Colin Nigel Pepper (born 25 April 1968 in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, England), more commonly known as Nigel Pepper, is an English retired 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 ...

. He was a combative midfield player known for his powerful attacking free kicks and his solid work ethic. He was a member of the

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

team that beat

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

3–0 at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in the League Cup in 1995.

Career

Rotherham

Pepper joined his hometown club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

as an apprentice in 1985 when the club was playing in the old Division 3. He made his debut on 8 May 1986 at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

aged just 17. His first goal for the club came in a 3-2 League Cup defeat at Everton. His only league goal for the club came in a 4–2 home win against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on 25 November 1989, when he came on as substitute. He remained at the club until 1990 and was a part of the side both relegated in 1988 and promoted in 1989.

York City

Following a lack of first team opportunities at Rotherham, Pepper signed for

on a free transfer on 18 July 1990. He made his debut in the 1990–91 season against Maidstone United. He helped the club secure promotion in 1992-93 scoring one of York's penalties in the 1993 Playoff Final shootout victory at Wembley over

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

. In that season he also took over as the clubs penalty taker and netted 19 out of 22 penalties between 1990 and 1997. He was also pivotal in York making the Playoff Semi-Finals the following season, although they did not secure promotion, losing 1–0 over two legs to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

. Pepper was a member of the York team that beat

over two legs in the League Cup in 1995. Having beaten a weakened United team 3–0 at

, York were beaten 3–1 at

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City F.C., York City Football Club and York City Knights, York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it was near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway sta ...

in the second leg but went through 4–3 on aggregate. The following season, also in the League Cup, Pepper played in the York side that defeated Everton 4–3 over two legs. He made 281 league and cup appearances for the club, scoring 45 times. His final game for club came on 25 February 1997 when he scored in a 3–1 home win over Preston.

Bradford City

Pepper joined

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

on 28 February 1997 for a fee of £100,000. Bradford manager

Chris Kamara Christopher Kamara (born 25 December 1957) is an English former professional footballer and manager who worked as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports from 1992 to 2022. As a player, he was known as a tough-tackling midfielder. He joi ...

brought him in to add some steel to his central midfield. He made his club debut on 1 March 1997 in a 3–1 defeat at home to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. He went on to make a total of 52 appearances for Bradford over 3 seasons in Division 1, scoring 11 goals and helping them avoid relegation.

Aberdeen

On 26 November 1998 Pepper moved to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

for a fee of £300,000. In a match against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in March 1999, Pepper was sent off for a wild tackle six minutes after coming on as a substitute; following his return from suspension, having come on as a substitute against

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 ...

, it took just 17 seconds before he was sent off again. Pepper made just 15 appearances in league and cup for the club, but failed to find the net, in a period where on-field disciplinary problems haunted him.

Southend United

Following his unhappy time in Scotland, on 23 December 1999 Pepper joined

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

on loan for the remainder of the 1999/2000 season. He made a total of 12 appearances for The Seasiders, scoring 2 goals.

Scunthorpe United

At the end of his contract with Aberdeen, Pepper signed for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

on 7 June 2000 where he was immediately installed as club captain. However, in only his second game for the club against

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...

he sustained a double leg fracture just 13 minutes into the game in a challenge with Paul Webb and despite the injuries Pepper retaliated at Webb earning him a red card while he was being stretchered off the pitch. Pepper struggled for over a year to return to full fitness and although he made 1 further substitute appearance for the club he was released at the end of his contract in June 2002.

Barrow

In 2004 Pepper joined non league Barrow.Pepper Joins Barrow
/ref> He remained with the club until his retirement from football in 2008.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, Nigel 1968 births Living people Footballers from Rotherham English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Rotherham United F.C. players York City F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players