Nicky English

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nicky English

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Full name	Nicholas J. English
Date of Birth	1962
Place of birth	Cullen, County Tipperary
Nickname(s)	Nicky
Club information
Club	Lattin-Cullen
Position	Full-forward
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Inter County
County	Tipperary
Position	Full-forward
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Tipperary	1982-1996
Inter County Titles
Munster Titles	4
All-Ireland	2
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Nicholas 'Nicky' English (born 1962) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played senior hurling for Tipperary from 1982 until 1996. He is regarded as one of Tipperary’s greatest-ever players.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Playing career 2.1 Club 2.2 Inter-county 3 Managerial career 4 Teams

[edit] Early life

Nicholas English was born in the village of Cullen on the Limerick-Tipperary border in 1962. He was educated locally and from a young age he showed great skill at the game of hurling. Although his local club had no hurling tradition English practised his skills alone. His father was also a huge influence as he was a huge follower of local and inter-county hurling. English later attended the Abbey Christian Brothers School in Tipperary town, where his hurling skills were further developed. Here he shared in the school's Croke Cup and Rice Cup successes. He also won a Fitzgerald Shield following a win over Rockwell College.

English studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree at University College Cork where he won five Fitzgibbon Cup medals in a row with UCC. He currently works with Allied Irish Bank and is a member of the high-profile Hurling Development Committee.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Club

English played his club hurling with his local Lattin-Cullen side. With the club English won an intermediate football title in 1989, a junior hurling title in [[1992[[and an intermediate hurling title in 1996.

[edit] Inter-county

In 1979 English joined the Tipperary minor hurling side but was eventually dropped from the team. He subsequently regained his place and won his first All-Ireland medal in 1980. By 1981 English had joined the under-21 team, where he shared in Tipperary’s third All-Ireland victory in-a-row.

In 1982 English joined the senior team, however, Tipperary hurling was in the doldrums at the time. He played in his first Munster final in 1984, however, Cork snatched victory with two quick goals in the last two minutes. In spite of this defeat English was honoured with a second consecutive All-Star award. He added a third in 1985. Two years later in 1987 English won his first Munster title following a thrilling replay against Cork. Tipp were subsequently defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final, however, English won his fourth All-Star award. In 1988 English captured his first and only National Hurling League title before winning his second Munster medal. He subsequently captained the side in the All-Ireland final after the controversial dropping of the original captain, Pat O'Neill. Once again Galway defeated Tipperary but English was still presented with a fifth All-Star award. In 1989 English won his third Munster title in-a-row before finally getting the better of Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. Surprisingly Antrim provided the opposition in the All-Ireland final, however, they were wiped off the pitch on a scoreline of 4-24 to 3-9. English himself amassed a personal tally of 2-12, beating Eddie Keher's old record of 2-11 to install himself as the highest scorer ever in a modern All-Ireland final. If Tipperary had lost that final it would have been the first decade in Gaelic Athletic Association history in which the Premier County had failed to win an All-Ireland title. The year ended with English winning his sixth All-Star award and being named Texaco Hurler of the Year.

In 1990 Tipperary lost their Munster crown following Babs Keating’s infamous describtion of the Cork hurling team as “donkeys.” Tipp were back on form in 1991 with English winning his fourth provincial title. He later captured his second All-Ireland medal following a defeat of Kilkenny. Two years later in 1993 English won his fifth Munster medal when he came on as a substitute against Clare. Tipp, however, were later defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final by their old enemies Galway. English continued playing with Tipp until his retirement in 1996.

[edit] Managerial career

In 1999 English took over as manager of the Tipperary senior hurling team. He rebuilt the success-starved team and in 2001 Tipperary won the National Hurling League for the first time since 1994. He subsequently guided his native county to their first Munster title since English himself was a player in 1993. Tipperary subsequently captured their 25th All-Ireland title following a win over Galway. In 2002 Tipperary were beaten by Waterford in the Munster final and English resigned as manager.

In 2000 English’s reputation as one of Tipperary’s greatest-ever players was cemented when he was named on the Tipperary Hurling Team of the Millennium.

Preceded by Pat O'Neill	Tipperary Senior Hurling Captain 1988	Succeeded by Bobby Ryan
Preceded by Tony Keady (Galway)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1989	Succeeded by Tony O'Sullivan (Cork)
Preceded by Len Gaynor	Tipperary Senior Hurling Manager 1999-2002	Succeeded by Michael Doyle
Preceded by Brian Cody (Kilkenny)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning manager 2001	Succeeded by Brian Cody (Kilkenny)

[edit] Teams

	Tipperary - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1989 (23rd title)
1 K. Hogan | 2 J. Heffernan | 3 C. O'Donovan | 4 Noel Sheehy | 5 Conal Bonnar | 6 B. Ryan (Capt.) | 7 J. Kennedy | 8 Colm Bonnar | 9 D. Carr | 10 J. Leahy | 11 D. Ryan | 12 M. Cleary | 13 P. Fox | 14 Cormac Bonnar | 15 N. English | Subs: J. Hayes | D. O'Connell | A. Ryan | Manager: M 'Babs' Keating |

	Tipperary - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1991 (24th title)
1 K. Hogan | 2 P. Delaney | 3 N. Sheehy | 4 M. Ryan | 5 Colm Bonnar | 6 B. Ryan | 7 Conal Bonnar | 8 D. Carr (Capt.) | 9 A. Ryan | 10 M. Cleary | 11 D. Ryan | 12 J. Leahy | 13 P. Fox | 14 Cormac Bonnar | 15 N. English | Subs: C. Stakelum | D. O'Connell | Manager: M 'Babs' Keating |

	Tipperary - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 2001 (25th title)
1 B. Cummins | 2 T. Costello | 3 P. Maher | 4 P. Ormonde | 5 É. Corcoran | 6 D. Kennedy | 7 P. Kelly | 8 E. Enright | 9 T. Dunne | 10 M. O'Leary | 11 J. Carroll | 12 E. Kelly | 13 E. O'Neill | 14 D. Ryan | 15 L. Corbett | Manager: N. English |