Per Lundgren Nielsen (; born 15 October 1973) is a Danish former professional footballer who played in the central defense of Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga for his entire club career. With Brøndby, Nielsen won five Danish championships and three Danish Cups since his senior debut in 1993. He played 547 official games for Brøndby IF and scored 26 goals, and from 2002 to 2008 he was named team captain. He played 10 matches for the Denmark national football team and is noted for 19 matches for the national under-21 team from 1994 to 1996. Following his retirement, he has worked as first as an assistant coach, later as head coach. Since 2015 he has been coaching Brøndby's women's team. Club career Born in Århus, Nielsen's parents moved to Brøndby when he was a child, and he enrolled at Brøndby IF at the age of five. Nielsen made his senior debut in the Brøndby IF jersey on 26 June 1993, and debuted in the Danish Superliga championship in March 1995. Nielsen was touted as the long-term successor of central defender Uche Okechukwu and was permanently moved into the senior squad in December 1993, coming from a Brøndby youth team that included several future first team regulars, including Kim Daugaard, Allan Ravn and later Danish national team player Ebbe Sand. Nielsen became a mainstay in the team during the 1995–96 Superliga season, as Brøndby won the Danish championship, and established himself as a regular starter. He helped Brøndby repeat the Superliga win in the 1996–97 Superliga and the Double of both Superliga championship and Danish Cup title in 1998. Following the 2001–02 Superliga championship triumph with Brøndby, Danish international goalkeeper Mogens Krogh retired, and Nielsen was chosen as new team captain. After his second Danish Cup triumph in 2003, Nielsen was elected the 2003 Brøndby IF Player of the Year. In 2004, the Danish football players' association announced a strike action. Brøndby was still in European competition, and would be forced to field a team consisting of retired Brøndby professionals, youth team players and recent signings who had yet to become members of the players' association, in the August 2004 UEFA Cup qualification re-match against FK Ventspils. Two days before the match, Nielsen and teammate Dan Anton Johansen broke the strike and returned to the Brøndby training, causing a lot of controversy in the process. The day after, the players'