Northern Irish footballer (born 1956)
James Michael Nicholl
(born 28 December 1956) is a Northern Irish former professional
footballer
who played for several clubs, including
Manchester United
and
Rangers
.
[3]
He was mainly a
right-back
but could also play in other defensive roles. Nicholl won a total of 73 international
caps
for
Northern Ireland
, scoring one goal.
After retiring as a player, he moved into coaching and management. He enjoyed success as manager of
Raith Rovers
, winning the
1994?95 Scottish League Cup
. In recent years he has worked as an assistant coach for several Scottish clubs, including
Aberdeen
,
Kilmarnock
,
Hibernian
,
Falkirk
, Rangers and
Dundee
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Jimmy Nicholl was born in
Hamilton, Ontario
, Canada, to Northern Irish parents. His family moved back to Northern Ireland when he was 3. Nicholl grew up on the
Rathcoole
estate on the outskirts of
Belfast
. After he began his football career as an apprentice with
Manchester United
, the club arranged for Nicholl's family to relocate to England, to avoid the unrest caused by
the Troubles
in Northern Ireland.
[4]
Playing career
[
edit
]
Nicholl started his career as a junior player at
Manchester United
. His senior career started in 1974. He helped the club win the
1977 FA Cup Final
and collected a runners-up medal in
1979
.
In 1981, he left the club after scoring five goals, joining
Sunderland
on a permanent contract after a loan spell, and playing 32 games in one season before moving to
Toronto Blizzard
in Canada, scoring 11 goals in 77 games over the next two years before signing for
Rangers
.
In 1984, he returned to the English league to sign for
West Bromwich Albion
where he stayed until their relegation from the First Division in 1986, then returning to Rangers for three years, helping them win two Scottish league titles in the process.
After leaving Rangers, he signed for
Dunfermline Athletic
in 1989 before moving to a
player-manager
role at
Raith Rovers
, having originally joined them on 27 November 1990. Following his time at Rovers, Nicholl played one game for
Bath City
in February 1996, a 3?0 defeat at home to
Macclesfield Town
. He was sent off after 55 minutes and never played for the club again.
[5]
Coaching career
[
edit
]
Nicholl had great success as manager of
Raith Rovers
, winning the
1994?95 Scottish League Cup
and the
1994?95 Scottish First Division
championship. Due to their League Cup triumph, Raith qualified for the
1995?96 UEFA Cup
and reached the second round, where they were eliminated by eventual winners
Bayern Munich
.
[6]
Having lost the first leg to Bayern 2?0 at
Easter Road
,
[7]
Raith took a 1?0 lead at the
Olympiastadion
thanks to a goal by
Danny Lennon
.
[6]
Bayern recovered to win 2?1 on the night and 4?1 on aggregate.
[6]
On 28 February 1996, Nicholl was appointed manager of
Millwall
, who just over two months earlier had been top of Division One but were now sliding down the table. He was unable to arrest the decline and Millwall slipped into Division Two on the last day of the season. He remained at Millwall until the following February, and six months after that returned to Raith Rovers.
[
citation needed
]
His second spell at Raith lasted two years, and ended on 14 June 1999 after he had failed to get them back into the top flight.
[
citation needed
]
A 28-day spell as manager of Dunfermline Athletic followed later in 1999, and he later served as assistant manager to
Jimmy Calderwood
at
East End Park
. In May 2004, Nicholl followed Calderwood when he took over as manager at
Aberdeen
,
[8]
again serving as his assistant until the two parted company with the club in May 2009.
[9]
He resumed his partnership with Calderwood at
Kilmarnock
in 2010.
Nicholl was appointed manager of
Cowdenbeath
in June 2010,
[10]
but he left Cowdenbeath at the end of the 2010?11 season after they were relegated from the First Division.
[11]
Nicholl was then appointed assistant manager of
Kilmarnock
for a second time, by
Kenny Shiels
on 15 June 2011.
[12]
Kilmarnock won the
2011?12 Scottish League Cup
under Shiels and Nicholl, but Shiels was sacked by Kilmarnock in June 2013. Nicholl then decided to accept the offer of assistant manager at
Hibernian
.
[13]
[14]
After manager
Pat Fenlon
resigned on 1 November, Nicholl was appointed caretaker manager.
[15]
Nicholl left Hibernian soon after their new management team was recruited.
[16]
After leaving Hibernian, Nicholl returned to
Cowdenbeath
for a second stint as their manager.
[17]
He led the Blue Brazil to avoid relegation via the
Scottish Championship
play-offs in the
2013?14
season beating local rivals
Dunfermline Athletic
in the two-legged final. He led the side to the
Fife Cup
that season. However a very difficult season followed in
2014?15
, which included a joint-record 10?0 defeat to eventual champions
Heart of Midlothian
. The following week, Cowdenbeath managed to draw 0?0 with
Rangers
. The club was relegated to
League One
on the last day, after which Nicholl resigned as manager.
[18]
While still at Cowdenbeath, Nicholl had also become assistant manager to
Michael O'Neill
with the Northern Ireland national team in March 2015.
[19]
He was appointed as assistant to new
Falkirk
manager
Paul Hartley
in October 2017, while also continuing in his role with Northern Ireland.
[20]
He became assistant manager at
Rangers
in January 2018, assisting
Graeme Murty
.
[21]
After Murty left Rangers on 1 May, Nicholl and
Jonatan Johansson
were placed in interim charge
[22]
until the appointment of
Steven Gerrard
on 1 June.
Nicholl joined
St Mirren
as their first team coach in November 2018.
