Stephen Nicol (born 11 December 1961) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who mainly played as a right back and occasionally played in other positions across defence and midfield. He played for the successful

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 ...

teams of the 1980s. He was also a regular member of the Scotland national team and represented his country at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

. Nicol started his playing career with local club Ayr United, moving to Liverpool in 1981. He won five English league championships, three

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 ...

winners medals, and the 1984 European Cup during 14 years with Liverpool. Nicol played for several other English teams after leaving Liverpool, including Notts County,

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 ...

and Doncaster Rovers, before emigrating to the United States in 1999. He was most recently coach of the New England Revolution and was the longest-tenured head coach in

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

to coach a single club. Nicol is now a commentator for

ESPN FC ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as Soc ...

Club career

Ayr United

Nicol began his career with Troon Thistle at age 9, then joined Ayr United at age 16, and started playing for the first team in 1979, where he spent just over two seasons with the Scottish side, racking up 70 league appearances, before Liverpool manager Bob Paisley decided to pay what turned out to be a bargain price, £300,000, to bring Nicol to Anfield on 26 October 1981.

Liverpool

Nicol, who was signed by Bob Paisley, had to wait almost an entire year to make his senior debut for

and two years for a regular first team place, arriving at the club halfway through a 20-year period of dominance. He made his ''Reds'' debut on 31 August 1982 in a 0–0 league draw with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

at St Andrew's and made a further three league appearances that season. The Reds finished as league champions for the 14th time, but Nicol did not make enough appearances to collect a title winner's medal. Nicol became a regular in the 1983–84 season under new boss Joe Fagan. He also scored his first goal for the club on 22 October 1983, in a 1–0 league victory over Queens Park Rangers at

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

. He went on to win a League championship medal by the end of his first full season, having not appeared enough times the previous season to qualify for a medal. However, he was not picked for the League Cup final victory over fierce Merseyside derby rivals Everton in the first-ever all-

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 ...

final. He came on as a substitute for Craig Johnston in the European Cup final against Roma in the Stadio Olimpico, Rome. After a 1–1 draw, the match went to a penalty shootout. Nicol missed his spot-kick, but Roma failed to score two of their penalties and Liverpool won the competition. Nicol became a first-team regular for many subsequent seasons, winning the league championship and

"double" in 1986 under the guidance of Kenny Dalglish, pipping Everton to the title by just two points and then beating them 3–1 in the first-ever all

FA Cup final. He was also settling into an international career, which would ultimately yield 27 caps and a place in the

in Mexico, with

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 ...

. A versatile player, he played most often at right back following the departure of Phil Neal in 1985, though he also featured at left back, in the centre of defence and as a midfield player. He even played up front on a couple of occasions. He earned the nickname 'Chopsy' because of how he pronounced the word 'chips'. In the 1987–88 season, he was in a good goal scoring form, despite playing in a position not naturally conducive to attacking. This form included a memorable

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

at Newcastle United and a phenomenal long-range header to win at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on the opening day of the season. Nicol's defensive qualities were also much admired as Liverpool coasted to the league title, but missed out on another "double" when Wimbledon surprisingly beat them 1–0 in the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

at Wembley. Nicol was the last Liverpool player to have a chance to equalise and force extra-time, but his diving header in injury time flew narrowly over the crossbar. A year later, Nicol played his part as Liverpool won the

against Everton, winning 3–2 after extra time, but lost the League title in a decider against Arsenal with virtually the last kick of the season. The campaign ended on a personal high for Nicol as he was named '' Footballer of the Year'' by football writers. Nicol accompanied his teammates to many of the funerals and memorial services of the 96 fans who died at the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...

. Like many others in the Liverpool squad, Hillsborough was the second tragedy Nicol had witnessed. Four years earlier, just before the 1985 European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Liverpool fans had charged a section of, mainly,

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

supporters, causing a retaining wall to collapse, killing 39 people. As a result of the Heysel disaster, a five-year ban was placed on English clubs in European competitions, with Liverpool being banned for six years. Nicol would be one of the few players still with Liverpool when their ban from European competitions was finally lifted. When Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 9–0 during the 1989–90 season to accumulate the club's biggest-ever League victory, Nicol was the only player to score twice, getting the first and last goals of the game in the seventh and 90th minutes. Liverpool regained the league title that season – their last until 2019–20 – and, two years later, Nicol was in the team which, under Graeme Souness, won the

again in 1992, this time beating

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

2–0. He remained a regular player for Liverpool until the start of the 1994–95 season, when he was forced onto the sidelines with the arrival of new defenders Phil Babb and John Scales. His final appearance for the club was a League Cup tie against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

in October 1994. In 13 years at Anfield, he had played a total of 343 league games and scored 36 goals. At the time of leaving, he was the club's most senior player in terms of unbroken service. Although

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best Welsh playe ...

had joined the club more than a year before Nicol, Rush's service had been disrupted by a year-long spell at

Notts County

Nicol stayed at Liverpool until 20 January 1995 when he took on a player-assistant coach role at Notts County after being recruited by County's former Everton manager Howard Kendall. He stayed at

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane is a football (soccer), football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County F.C., Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 201 ...

for just 10 months, playing 32 times. After Kendall was sacked, Nicol received his first taste of management when he took charge of the club with two other players for the final months of the Magpies' disastrous 1994–95 campaign. But his efforts were not enough to save Notts County from relegation to Division Two.

Sheffield Wednesday

Following the end of the season, Nicol next moved to

in November 1995, where he made his debut against former derby rivals Everton at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

on 25 November in a game which ended in a 2–2 draw. However, probably Nicol's best memory of his time at Hillsborough happened on 7 December 1996 when his Wednesday side traveled to his old stomping ground of Anfield. The

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

side completely nullified the Liverpool attack, which contained the likes of Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. Often considered one of the greatest England players of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Barnes currently works as an ...

