A midfielder and inside forward whose career closely paralleled those of Billy Gonsalves and Alex McNab, who were his teammates in Boston, Fall River and St. Louis. He was a member of teams that won the American Soccer League title twice and the U.S. Open Cup five times, and he played for the United States in the 1934 World Cup.
Nilsen, who was born in Norway and came to the United States in 1923 at the age of 19, made his pro debut with the Boston Wonder Workers in the fall of 1926 and was a member of the Boston team that won the ASL championship in 1928. He was transferred to the Fall River Marksmen in 1929, and with that team won another ASL title in 1930 and U.S. Open Cups in 1930 and 1931. He won a third U.S. Open Cup in 1932 with the New Bedford Whalers, and was among the New Bedford players who moved to St. Louis and won the U.S. Open Cup for Stix, Baer & Fuller in 1933 and 1934. He played 239 games in the ASL, scoring 131 goals.
In 1934, Nilsen played as a forward in both of the United States’ World Cup games in Rome, the qualifier against Mexico and the first-round game against Italy.
Inducted in 2005.