[23]
He then moved to
Dundee
in May 2019, assisting
James McPake
.
[24]
Nicholl was released from the club in June 2020.
[25]
On 28 June 2020, Nicoll became assistant manager of
Northern Ireland national football team
.
[26]
Honours
[
edit
]
Player
[
edit
]
Manchester United
Rangers
Raith Rovers
Manager
[
edit
]
Raith Rovers
Cowdenbeath
Managerial statistics
[
edit
]
- As of 13 May 2018
Team
|
Nat
|
From
|
To
|
Record
|
G
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
Win %
|
Raith Rovers
[27]
|
|
November 1990
|
February 1996
|
249
|
99
|
72
|
78
|
0
39.76
|
Millwall
|
|
February 1996
|
February 1997
|
46
|
15
|
11
|
20
|
0
32.61
|
Raith Rovers
|
|
August 1997
|
June 1999
|
81
|
29
|
20
|
32
|
0
35.80
|
Cowdenbeath
|
|
June 2010
|
June 2011
|
42
|
10
|
9
|
23
|
0
23.81
|
Cowdenbeath
|
|
November 2013
|
May 2015
|
67
|
20
|
10
|
37
|
0
29.85
|
Rangers
(caretaker)
|
|
May 2018
|
June 2018
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
33.33
|
Total
|
488
|
174
|
124
|
190
|
0
35.66
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Jimmy Nicholl"
.
Barry Hugman's Footballers
. Retrieved
8 April
2017
.
- ^
Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987).
Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987?88
. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 384.
ISBN
978-0-356-14354-5
.
- ^
"Northern Ireland Footballing Greats: Jimmy Nicholl"
. Retrieved
15 January
2008
.
- ^
Cameron, Neil (12 April 2016).
"Jimmy Nicholl on football, the Troubles, and bringing together divided communities"
.
The Herald
. Glasgow
. Retrieved
1 November
2017
.
- ^
"Past Players"
. Bath City FC. Archived from
the original
on 29 November 2014
. Retrieved
15 June
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
Forsyth, Roddy (3 April 2014).
"Raith Rovers recall Bayern Munich clash as they face Rangers in Ramsden Cup final"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London
. Retrieved
1 May
2018
.
- ^
McKinney, David (17 October 1995).
"Bayern ruin all Raith's dreams"
.
The Independent
. London.
Archived
from the original on 8 June 2022
. Retrieved
1 May
2018
.
- ^
"Calderwood agrees Dons move"
. BBC Sport. 28 May 2004
. Retrieved
6 February
2009
.
- ^
"Dons part with manager Calderwood"
. BBC Sport. 24 May 2009
. Retrieved
24 November
2017
.
- ^
"Jimmy Nicholl is confirmed as Cowdenbeath manager"
. BBC Sport. 25 June 2010
. Retrieved
25 June
2010
.
- ^
"Cameron in for Nicholl at Cowden"
. BBC Sport. 6 June 2011.
- ^
"Kilmarnock confirm management duo"
. STV Sport. 15 June 2011
. Retrieved
15 June
2011
.
- ^
"Jimmy Nicholl leaves Kilmarnock to join Hibernian"
. BBC Sport. 15 June 2013
. Retrieved
15 June
2013
.
- ^
"Assistant Manager Confirmed"
. Hibernian FC. 15 June 2013
. Retrieved
15 June
2013
.
- ^
"Hibernian manager Pat Fenlon exits Easter Road"
. BBC Sport. 1 November 2013
. Retrieved
1 November
2013
.
- ^
Young, Chick; Spence, Jim (14 November 2013).
"Inverness: John Hughes and Kenny Shiels in for manager's job"
. BBC Sport
. Retrieved
14 November
2013
.
- ^
"Cowdenbeath: Jimmy Nicholl returns for second manager spell"
. BBC Sport. 30 November 2013
. Retrieved
30 November
2013
.
- ^
"Cowdenbeath: Jimmy Nicholl resigns as boss after relegation"
. BBC Sport. 5 May 2015
. Retrieved
5 May
2015
.
- ^
"Jimmy Nicholl appointed Northern Ireland assistant manager"
.
Belfast Telegraph
. 18 March 2015
. Retrieved
1 November
2017
.
- ^
"Jimmy Nicholl becomes Falkirk assistant but remains with Northern Ireland"
. BBC Sport. 17 October 2017
. Retrieved
1 November
2017
.
- ^
Young, Chick (30 December 2017).
"Jimmy Nicholl: Rangers to appoint Falkirk assistant as Ibrox number two"
. BBC Sport
. Retrieved
30 December
2017
.
- ^
"Club Statement"
. Rangers FC. 1 May 2018
. Retrieved
1 May
2018
.
- ^
"Jimmy Nicholl: Northern Irishman becomes St Mirren first-team coach"
. BBC Sport. 29 November 2018
. Retrieved
29 November
2018
.
- ^
"Dundee: James McPake confirmed as club's new manager"
. BBC Sport. 31 May 2019
. Retrieved
31 May
2019
.
- ^
"Nicholl and McDermid leave club"
.
Dundee FC
. 26 June 2020
. Retrieved
26 June
2020
.
- ^
"Nicholl to stay on as NI assistant manager"
. BBC Sport.
- ^
"Raith Rovers manager Jimmy Nicholl"
. Fitbastats.com
. Retrieved
1 April
2017
.
External links
[
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]
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First Team
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Second Team
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Honorable Mention
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2012
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2013
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2014
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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2023
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Jimmy Nicholl ? Northern Ireland squads
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Jimmy Nicholl ? Manager positions
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