Patrick Kevin Francis Michael Nevin (born 6 September 1963) is a Scottish former 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 played as a winger. In a twenty-year career, he appeared for Clyde, Chelsea, Everton,

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

and

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 ...

. He won 28 caps for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, scattered across a ten-year international career, and was selected for the

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

finals squad. Since retiring as a player, Nevin has worked as a chief executive of Motherwell and as a football writer and broadcaster.

Club career

Clyde

Nevin trained with

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 ...

as a youngster, but was rejected for being too small. He was signed by Clyde in 1981. In his first season, the club were promoted as

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SF ...

champions; Nevin scored 14 goals in 30 starts and was voted SPFA Second Division Player of the Year. He scored six goals in 44 starts in his second season with the club. He was inducted into the inaugural Clyde FC Hall of Fame in 2011.

Chelsea

Nevin arrived at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

in mid-1983 for £95,000, in a team managed by

John Neal John Neal (August 25, 1793 – June 20, 1876) was an American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist. Considered both eccentric and influential, he delivered speeches and published essays, novels, poems, and short stories between the 1 ...

. Nevin's skill and pace made him a pivotal player at Chelsea and he very soon became a firm favourite with the fans. In 1983–84, he scored 14 goals, created numerous others for the likes of

Kerry Dixon Kerry Michael Dixon (born 24 July 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward. His club career was spent most notably at Chelsea, where he won the Second Division twice. His 193 goals for the club across all ...

and

David Speedie David Robert Speedie (born 20 February 1960) is a Scottish former footballer who played for several clubs in England during the 1980s and 1990s, most notably Chelsea, Coventry City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. He accumulated more than 500 ...

and put in some dazzling performances – during a 4–0 win over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, he tormented the opposition defence, leaving five defenders trailing in his wake – as Chelsea won promotion as

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

champions. In the same season he was voted Chelsea's player of the year. Chelsea finished a respectable sixth in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

and reached the League Cup semi-final in 1984–85. Nevin set up three goals in the quarter-final against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

as Chelsea came back from 3–0 down to draw 4–4, and he set up the winning goal scored by

in the replay. The club were in the title race for much of the 1985–86 season, with Nevin scoring a late equaliser against Liverpool at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

and a crucial header against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

to seal a 2–1 win. A late collapse saw Chelsea finish sixth after being in the title race for most of the season. The club's performances dropped and they finished 14th in 1986–87, though Nevin was again voted Chelsea player of the year. They were relegated a year later.

Everton

Chelsea were relegated in 1988 and Nevin was sold to Everton. He scored 20 goals in 138 appearances for the club, but struggled to re-capture his previous form with manager

Colin Harvey James Colin Harvey (born 16 November 1944) is an English former professional association football, footballer who is best known for his time as a player, coach and manager with Everton F.C., Everton. Playing career Harvey was born in Liverpool ...

adopting a far more rigid system. He helped the side reach the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final in 1989, scoring the winner against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

in the semi-final, but they lost 3–2 in the final to arch-rivals

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston ...

returned to the club as manager in November 1990; he and Nevin openly disagreed with each other, which reduced Nevin's playing opportunities, as did the arrival of new wingers

Robert Warzycha Robert Warzycha (; born 20 August 1963) is a Polish former professional football manager and player. A right winger, Warzycha had a long career in Europe, playing for teams in Poland, Hungary and England with Everton in the Premier League. He ...

and Mark Ward. Nevin was unfortunate to arrive at Everton just after one of the finest spells in their history, when they had collected two league titles, an

and the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

. In contrast, Nevin's four seasons at the club saw a runners-up medal in the

(1989) being the closest he came to being part of a trophy winning side, and they never finished higher than sixth in the league (1990).

Tranmere Rovers

Nevin spent time on loan with fellow

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

club

, then in the second tier of

English football Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first football league, the oldest ...

, before signing permanently in 1992. The club competed in the Division One play-offs in three consecutive seasons (1992–93, 1993–94 and 1994–95) but on each occasion they were eliminated in the semi-final.

Return to Scotland

In 1997, Nevin returned to Scotland and played for

and later

before retiring in 2000.

International career

In 1982 while playing for Clyde, Nevin travelled to Finland to play for the Scotland U18 team at the UEFA European Youth Championship and was named player of the tournament after helping Scotland win it. The following year, he starred for the Scotland U20 team that reached the quarter-finals of the

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

. Nevin won 28

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Scottish national side, making his debut against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in 1986. He scored five goals in a ten-year international career and played at Euro 92, but was not selected in the final squads for the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

s. He made his final appearance for Scotland in 1996 but did not appear at the

Euro 96 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

finals.

Post-playing career

After retiring as a player, Nevin became chief executive of Motherwell. He resigned in April 2002, after Motherwell chairman John Boyle put the club into administration due to financial problems. He works as a football pundit on television and radio. Nevin co-wrote a book, ''In Ma Head, Son'', with psychologist Dr George Sik. It explores Nevin's worries, motivation and troubles during the 1996–97 season at

as he neared the end of his playing career. He has an arts degree from

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...

