Steve Nicol
This poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Steve Nicol" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2007) |
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Stephen Nicol[1] | ||
Date of birth | 11 December 1961 | ||
Place of birth | Troon, Scotland | ||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) |
Right back | ||
Youth career | |||
1970–1977 | Troon Thistle | ||
1977–1979 | Ayr United | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1979–1981 | Ayr United | 70 | (7) |
1981–1994 | Liverpool | 343 | (36) |
1994–1996 | Notts County | 32 | (2) |
1996–1998 | Sheffield Wednesday | 49 | (0) |
1998 | → West Bromwich Albion (loan) | 9 | (0) |
1998–1999 | Doncaster Rovers | 25 | (0) |
1999–2001 | Boston Bulldogs | 41 | (0) |
Total | 569 | (46) | |
International career | |||
1981–1984 | Scotland U-21 | 14 | (0) |
1984–1992 | Scotland | 27 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
1995 | Notts County | ||
1999 | New England Revolution (interim) | ||
2000–2001 | Boston Bulldogs | ||
2002–2011 | New England Revolution | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Stephen Nicol (born 11 December 1961) is a Scottish retired professional
Nicol started his playing career with local club
Club career
Ayr United
Nicol began his career with Troon Thistle at age 9, then joined Ayr United at age 16,[3] and started playing for the first team in 1979, where he spent just over two seasons with the Scottish side, racking up 70 league appearances, before Liverpool manager Bob Paisley decided to pay what turned out to be a bargain price, £300,000, to bring Nicol to Anfield on 26 October 1981.
Liverpool
Nicol, who was signed by Bob Paisley, had to wait almost an entire year to make his senior debut for Liverpool and two years for a regular first team place, arriving at the club halfway through a 20-year period of dominance.
He made his Reds debut on 31 August 1982 in a 0–0 league draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew's and made a further three league appearances that season. The Reds finished as league champions for the 14th time, but Nicol did not make enough appearances to collect a title winner's medal.
Nicol became a regular in the
Nicol became a first-team regular for many subsequent seasons, winning the league championship and FA Cup "double" in 1986 under the guidance of Kenny Dalglish, pipping Everton to the title by just two points and then beating them 3–1 in the first-ever all Merseyside FA Cup final. He was also settling into an international career, which would ultimately yield 27 caps and a place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, with Scotland. A versatile player, he played most often at right back following the departure of Phil Neal in 1985, though he also featured at left back, in the centre of defence and as a midfield player. He even played up front on a couple of occasions. He earned the nickname 'Chopsy' because of how he pronounced the word 'chips'.
In the
A year later, Nicol played his part as Liverpool won the
Nicol accompanied his teammates to many of the funerals and memorial services of the 96 fans who died at the Hillsborough disaster. Like many others in the Liverpool squad, Hillsborough was the second tragedy Nicol had witnessed. Four years earlier, just before the 1985 European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Liverpool fans had charged a section of, mainly, Juventus supporters, causing a retaining wall to collapse, killing 39 people. As a result of the Heysel disaster, a five-year ban was placed on English clubs in European competitions, with Liverpool being banned for six years. Nicol would be one of the few players still with Liverpool when their ban from European competitions was finally lifted.
When Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 9–0 during the 1989–90 season to accumulate the club's biggest-ever League victory, Nicol was the only player to score twice, getting the first and last goals of the game in the seventh and 90th minutes. Liverpool regained the league title that season – their last until 2019-20 – and, two years later, Nicol was in the team which, under Graeme Souness, won the FA Cup again in 1992, this time beating Sunderland 2–0.
He remained a regular player for Liverpool until the start of the 1994–95 season, when he was forced onto the sidelines with the arrival of new defenders Phil Babb and John Scales. His final appearance for the club was a League Cup tie against Burnley in October 1994.[5]
In 13 years at
Notts County
Nicol stayed at Liverpool until 20 January 1995 when he took on a player-assistant coach role at Notts County after being recruited by County's former Everton manager Howard Kendall. He stayed at Meadow Lane for just 10 months, playing 32 times. After Kendall was sacked, Nicol received his first taste of management when he took charge of the club with two other players for the final months of the Magpies' disastrous 1994–95 campaign. But his efforts were not enough to save Notts County from relegation to Division Two.
Sheffield Wednesday
Following the end of the season, Nicol next moved to
English lower divisions, move to America
Nicol went on to make 49 league appearances before spending a spell on loan at West Bromwich Albion during the 1997–98 season where he played nine games. He then had a short spell with Doncaster Rovers before heading to the U.S. to take a player-coach position with the Boston Bulldogs of the A-League in 1999.
