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 Nicholl in 1994 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Michael Nicholl[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1956-12-28)28 December 1956 (age 68) | ||
| Place of birth | Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Northern Ireland (assistant manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1971–1974 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1974–1982 | Manchester United | 197 | (3) |
| 1982 | →Sunderland (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1982 | Toronto Blizzard | 16 | (3) |
| 1982–1983 | Sunderland | 29 | (0) |
| 1983–1984 | Toronto Blizzard | 49 | (8) |
| 1983–1984 | Rangers | 17 | (0) |
| 1984–1986 | West Bromwich Albion | 56 | (0) |
| 1986–1989 | Rangers | 58 | (0) |
| 1989–1990 | Dunfermline Athletic | 24 | (0) |
| 1990–1996 | Raith Rovers | 128 | (6) |
| 1996 | Bath City | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 577 | (20) | |
| International career | |||
| 1976–1986 | Northern Ireland | 73 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1990–1996 | Raith Rovers (player-manager) | ||
| 1996–1997 | Millwall | ||
| 1997–1999 | Raith Rovers | ||
| 2010–2011 | Cowdenbeath | ||
| 2013 | Hibernian (caretaker) | ||
| 2013–2015 | Cowdenbeath | ||
| 2018 | Rangers (caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James Michael Nicholl (born 28 December 1956) is a Northern Irish former professionalfootballer who played for several clubs, includingManchester United andRangers.[3] He was mainly aright-back but could also play in other defensive roles. Nicholl won a total of 73 internationalcaps forNorthern Ireland, scoring one goal.
After retiring as a player, he moved into coaching and management. He enjoyed success as manager ofRaith Rovers, winning the1994–95 Scottish League Cup. In recent years he has worked as an assistant coach for several Scottish clubs, includingAberdeen,Kilmarnock,Hibernian,Falkirk, Rangers andDundee.
Jimmy Nicholl was born inHamilton, Ontario, Canada, to Northern Irish parents. His family moved back to Northern Ireland when he was 3. Nicholl grew up on theRathcoole estate on the outskirts ofBelfast. After he began his football career as an apprentice withManchester United, the club arranged for Nicholl's family to relocate to England, to avoid the unrest caused bythe Troubles in Northern Ireland.[4]
Nicholl started his career as a junior player atManchester United. His senior career started in 1974. He helped the club win the1977 FA Cup Final and collected a runners-up medal in1979.
In 1981, he left the club after scoring five goals, joiningSunderland on a permanent contract after a loan spell, and playing 32 games in one season before moving toToronto Blizzard in Canada, scoring 11 goals in 77 games over the next two years before signing forRangers.
In 1984, he returned to the English league to sign forWest 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 forDunfermline Athletic in 1989 before moving to aplayer-manager role atRaith Rovers, having originally joined them on 27 November 1990. Following his time at Rovers, Nicholl played one game forBath City in February 1996, a 3–0 defeat at home toMacclesfield Town. He was sent off after 55 minutes and never played for the club again.[5]
Nicholl had great success as manager ofRaith Rovers, winning the1994–95 Scottish League Cup and the1994–95 Scottish First Division championship. Due to their League Cup triumph, Raith qualified for the1995–96 UEFA Cup and reached the second round, where they were eliminated by eventual winnersBayern Munich.[6] Having lost the first leg to Bayern 2–0 atEaster Road,[7] Raith took a 1–0 lead at theOlympiastadion thanks to a goal byDanny 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 ofMillwall, 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 toJimmy Calderwood atEast End Park. In May 2004, Nicholl followed Calderwood when he took over as manager atAberdeen,[8] again serving as his assistant until the two parted company with the club in May 2009.[9] He resumed his partnership with Calderwood atKilmarnock in 2010.
Nicholl was appointed manager ofCowdenbeath 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 ofKilmarnock for a second time, byKenny Shiels on 15 June 2011.[12] Kilmarnock won the2011–12 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 atHibernian.[13][14] After managerPat 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 toCowdenbeath for a second stint as their manager.[17] He led the Blue Brazil to avoid relegation via theScottish Championship play-offs in the2013–14 season beating local rivalsDunfermline Athletic in the two-legged final. He led the side to theFife Cup that season. However a very difficult season followed in2014–15, which included a joint-record 10–0 defeat to eventual championsHeart of Midlothian. The following week, Cowdenbeath managed to draw 0–0 withRangers. The club was relegated toLeague One on the last day, after which Nicholl resigned as manager.[18]
While still at Cowdenbeath, Nicholl had also become assistant manager toMichael O'Neill with the Northern Ireland national team in March 2015.[19] He was appointed as assistant to newFalkirk managerPaul Hartley in October 2017, while also continuing in his role with Northern Ireland.[20] He became assistant manager atRangers in January 2018, assistingGraeme Murty.[21] After Murty left Rangers on 1 May, Nicholl andJonatan Johansson were placed in interim charge[22] until the appointment ofSteven Gerrard on 1 June.
Nicholl joinedSt Mirren as their first team coach in November 2018.[23] He then moved toDundee in May 2019, assistingJames McPake.[24] Nicholl was released from the club in June 2020.[25]
On 28 June 2020, Nicholl became assistant manager ofNorthern Ireland national football team.[26]
Manchester United
Rangers
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers
Cowdenbeath
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||||
| Raith Rovers[28] |  | November 1990 | February 1996 | 249 | 99 | 72 | 78 | 039.76 | |
| Millwall |  | February 1996 | February 1997 | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 032.61 | |
| Raith Rovers | | August 1997 | June 1999 | 81 | 29 | 20 | 32 | 035.80 | |
| Cowdenbeath | | June 2010 | June 2011 | 42 | 10 | 9 | 23 | 023.81 | |
| Cowdenbeath | | November 2013 | May 2015 | 67 | 20 | 10 | 37 | 029.85 | |
| Rangers (caretaker) | | May 2018 | June 2018 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 033.33 | |
| Total | 488 | 174 | 124 | 190 | 035.66 | ||||
Jimmy Nicholl – Northern Ireland squads | |||||||
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