Steve Nicol

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Stephen Nicol (born December 11, 1961 in Irvine, Scotland) was a Scottish footballer, a tough and talented defender who played in the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1980s.

Nicol started his career with Ayr United in 1979 and was to prove a bargain signing by Liverpool manager Bob Paisley when the two clubs negotiated a 300,000 pound deal to bring Nicol to Anfield in 1981.

Two years in the reserves followed as Nicol flirted with the first team picture in order to gain experience, then became a regular in 1983 under new boss Joe Fagan. He won a League championship medal in his first season though was not picked for the League Cup final victory over fierce Merseyside rivals Everton. In the European Cup final in Rome, Nicol played well and earned a winner's medal after a penalty shoot-out, despite undergoing personal trauma when he missed his own spot-kick in the shoot-out. Fortunately for Steve A.S. Roma subsequently failed to score two of their penalty kicks and Liverpool won.

Nicol stayed in the team for pretty much the next decade, winning the League championship and FA Cup "double" in 1986, while also settling into an international career with Scotland which would ultimately yield 27 caps and a place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

A versatile player, he turned out most often at right back following the departure of Phil Neal in 1986, though also featured at left back, in the centre of defence and as a midfield player. The No.4 shirt was always his, no matter which position he was asked to fill.

In 1988, Nicol was pretty much ever-present and actually began the season on a hot goalscoring streak, despite playing in a position not naturally conducive to attacking. This included a memorable hat-trick at Newcastle United and a phenomenal long-range header at Arsenal. Inevitably the goals dried up but Nicol's defensive qualities were much admired as Liverpool coasted to the League title and missed out on another "double" when Wimbledon surprisingly beat them 1-0 at Wembley. Nicol was the last Liverpool player to have a chance to equalise and force extra-time, seeing a diving header in injury time fly narrowly over the crossbar.

A year later, Nicol accompanied his team-mates to the funerals and memorial services of the 96 fans who died at the Hillsborough disaster, and played his part as Liverpool won the FA Cup, again versus Everton, 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.

When Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 9-0 the following 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. Liverpool regained the League title that season - their last to date - and, two years later, Nicol was in the team which, under Graeme Souness, won the FA Cup again in 1992.

Nicol stayed at Liverpool until 1995 before taking a player-coach role at Notts County. He subsequently wound down his career at Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion on loan, and Doncaster Rovers before heading to the U.S. to take a player-coach position with Boston Bulldogs of the A-League in 1999. In September of that year, he took over as interim player-coach with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer for the final two games of the season, winning both. He returned to Boston Bulldogs as player-coach for the 2000 and 2001 seasons before re-joining the Revs in 2002 as an assistant coach.

He took over as head coach of New England Revolution on an interim basis initially, then permanently after 21 games, leading the team to the MLS Cup that season, and was named MLS Coach of the Year in his first year. The team has advanced to the MLS Eastern Conference Finals in each of his years as coach, and returned to the MLS Cup in 2005 and 2006. Nicol's Revolution has the unique distinction of having not scored a goal in regulation time in any of their three final appearances (losing all three). One of the coaches who works under him is ex-Ipswich Town, Arsenal and England centre forward Paul Mariner.

Nicol lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, with his wife Eleanor and their son (Michael) and daughter (Katie). He is considered a possible successor to Bruce Arena as coach of the United States Men's National Team.

Preceded by John Barnes

Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year 1989

Succeeded by John Barnes

	Scotland squad - 1986 FIFA World Cup
1 Leighton | 2 Gough | 3 Malpas | 4 Souness | 5 McLeish | 6 Miller | 7 Strachan | 8 Aitken | 9 Bannon | 10 Bett | 11 McStay | 12 Goram | 13 Nicol | 14 Narey | 15 Albiston | 16 McAvennie | 17 Archibald | 18 Sharp | 19 Nicholas | 20 Sturrock | 21 Cooper | 22 Rough | Coach: Ferguson