Steve Nicol

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 teams of the 1980s.

Nicol started his playing career with local club Ayr United, moving to Liverpool in 1981.

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.

Nicol, who was signed by Bob Paisley, had to wait almost an entire year to make his senior debut for Liverpool 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 at St Andrew's and made a further three league appearances that season.

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.

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 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.

He won five English league championships, three FA Cup winners medals, and the 1984 European Cup during 14 years with Liverpool.

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'.

Four years earlier, just before the 1985 European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Liverpool fans had charged a section of, mainly, Juventus 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.

He was also a regular member of the Scotland national team and represented his country at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Nicol became a first-team regular for many subsequent seasons, winning the league championship and FA Cup "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 Merseyside FA Cup final.

He was also settling into an international career, which would ultimately yield 27 caps and a place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, with Scotland.

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 at Newcastle United and a phenomenal long-range header at Arsenal.

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 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 FA Cup 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.

Like many others in the Liverpool squad, Hillsborough was the second tragedy Nicol had witnessed.

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.

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 in October 1994.

In 13 years at Anfield, he had played a total of 343 league games and scored 36 goals.

Nicol played for several other English teams after leaving Liverpool, including Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday 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 to coach a single club.

Nicol is now a commentator for ESPN FC.

The Reds finished as league champions for the 14th time, but Nicol did not make enough appearances to collect a title winner's medal.

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 FA Cup again in 1992, this time beating Sunderland 2–0.