, and came away with a 1–0 victory with Nicol playing a major part in the Wednesday defence.

English lower divisions, move to America

Nicol went on to make 49 league appearances before spending a spell on loan at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

during the 1997–98 season where he played nine games. He then had a short spell with Doncaster Rovers before heading to the U.S. to take a player-coach position with the Boston Bulldogs of the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

in 1999. In September of that year, he took over as interim player-coach (he did not make any playing appearances) with the New England Revolution of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

for the final two games of the season, winning both. He returned to the Boston Bulldogs as player-coach for the 2000 and 2001 seasons before re-joining the Revs in 2002 as an assistant coach.

International career

Nicol was first capped at the senior level for

on 12 September 1984, soon after becoming a first team regular for Liverpool.

Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...

gave Nicol his international debut in a friendly with

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. His debut was a memorable one, as he helped Scotland beat

6–1 in a friendly at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

in front of a crowd of 18,512. Helping Nicol settle in with the national team were club mates

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Graeme Souness, who both scored. The last of his 27 full caps for Scotland came on 11 September 1991 in a 2–2 draw in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

during the Euro 92 qualifiers. He was in Scotland's squad for the 1986 World Cup.

Coaching career

Nicol's began his coaching career at

Notts County F.C. Notts County Football Club is a professional football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football, following promotion from the National League in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1862, ...

as an assistant-coach / player for Howard Kendall. Following Kendall's dismissal, Nicol took over as club manager on an interim basis. He returned to playing following the appointment of former

Shelbourne F.C. Shelbourne Football Club is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish professional Association football, football club based in Drumcondra, Dublin, currently playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They ...

boss Colin Murphy. In 1999, Nicol moved to the United States to play for the Boston Bulldogs, and became player-manager following the departure of John Kerr.

New England Revolution

On 30 September 1999, Nicol took over interim coaching duties for the New England Revolution of

following the dismissal of then-player-coach Walter Zenga. At the conclusion of the 1999 season, Nicol returned to the Boston Bulldogs, but would rejoin the Revolution as an assistant to Fernando Clavijo on 10 January 2002. On 23 May 2002, Nicol was again named interim manager, this time following Clavijo's dismissal. In his first year as head coach, Nicol lead the Revolution to its first-ever MLS Cup final and was subsequently named

MLS Coach of the Year The Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award is given by Major League Soccer to the best coach in any given season. The award has been given since the league's inception in 1996 and is determined by a vote from players, club personnel, and members of ...

. He was officially named head coach of the Revolution on 6 November 2002. Nicol would go on to become one of the most successful coaches in MLS history, and the most successful manager in Revolution history, bringing a period of "sustained excellence" to the club during his MLS-record ten year tenure as head coach. Under Nicol's leadership, the Revolution advanced to the MLS Eastern Conference Finals every year until

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and returned to the MLS Cup final in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, making the playoffs every year over a seven-season stretch. He was a finalist for MLS Coach of the Year in 2005, but lost to Dominic Kinnear. In 2007, Nicol also delivered the first silverware in Revolution history, winning the U.S. Open cup final over

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. The following season Nicol guided the Revolution to their first-ever international trophy, as they won the 2008 North American SuperLiga over

Houston Dynamo FC Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Established on Decembe ...

. While coaching the Revolution, Nicol was selected to represent Major League Soccer on multiple occasions as well. On 11 August 2005, MLS announced Nicol as coach of the "MLS Select Team" to face

Real Madrid CF Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

on August 23 in Spain. The league also selected Nicol to coach the MLS All-Stars on two occasions, in

vs. Celtic F.C., and in

vs. West Ham United F.C. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Nicol guided the Revolution back to the SuperLiga final, where the club lost to Atlético Morelia. The Revolution also failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time under Nicol's tenure in 2010, and would again miss the playoffs during the 2011 season. On 24 October 2011, Nicol and the Revolution mutually decided to part ways, ending his 10-season tenure. Nicol departed the Revolution as the club's longest tenured manager, leading the club in games coached, wins, and playoff appearances. On November 4, 2012, Nicol was inducted into the New England Soccer Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Player

Liverpool *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90 *

: 1985–86, 1988–89, 1991–92 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

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 ...

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1983–84 * Football League Super Cup: 1985–86

Manager

New England Revolution *

North American SuperLiga The SuperLiga was an annual association football competition in North America between four clubs from the Major League Soccer (United States and Canada) and four clubs from the Primera División (Mexico), the top professional league in each count ...

* US Open Cup:

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 ...

: 1988–89 First Division * Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year: 1989 *

MLS Coach of the Year Award The Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award is given by Major League Soccer to the best manager (association football), coach in any given season. The award has been given since the league's inception in 1996 and is determined by a vote from players, ...

: 2002

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * *
LFCHistory.net profile
*
Liverpool seasonal record (part 1) 1981/82-1985/86 at sporting-heroes.netLiverpool seasonal record (part 2) 1981-1990 at sporting-heroes.netLiverpool seasonal record (part 3) 1990/91-1994/95 at sporting-heroes.netSheffield Wednesday seasonal record 1995/96-1997/98 at sporting-heroes.net
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicol, Steve 1961 births Living people Footballers from Troon Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Scotland men's international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players A-League (1995–2004) players Ayr United F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Boston Bulldogs (soccer) players Scottish football managers Notts County F.C. managers New England Revolution head coaches People educated at Marr College Player-coaches Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate football managers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States UEFA Champions League–winning players