 Nicholls lining up forBristol Rovers in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Anthony Nicholls[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1992-10-05)5 October 1992 (age 32) | ||
| Place of birth | Huyton, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Huddersfield Town | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2010 | Wigan Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2016 | Wigan Athletic | 9 | (0) |
| 2010 | →Hartlepool United (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2011 | →Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2011 | →Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2012 | →Accrington Stanley (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | →Northampton Town (loan) | 46 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | →Bristol Rovers (loan) | 15 | (0) |
| 2016–2021 | Milton Keynes Dons | 131 | (0) |
| 2021– | Huddersfield Town | 115 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011 | England U19 | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 January 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:59, 8 February 2011 (UTC) | |||
Lee Anthony Nicholls (born 5 October 1992) is an English professionalfootballer who plays as agoalkeeper forEFL League One clubHuddersfield Town.
Lee Nicholls was born inHuyton,Merseyside.
Nicholls signed scholarship forms withWigan Athletic in the summer of 2009. After a series of impressive performances for thereserve team, he appeared for the first-team as a substitute for the first time on 2 January 2010 in a 4–1FA Cup third round victory overHull City.[3]
Later in the month, he signed a two-and-a-half-year professional contract with the club.[4] In January 2012, Nicholls extended his contract at Wigan until 2014.[5] In between loan spells, Nicholls made his league debut on 27 October 2013 in a goalless draw away toCharlton Athletic.[6]
Between November 2010 and May 2011, Nicholls was sent out on loan toHartlepool United,Shrewsbury Town andSheffield Wednesday, but failed to make a single appearance.[7] On 24 February 2012, he joinedAccrington Stanley on an initial one-month loan deal. Nicholls later made nine appearances for the club.[8]
On 6 August 2012, Nicholls signed on loan forLeague Two sideNorthampton Town until the end of October 2012, and later re-signed on 6 November 2012 until the end of the 2012–13 season.[9]
On 5 May 2013, Nicholls competed for Northampton Town in theLeague Two play-off semi-final second leg againstCheltenham Town. In total, Nicholls made 51 appearances for Northampton Town, achieving 20 clean sheets before returning to Wigan.[10] On 11 September 2015, Nicholls joinedLeague Two sideBristol Rovers on a three-month loan.[11][12]
On 3 August 2016, following the expiry of his contract with Wigan, Nicholls joinedLeague One clubMilton Keynes Dons, signing a two-year deal.[13] Nicholls made his debut for the club on 9 August 2016, featuring in a 2–3EFL Cup first round victory overNewport County.[14] In his first season for the club, Nicholls' made a total of sixteen appearances in all competitions, achieving two clean sheets.[15]
Following the departure of first choice goalkeeperDavid Martin, Nicholls took over the number one shirt for the 2017–18 season.[16] On 29 December 2017, Nicholls signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until June 2020.[17] On 6 May 2021, the club announced Nicholls was one of four players to be released at the end of the2020–21 season, ending his almost five-year association with MK Dons in which he made over 150 appearances.[18]
On 26 May 2021, Nicholls signed forEFL Championship clubHuddersfield Town on a two-year deal following the expiry of his contract with Milton Keynes Dons on 1 July 2021.[19] He made his debut on 1 August 2021, keeping aclean sheet in a goallessEFL Cup first round draw withSheffield Wednesday, with Huddersfield progressing to the next round following Nicholls' twopenalty shoot-out saves.[20]
He went on to have a successful debut season with the club, achieving 19 clean sheets and playing a key role in Huddersfield reaching the2022 EFL Championship play-off final.[21] Nicholls was later named in both theEFL Championship Team of the Season[22] andProfessional Footballers' Association Team of the Year.[23]
In 2010, Nicholls was named in theEngland U19 squad that reached the semi-finals of theUEFA European Under-19 Championships,[24] but did not make an appearance in the tournament. He made his debut for the team in February 2011 in a 1–0 defeat againstGermany.[25]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Wigan Athletic | 2010–11[26] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12[27] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2012–13[28] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14[29] | Championship | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2014–15[30] | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16[31] | League One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | ||
| Hartlepool United (loan) | 2010–11[26] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 2010–11[26] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 2010–11[26] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Accrington Stanley (loan) | 2011–12[27] | League Two | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| Northampton Town (loan) | 2012–13[28] | League Two | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[b][c] | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| Bristol Rovers (loan) | 2015–16[31] | League Two | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Milton Keynes Dons | 2016–17[32] | League One | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2017–18[33] | League One | 41 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[34] | League Two | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |
| 2019–20[35] | League One | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[36] | League One | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| Total | 131 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 157 | 0 | ||
| Huddersfield Town | 2021–22[21] | Championship | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 45 | 0 | |
| Career total | 254 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 291 | 0 | ||
Bristol Rovers
Milton Keynes Dons
Individual