. His interest in literature, the arts, and his musical taste distinguishes him from many of his peers. He preferred The Fall and

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

. He was interviewed by music magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' and was a guest music presenter on Radio City during his Everton and Tranmere career. At the second

Bowlie Weekender The Bowlie Weekender was a music festival curated by Belle & Sebastian at the Pontin's Holiday camp in Camber Sands, Sussex between Friday 23 and Sunday 25 April 1999. The event was the inspiration for All Tomorrow's Parties, a music festival ...

, hosted by ATP he played a DJ set, playing

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...

and "My New House" by The Fall while wearing a

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are an American indie pop band from New York City. The band was formed by Kip Berman (vocals, guitar), Peggy Wang (keyboards, vocals), Alex Naidus (bass), and Kurt Feldman (drums) in 2007. Their current lineup i ...

T-shirt. The following day he slipped an indiepop reference onto 5 Live while talking about the Man Utd vs Arsenal match. He has also appeared as a guest DJ at Scared To Dance and How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, which are both indiepop club nights in London. He makes a guest appearance on the 1986 Ted Chippington / Vindaloo Summer Special (with Robert Lloyd & The Nightingales and Fuzzbox) video of "Rockin With Rita". In 2010, Nevin signed as a non-playing substitute for new club

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

after Colin Murray of BBC Radio 5 live offered the new club £2,000 if they named Nevin and

Perry Groves Perry Groves (born 19 April 1965) is an English former professional footballer, best known for his time at Arsenal. A fast-paced player who usually played as a left winger and occasionally a striker, Groves also played professionally for Colche ...

as unused substitutes at every game in the 2010–11 season. This was live on 'Kicking off with Colin Murray', a show Nevin has appeared on every week since the start of the 2009–10 season.

Personal life

Nevin grew up supporting

.Pat Nevin Internet Interview
''ToffeeWeb''. He switched his support to

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

after feeling that his boyhood club had become a large corporate organisation and the

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

stadium no longer felt like home.Nevin on Hibernian
,

official website, 15 October 2009. Another reason was Celtic fans chanting IRA songs.Celtic fans' IRA chants drove me away from the club I love, says Pat Nevin
The Scotsman, 7 September 2011. He also supports his former club Chelsea, and writes a weekly column for the Chelsea website. Nevin lives in

Duns Duns may refer to: * Duns, Scottish Borders, a town in Berwickshire, Scotland ** Duns railway station ** Duns F.C., a football club ** Duns RFC, a rugby football club ** Battle of Duns, an engagement fought in 1372 * Duns Scotus ( 1265/66– ...

, a small town in the Scottish Borders with his wife and two children. His daughter, also a keen sports player, was a Scottish champion in

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

. He received an honorary degree from

Abertay University Abertay University () is a public university in the city of Dundee, Scotland. In 1872, Sir David Baxter, 1st Baronet of Kilmaron, left a bequest for the establishment of a mechanics' institute in Dundee and the Dundee Institute of Technology w ...

in 2012. Nevin's wife is the cousin of the retired English footballer

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that feature ...

. Nevin has written and released two memoirs, ''The Accidental Footballer: A Memoir'' and ''Football and How to Survive It'' in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nevin goal.''

Honours

Clyde *

: 1981–82 Chelsea *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 1983–84 *

Full Members' Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

: 1985–86 Everton *

runner-up: 1988–89 *Full Members' Cup runner-up: 1988–89, 1990–91 Kilmarnock *

Ayrshire Cup The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, the tr ...

: 1997–98 Scotland U18 *

UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

Scotland *

Rous Cup The Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition hosted in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America. It was named after Sir Stanley Rous, an English football admi ...

runner-up:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Individual * SPFA Second Division Player of the Year: 1981–82 *UEFA European Under-18 Championship Best Player:

Chelsea Player of the Year The Chelsea Player of the Season award is an official award given by Chelsea F.C., Chelsea Football Club, to award the player who has most contributed to the success and achievements of the club's men's first team over the course of a season. Th ...

: 1983–84, 1986–87 *Tranmere Rovers Hall of Fame: 2010 * Gwladys Street's Hall of Fame: 2012 *Clyde Hall of Fame: 2012

References

External links

Clyde FC Hall of Fame profileChelsea FC Legends profileEverton FC profile

Profile from BBC Press OfficePat Nevin
on the Chelsea in America Celebrity Podcast ''(2009)''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevin, Pat 1963 births Living people 21st-century Scottish memoirists Footballers from Glasgow Men's association football wingers Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scotland men's B international footballers UEFA Euro 1992 players Clyde F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Everton F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Motherwell F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish people of Irish descent Scottish chief executives Scottish sports executives and administrators Scottish association football commentators Scotland men's under-21 international footballers People associated with the University of Abertay Dundee