States national team in 1934. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame

.

Nilsen played for Norwegian club Skiens Grane before moving to the United States in 1923. When he arrived, he settled in Boston where he began playing for local amateur and semi-professional soccer teams including the Norwegian-Americans and Hub F.C., both in the Boston and District League.

Boston

In 1926, Nilsen signed with the

Viking F.C. for a tour of Scandinavia

. Viking F.C. was an ad hoc traveling team composed of U.S.-based players with ethnic roots in Scandinavia.

Fall River

Nilsen began the 1929–30 season in Boston, but was transferred to the

1930 National Challenge Cup. With financial problems mounting, Sam Mark, owner of the 'Marksmen', merged the team with the New York Soccer Club to form the New York Yankees. The Yankees competed in the spring 1931 season. While the league standings reflect the Yankee name, the team won the 1931 National Challenge Cup

under the Fall River F.C. name. As in 1928, Nilsen joined a collection of U.S.-based Scandinavian players in 1931 to make a tour of that region, this time as part of Brooklyn Gjoa.

New Bedford

To make matters more confusing, in summer of 1931 the Yankees moved to

National Challenge Cup. In league play, Nilsen finished second to ex-teammate Patenaude for the scoring title. The Whalers won the 1932 Challenge Cup title over the St. Louis-based Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. Both legs of the cup final were held in St. Louis. The first ended in a 3-3 tie. A week later, Whalers won the game and the title with a 5-2 victory; Nilsen scoring one of the goals. After the games, Whaler's Scottish international Alex McNab decided to join Stix as a player/coach for the 1932–33 season. McNab convinced several of his Whalers teammates, including Nilsen, Billy Gonsalves, Bill McPherson and Billy Watson

to also make the move west.

St. Louis

The addition of the core of the Whalers team to an already strong Stix, Baer and Fuller team created a team which dominated the St. Louis and Challenge Cup competitions for several years. The team ran away with the 1932–33 St. Louis Major League title, then won the

St. Louis Shamrocks. Shamrocks went to both the 1936 and 1937 Challenge Cup finals, but lost both times. In 1937, Nilsen joined his last team, South Side Radio before retiring at the end of the 1937–38 season.^[1]

Nilsen was inducted into the St. Louis Old Time Soccer Players Hall of Fame in 1983.

International career

In 1934, Nilsen earned two

caps with the United States when he was selected to the 1934 FIFA World Cup roster. His first game with the U.S. came on a May 24, 1934 World Cup qualification victory over Mexico. His next game did not end as successfully for the U.S. as it lost to Italy on May 27, 1934 in the finals first round.^[2]

Managerial career

Nilsen coached the

St. Louis Raiders during the 1946–47 season.^[3]

Personal life

According to the Soccer Hall of Fame, Nilsen worked as a machinist and a men's clothing model in both Boston and St. Louis.

National Soccer Hall of Fame

The National Soccer Hall of Fame inducted Nilsen in 2005 as part of a process of recognizing significant pre-1950s players. According to the Hall of Fame, "We were aware that in the early decades of the Hall of Fame a number of outstanding players had slipped through the cracks of the selection process. In order to correct these oversights we established a Blue Ribbon panel consisting of historians Colin Jose, Roger Allaway and Hall of Famer Walter Bahr, to review the credentials of all Veterans from the pre-NASL era. Out of a total of 150 players who met the eligibility criteria, the panel unanimously recommended, and the Board approved, the special induction of these five players." Nilsen and Alex McNab, teammates on both the Whalers and Stix, Baer and Fuller were among the five selected.^[4]^[5]

References

^ Bob Corbett soccer career - Nilsen is spelled Nielsen
^ U.S. national team results in RSSSF
^ Genealogy: Soccer career of Robert C. Corbett at www.webster.edu
^ National Soccer Hall of Fame announcement
^ "Werner Nilsen - 2005 Inductee | National Soccer Hall of Fame". Werner Nilsen - 2005 Inductee | National Soccer Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 28, 2023.

External links

"Werner Nilsen - Class of 2005". National Soccer Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
"Soccer Championship".
Time Magazine. May 1, 1933. Archived from the original
on November 22, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2008.

[1] Bob Corbett soccer career - Nilsen is spelled Nielsen

[2] U.S. national team results in RSSSF

[3] Genealogy: Soccer career of Robert C. Corbett at www.webster.edu

[4] National Soccer Hall of Fame announcement

[5] "Werner Nilsen - 2005 Inductee | National Soccer Hall of Fame". Werner Nilsen - 2005 Inductee | National Soccer Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 28, 2023.

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