Nikki Bull

Nikki Bull
Personal information
Full nameNikki Bull
Date of birth2 October 1981
Place of birthHastings, England
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Club information
Current team
Margate
Youth career
Aston Villa
Queens Park Rangers
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2000–2002Queens Park Rangers0(0)
2002Hayes (loan)7(0)
2002–2009Aldershot Town267(1)
2009–2010Brentford6(0)
2010–2012Wycombe Wanderers114(0)
2014–Margate
National team
2003–2007England C4(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:55, 8 May 2012 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

Nikki Bull (born 2 October 1981) is an English footballer who currently plays for Margate as a goalkeeper. He has previously played for Aldershot Town and Wycombe Wanderers, and also had spells at Queens Park Rangers and Hayes. He started his career as a schoolboy at Aston Villa.

Career

Bull was born in Hastings, East Sussex and moved to Aldershot Town in the summer of 2002 after being released by Queens Park Rangers. In his first season at the club he was named player of the year and scored his solitary goal for the club, a penalty in the final home match as promotion to the Football Conference was secured. He again won the Player of the Year trophy in the 2005–06 season.

In Aldershot's double-winning promotion season, Bull was named Goalkeeper of the Year and Non-League footballer of the Year by his peers. Despite his success, he said that he would leave Aldershot no matter what happened,[1] and this was confirmed by the club at the end of the season.[2] However, on 27 May 2008 it was announced that Bull would be staying on at Aldershot for a further two years.[3] Bull played for Aldershot Town in their first game in the Football League against Accrington Stanley on 9 August 2008, which was won 1–0.[4] He agreed to leave Aldershot at the end of July 2009 to pursue a career outside of football.[5] However, he instead opted to continue his football career, and signed for Brentford on 3 August 2009.[6] The following year, he turned down the offer of a further one-year contract with the Bees, and instead agreed a similar deal with Wycombe Wanderers on 7 June 2010. On 29 July 2010, Bull put in an outstanding performance against a Chelsea reserve side, making a very large number of saves and hampering Chelsea's efforts to score, which played a huge part in Wycombe's eventual 5–1 victory.[7]

On 25 April 2011, Bull saved a penalty in a match against Crewe Alexandra at Adams Park. His save prevented Crewe from equalising and Wycombe went on to win 2–0. Bull played every first team game in both league and cup and was rewarded by winning both the Supporters and players player of the year award.[8]

On 9 August 2011 Wycombe were involved in a penalty shootout against Colchester United in the first round of the League Cup. Wycombe won 5–4 on penalties after Bull saved a penalty in the shootout. On 8 November 2012 it was announced Bull had left Wycombe by mutual consent.[9]

After being out of football for 18 months, Bull signed for Isthmian League side, Margate.[10]

Honours

Aldershot Town
Wycombe Wanderers

References

  1. "Keeper Bull will leave Aldershot". BBC Sport. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  2. "Bull parts company with Aldershot". BBC Sport. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  3. "Bull signs new deal after U-turn". BBC Sport. 27 May 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  4. "Accrington 0–1 Aldershot". BBC Sport. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  5. "Shots to part company with Bull". BBC Sport. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  6. "Bees snap up Shots star". Sky Sports. 3 August 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  7. "Blues hit Bull-seye". Wycombe Wanderers F.C. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  8. "Bull Scoops Blues awards". Buckinghamshire Advertiser. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  9. "Nikki Bull leaves Wycombe". Vital Football. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  10. "Margate sign keeper Nikki Bull". Isle of Thanet Gazette. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.

External links