Johnny McNichol

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For the rugby union player, see Johnny McNicholl.

Johnny McNichol
Brighton & Hove Albion
kit
Personal information
Full name John McNichol
Date of birth (1925-08-20)20 August 1925
Place of birth Kilmarnock, Scotland
Date of death 17 March 2007(2007-03-17) (aged 81)
Position(s)
Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Hurlford United
1946–1948 Newcastle United 0 (0)
1948–1952 Brighton & Hove Albion 158 (37)
1952–1958 Chelsea 181 (59)
1958–1963 Crystal Palace 189 (15)
1963–1967
Tunbridge Wells Rangers
Total 528 (111)
Managerial career
1963–1967
player-manager
)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John McNichol (20 August 1925 – 17 March 2007) was a Scottish

inside forward, he played more than 150 games for Brighton & Hove Albion[1] and more than 200 for each of Chelsea and Crystal Palace.[2][3]

McNichol graduated from

Tunbridge Wells Rangers
. He then spent 25 years working on the commercial side of football with two of his previous clubs.

Early life and career

McNichol was born in

friendly matches for Inverness-based club Clachnacuddin. Because of the number of professional players stationed around the country, such matches were played at a fairly high standard.[7]

Newcastle United

After the war, McNichol returned to Hurlford, but, amid interest from other clubs, he accepted a trial with

the Central League title,[9] but a disagreement over personal terms on his contract renewal – the Newcastle management felt a lower wage was justified because of the player's earnings outside the game[8] – prompted McNichol to seek first-team football elsewhere.[9]

Brighton & Hove Albion

the Football League,[4][8] and persuaded McNichol to sign. He made his first appearance in the League on 21 August 1948, at the age of 23, as Brighton drew with Swindon Town at home.[9] The club finished sixth in the division in McNichol's first season and eighth, despite having no regular goalscorer – McNichol's nine goals made him top scorer – in 1949–50.[10] The next year, McNichol played in all of Brighton's games, the only man so to do, and again finished as top scorer for the season, this time with 14 goals. According to Carder and Harris, he "had a superb season with a brand of play which won him the reputation as the finest inside-forward in the Third Division".[11] Appointed club captain when Billy Lane took over from Welsh as manager, McNichol flourished under Lane's attacking policy. He scored 14 goals in the 1951–52 season as Brighton narrowly failed to mount a successful challenge to Plymouth Argyle for the title, "was again the star of the side",[12] and "was thought by many to be the most stylish inside-forward to play for the Albion".[5]

That season, McNichol scored a hat-trick against eventual runners-up Reading, which caught the eye of manager Ted Drake.[13] Shortly before the next season started, he became Drake's first signing for his new club, Chelsea, at a fee of £12,000 plus the player Jimmy Leadbetter, a club record fee received for Albion.[8] He had scored 39 goals in all competitions from 165 appearances. Although scouts from bigger clubs had been watching the player since soon after his arrival at the club – he had apparently already turned down moves to Manchester City, Everton and Huddersfield Town[8][9] – Brighton's supporters were disappointed, seeing his sale as a backward step.[12]

Chelsea

On his Chelsea debut away at

right back after ten minutes when Sid Tickridge sustained an injury.[14] Once restored to the forward line, his goals helped Chelsea avoid relegation to the Second Division at the end of his first season. A "dramatic last-minute goal ... enabled Chelsea to snatch a lucky victory at West Bromwich" with three games left,[15] and he scored the third goal of Chelsea's 3–1 defeat of Manchester City in their last fixture of the season which confirmed their escape from the relegation positions.[16]

Two seasons later, Chelsea won the

inside forward was normally more a creator than a scorer of goals, but his profile on Chelsea's website describes him as "clever, astute and most of all a clinical finisher".[20]

He stayed at the club for three more seasons, but later lost his place in the side to the young Jimmy Greaves: "There was no disgrace in losing my place to him. I couldn't grumble about that. We used to get on very well, and he would listen to the instructions I gave him. Then he became world famous!"[21] The respect was mutual: though Greaves described the Chelsea title-winning side as "almost certainly one of the least talented teams ever to win the title", he made an exception for McNichol, "the ball player of the team".[22] In all competitions, he made 202 appearances for Chelsea and scored 66 goals.[2]

While at Brighton, McNichol had worked in a local garage, wanting to keep up his skills in case injury put an early end to his football career. When he joined Chelsea, his decision to remain living in the area had upset Drake.[7] In addition, he bought a newsagent's shop in Hove,[21] so not only did he have to travel by train from the south coast – as did teammates Stan Willemse and Eric Parsons[19] – he further annoyed the Chelsea management by getting up even earlier each morning to open the shop before coming in to training. His wife Connie, whom he had known since childhood, ran the business in his absence.[7] He claimed to have "earned more working in that shop than playing for Chelsea. Even in that championship season."[21]