In September of that year, he took over as interim player-coach (he did not make any playing appearances[6]) with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer for the final two games of the season, winning both. He returned to the Boston Bulldogs as player-coach for the 2000 and 2001 seasons before re-joining the Revs in 2002 as an assistant coach.
International career
Nicol was first capped at the senior level for Scotland on 12 September 1984, soon after becoming a first team regular for Liverpool. Jock Stein gave Nicol his international debut in a friendly with Yugoslavia. His debut was a memorable one, as he helped Scotland beat Yugoslavia 6–1 in a friendly at Hampden Park in front of a crowd of 18,512. Helping Nicol settle in with the national team were club mates Kenny Dalglish and captain Graeme Souness, who both scored. The last of his 27 full caps for Scotland came on 11 September 1991 in a 2–2 draw in Switzerland during the Euro 92 qualifiers. He was in Scotland's squad for the 1986 World Cup.[7]
Coaching career
In 2002, Nicol took over as head coach of the
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup
|
Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Liverpool | 1982–83 | First Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
1983–84 | First Division | 23 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 4[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7 | |
1984–85 | First Division | 31 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[a] | 2 | 3[b] | 0 | 48 | 7 | |
1985–86 | First Division | 34 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 6[c] | 0 | 47 | 4 | ||
1986–87 | First Division | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | – | 2[c] | 1 | 21 | 5 | ||
1987–88 | First Division | 40 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | 50 | 7 | ||
1988–89 | First Division | 38 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 2[d] | 0 | 52 | 2 | ||
1989–90 | First Division | 23 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | 1[e] | 0 | 33 | 9 | ||
1990–91 | First Division | 35 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 44 | 3 | ||
1991–92 | First Division | 34 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7[f] | 0 | – | 52 | 1 | ||
1992–93 | Premier League | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2[g] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
1993–94 | Premier League | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 1 | |||
1994–95 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | |||
Career total | 343 | 36 | 50 | 3 | 42 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 468 | 46 |
- ^ European Cup
- European Super Cup, one appearance in Intercontinental Cup
- ^ a b Appearances in Football League Super Cup
- ^ Appearances in Football League Centenary Trophy
- ^ Appearance in FA Charity Shield
- UEFA Cup
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
International
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Scotland[12] | 1984 | 3 | 0 |
1985 | 4 | ||
1986 | 4 | ||
1987 | 2 | ||
1988 | 6 | ||
1989 | 4 | ||
1990 | 1 | ||
1991 | 3 | ||
Total | 27 | 0 |
Honours
Player
Liverpool
- Football League First Division: 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90
- 1991–92
- FA Charity Shield: 1989
- 1983–84
- 1985–86
Manager
New England Revolution
- North American SuperLiga: 2008
- 2007
Individual
- PFA Team of the Year: 1988–89 First Division[14]
- Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year: 1989
- MLS Coach of the Year Award: 2002
See also
- List of Major League Soccer coaches
References
- ^ "Steve Nicol". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Steve Nicol Profile, News & Stats | Premier League". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ "Nicol still a vital element: Revolution benefit from great Scot's life lessons". boston.com. 18 June 2005.
- ^ "LIVERWEB - Liverpool Results 1987-88". www.liverweb.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ "List of appearances in 1994-1995 by Steve Nicol". lfchistory.net. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ "1999 NE Revolution stats". Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- ^ "Steve Nicol - Scottish Caps 1984-1991". Sporting Heroes.net. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ "Steve Nicol won the MLS Coach of the Year 2002". chicagotribune.com. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ "Revolution parts ways with head coach Steve Nicol". New England Revolution. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ^ "Lilly, Nicol Inducted into NESHOF". New England Soccer Today. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ "Steve Nicol Appearances". LFC History. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Steve Nicol". www.national-football-teams.com.
- ^ LFChistory.net. "Liverpool career stats for Steve Nicol – LFChistory – Stats galore for Liverpool F.C.!". www.lfchistory.net.
- ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 147.
External links
- Steve Nicol – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Steve Nicol – UEFA competition record (archive)
- LFCHistory.net profile
- Steve Nicol at Soccerbase
- Liverpool seasonal record (part 1) 1981/82-1985/86 at sporting-heroes.net
- Liverpool seasonal record (part 2) 1981-1990 at sporting-heroes.net
- Liverpool seasonal record (part 3) 1990/91-1994/95 at sporting-heroes.net
- Sheffield Wednesday seasonal record 1995/96-1997/98 at sporting-heroes.net
- Profile of Nicol from Soccer New England
- Steve Nicol at National-Football-Teams.com