Nicholas Cadden (born 19 September 1996) is a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a winger for Hibernian. Cadden has previously played for Airdrieonians, Livingston, Ayr United, Greenock Morton and

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. He is the twin brother of

Chris Cadden Christopher Cadden (born 19 September 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Hibernian. Cadden, who is a product of the Motherwell Academy, made his first full international appearance for Scotland in M ...

Career

Both of the Cadden twins played for

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

youth teams, where their father was the under-14s coach. Chris Cadden was offered professional terms by Motherwell, but Nicky was released by the club at that stage.

Airdrieonians

Following his release from

, Nicky Cadden joined Airdrieonians. He made his first team debut on 16 November 2013 against

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

and scored his first competitive goal over two years later on 26 December 2015 against

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

. He left at the end of the 2015–16 season.

Livingston

Cadden signed for

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

side Livingston in summer 2016 ahead of the club's first and only year in

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

. He scored on his first competitive match for the ''Lions'', in a 3–2 loss to St Mirren. He made his league debut in August against former side Airdrieonians and went on to play 33 more games in his first season, scoring 6 goals; Livingston were promoted as champions. In the

2017–18 Scottish Championship The 2017–18 Scottish Championship (known as the Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017. Ten tea ...

, Cadden appeared 26 times (around half from the bench) as the club finished runners-up, and was then selected for all four playoff matches, ''Livi'' defeating

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

and

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

to progress to the Premiership.

Loan to Ayr United

On 31 January 2019, Cadden moved to

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club Ayr United until the end of the 2018–19 season.

Greenock Morton

In June 2019, Cadden signed for Greenock Morton on a one-year contract.

Forest Green Rovers

Cadden joined League Two club

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

on 3 July 2020. After not conceding a goal all month and contributing to four out of his side's five goals, the attacking wing-back was awarded the league's Player of the Month award for September 2021. Following Forest Green Rovers' title winning campaign, Cadden was named in both the EFL League Two Team of the Season at the

EFL Awards The EFL Awards is an annual awards ceremony commemorating association football players, clubs and associated individuals involved in the three divisions of the English Football League (EFL). The event was established in 2006 and is usually hel ...

and the PFA League Two Team of the Year. Cadden was offered a new contract at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Barnsley

On 11 July 2022, Cadden joined newly relegated League One club

on a two-year deal. On 17 May 2024, the club announced he would be released in the summer when his contract expired.

Hibernian

On 6 August 2024, Cadden joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side Hibernian on a three-year deal. He links up with his twin brother,

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

, who has been at the club since 2021.

Personal life

Nicky's twin brother

currently plays alongside him at Hibernian. Their father Steve won a lower division title with Albion Rovers. The brothers attended Our Lady's High School, Motherwell, one year group ahead of fellow footballer

Kieran Tierney Kieran Tierney (born 5 June 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Scotland national team. Tierney came through the Celtic youth system and made his first-team debut in ...

Career statistics

Honours

Livingston *

: 2016–17 Forest Green Rovers *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

: 2021–22 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: League Two 2021–22 * EFL League Two Team of the Season: 2021–22 * EFL League Two Player of the Month: September 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cadden, Nicky 1996 births Living people People educated at Our Lady's High School, Motherwell Footballers from Bellshill Scottish twins Scottish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Hibernian F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen