Faroese, goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen signed for the club on the 3rd July 2013 signing a two year deal, he had actually been on loan at the Steelmen earlier in his career in 2008 when he was on the books at Ewood Park with Blackburn Rovers but he would play little part in proceedings during that spell due to the form of number 1 Graeme Smith.

When he did join Motherwell for his second spell, Stuart McCall mentioned that he had signed him on the advise of goalkeeping coach Gordon Marshall who highly rated the young Faroe Islands internationalist. In fairness he was highly thought of by manager Mark Hughes who had signed him for both the Rovers and Manchester City but in truth the early part of his career would be mainly spent as a reserve, before joining the ‘Well he had actually won more senior caps for the Faroes than he had made first team club appearances.

Stuart McCall decided Lee Hollis and Gunnar would battle it out for the NO1 jersey, but he literally denied both players from using that squad number with Hollis wearing number 12 and Nielsen wearing 13. McCall also felt it was only fair to give Hollis a fair crack of the whip as he had been under study to the talented Darren Randolph for a number of years so Gunnar would need to remain patient.

He made first team debut in the Europa League as ‘Well fell to a 1-0 defeat in Russia to Kuban Krasnodar, with his domestic debut coming in the League Cup as Motherwell dispatched Livingston 2-1 in September 2013. Hollis of course would eventually lose his place due to injury which gave Nielsen the chance to nail down the spot as his own.

He made his league debut on the 19th October 2013 as Motherwell came from behind to beat struggling Hearts 2-1.

Gunnar would enjoy an extended run in the side, but for some reason he never looked comfortable being in between the sticks. By all accounts he received great reviews from staff for his ability in training but for some reason the performances just didn’t transcend onto the football pitch, it was said he was still feeling the effects of injury which hampered his time at the Etihad Stadium.

Many fans felt he was beaten too easily and was prone to the odd clanger, one occasion being where he let a routine catch slip out of his hands which dropped perfectly for Aberdeen striker Adam Rooney to prod home and of course the last minute drive which deceived him in the Scottish Cup at the hands of Albion Rovers which is no doubt up their with one of the clubs worst ever losses.

Nielsens best game for Motherwell was probably against Celtic in a 3-3 draw in April 2014, despite conceding a few he did make a magnificent penalty save and amongst others to help the side grind out a draw in an exciting match.

All in all, he would make 23 appearances in all competitions during the 2013/14 season as Motherwell finished 2nd in the league. Gunnar had suffered a number of injury problems during the campaign, he struggled to get his place back from Dan Twardzik who had joined the club on a short emergency loan.

The following season he would be used as back up keeper before being released in March 2015. He later joined Icelandic outfit Stjarnan who knocked out Motherwell in the Europa League earlier that season.

Gunnar has be capped by Faroe Islands at Full, u17, u19 and u21 level.

Name:	Gunnar Nielsen
Height:	6′ 3″
Weight:	13st 7lbs
Date of Birth:	7th October 1986
Place of Birth:	Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
Position:	Goalkeeper
Nationality:	Faroese

Football Career:

Havnar Bóltfelag		2004
BK Frem	2004	2007
Blackburn Rovers	2007	2009
Motherwell (Loan)	2008
Manchester City	2009	2012
Wrexham (Loan)	2009
Tranmere Rovers (Loan)	2010	2011
Silkeborg	2013
Motherwell	2013	2015
Stjarnan	2015
Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar	2015	–

Well Career:

	Apps	Goals
League:	19	0
Scottish Cup:	1	0
League Cup:	2	0
Other:	1	0
Total:	23	0