Crystal Palace

Just ahead of the transfer deadline in March 1958, McNichol signed for Third Division South club

wing half, then a full back. Palace had been placed in the Fourth Division when the Football League structure was reorganised on national lines prior to the 1958–59 season, and McNichol, long since restored to the captaincy, led them to promotion to the Third Division in 1961, their first promotion for 40 years.[3] Soon afterwards, he applied for the managerial post at former club Brighton & Hove Albion, then in the Second Division,[25] but was unsuccessful. A broken arm suffered in August 1961 forced McNichol to miss a Palace match for the first time in a three-and-a-half-year club career.[26] He played on for two seasons, but his professional career was brought to a close by facial injuries, a fractured cheekbone and broken jaw, sustained during the 1962–63 season. In all competitions, he scored 15 goals from 205 appearances.[3]

Later life and career

McNichol remained in the South of England, spending four years as

bingo competitions as a means of raising funds for the club.[3] He moved back to Brighton & Hove Albion to occupy a similar role from 1979 to 1992,[8] and after retirement continued to live in the Saltdean area of Brighton.[7]

Despite the successes of his career, McNichol had regrets. He described Chelsea's decision not to accept their invitation to participate in the

European Cup as his "one big disappointment", and "thought it was strange at the time", despite the national team selectors' preference for players plying their trade for Scottish clubs, that he was never chosen to represent his country.[21]

McNichol retained contact with his previous clubs. One of 24 former players and managers nominated as "Albion Legends" as part of Brighton's centenary events in 2001,[27] he took an active role in the celebrations.[28]

He died of a stroke on 17 March 2007 at the age of 81.[29][30]

Honours

Newcastle United Reserves

  • The Central League
    winners: 1947–48

Chelsea

Crystal Palace

See also

References

  1. ^ "Johnny McNichol". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  2. ^ a b "John McNichol". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Johnny McNichol". Crystal Palace F.C. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011.
  4. ^
    ISBN 1-85291-665-6
    .
  5. ^ a b "Johnny McNichol". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Archived from the original on 14 June 2002.
  6. ISBN 0-9521337-0-9
    .
  7. ^ a b c d e "Scot was Chelsea rising star in Lampard mould". Aberdeen Press & Journal. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2016 – via MyChelsea.com.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Vinicombe, John (4 May 2007). "Tribute to Albion great McNichol". The Argus. Brighton. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  9. ^
    ISBN 0-9521337-1-7
    .
  10. ^ Carder & Harris, Seagulls!, p. 140.
  11. ^ Carder & Harris, Seagulls!, pp. 142–43.
  12. ^ a b Carder & Harris, Seagulls!, p. 145.
  13. ^ Glanville, Brian (22 July 2003). "Will money bring long-overdue success to Chelsea?". World Soccer. CNN/Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  14. ^ "Association Football. The New Season Opened". The Times. 25 August 1952. p. 7. Chelsea lost their right-back, Tickridge, after only 10 minutes' play. He hobbled about for the remainder of the first half but could not play in the second. McNichol, Chelsea's new inside-forward from Brighton, did well as his deputy at back
  15. ^ "Arsenal's Challenge in the League Bristol Rovers Fail". The Times. 13 April 1953. p. 9.
  16. ^ "Preston's Challenge To Arsenal Stoke And Derby To Be Relegated". The Times. 30 April 1953. p. 10.
  17. ^ "Unhappy Afternoon For Charlton Chelsea Much The Better Side". The Times. 21 March 1955. p. 10.
  18. ^ "Chelsea Maintain League Lead Unattractive Football". The Times. 4 April 1955. p. 2.
  19. ^ a b Henderson, Charlie (30 April 2005). "Champions of a different era". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  20. ^ "Trophy – 1955 League Title". Chelsea F.C. 11 July 2002. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  21. ^ a b c d Pattullo, Alan (30 April 2005). "McNichol happy to finally see Blue flag flying again". The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  22. ^ Kidd, Dave (18 April 2010). "Jimmy Greaves: Title won on free fags and fry-ups". The People. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012.
  23. ^ Harley, George (14 March 1958). "McNichol goes to Palace". Daily Mirror. p. 20.
  24. ^ "Choules skippers the Palace". Daily Mirror. 10 October 1958. p. 10. Centre half Len Choules has taken over as Crystal Palace captain from Johnny McNichol. Manager George Smith said: 'Johnny has also had a tremendous responsibility in helping our younger players. He has been feeling the strain of his dual role and I didn't think it fair to him.'
  25. ^ "McNichol applies to Brighton". Daily Express. 30 May 1961. p. 15.
  26. ^ "McNichol out". Daily Mirror. 29 August 1961. p. 19. Johnny McNichol, Crystal Palace left back, broke a bone in his left arm against Swindon on Saturday and is expected to be out of the side for six weeks. McNichol has not missed a match since he joined Palace from Chelsea over three seasons ago.
  27. ISBN 978-1-84196-188-0
    .
  28. ^ "Stars of past and present help mark centenary". The Argus. Brighton. 24 September 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  29. ^ Matthews, Tony (18 April 2007). "John McNichol RIP". Eagle Eye. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  30. ^ "John Nichol [sic]". The Argus. Brighton. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
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