 Nickel with Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1979 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1953-07-21)21 July 1953 | ||
| Place of birth | Espelkamp,West Germany | ||
| Date of death | 4 August 2019(2019-08-04) (aged 66) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1. FC Lübbecke | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971–1972 | Arminia Bielefeld | 5 | (0) |
| 1972–1975 | KFC Turnhout | 88 | (43) |
| 1975–1976 | Union SG | 30 | (22) |
| 1976–1977 | K.V. Kortrijk | 32 | (14) |
| 1977–1978 | Standard Liège | 32 | (23) |
| 1978–1979 | Eintracht Braunschweig | 27 | (16) |
| 1979–1981 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 65 | (32) |
| 1981–1982 | FC Basel | 20 | (6) |
| Total | 299 | (156) | |
| International career | |||
| 1978–1980 | West Germany B | 5 | (3) |
| 1979–1980 | West Germany | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Harald Nickel (21 July 1953 – 4 August 2019)[1] was a Germanfootballer who played as aforward.[2]
Nickel spent four seasons in theBundesliga, first one withArminia Bielefeld. He then moved to Belgium and played for several clubs. Returning to Germany, he played one season withEintracht Braunschweig and two forBorussia Mönchengladbach.[3]
He is especially remembered for his goal in the1979–80 UEFA Cup, second round return match inSan Siro on 7 February 1979.Inter Milan played as favorites against Nickel'sBorussia Mönchengladbach and were leading 1–0. Gladbach's keeperWolfgang Kneib's goal-kick landed in the opponent's half. Harald Nickel took the ball on in the air, pulled away in the turn and slammed the ball directly under the crossbar from 40 meters. It was the goal to the result, a 1-1 draw (Borussia won after extra time) and this goal was later voted Goal of the Year 1979.[4]
To end his career Nickel moved to Switzerland. He joinedFC Basel's first team for their1981–82 season under head coachHelmut Benthaus. Nickel played his debut for his new club in theCup of the Alps game inPorrentruy on 4 July 1981 as Basel were defeated 3–0 by French teamFC Girondins de Bordeaux.[5] He scored his first goal for his new team in the next Cup of the Alps match, one week later inDelémont, on 11 July. In fact he scored a brace as Basel won 4–1 againstBastia.[6] Basel advanced to the final, on 29 September, againstSochaux, which ended with a two goal each draw after extra time. In the penalty shoot-out Nickel converted the decisive spot-kick and Basel lifted the trophy.[7]
He played hisdomestic league debut for the club in the home game in theSt. Jakob Stadium on 15 August as Basel won 2–0 againstAarau.[8] He scored his first league goal with the team in the home game on 12 September. In fact he scored a hat-trick as Basel won 3–0 against local rivalsNordstern.[9] Basel ended the season in 8th position in the league table and Nickel retired from active football. He played a total of 41 games for Basel scoring a total of 14 goals. 20 of these games were in theSwiss Super League, two in theSwiss Cup, three in theLeague Cup five in theCup of the Alps and 11 were friendly games. He scored six goals in the domestic league, one in the cup, five in the Cup of the Alps and the other two were scored during the test games.[10]
Nickel was also capped three times forWest Germany.[11]
Born inEspelkamp,West Germany, Nickel played his youth football with local club 1. FC Lübbecke.
At the age of just 66, the former international player Harald Nickel succumbed to serious cancer on the 4 August 2019.[12][13]
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Basel
Individual
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)