Chris Nicholl
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Christopher John Nicholl (born 12 October 1946 in Macclesfield, England) is a Northern Irish former footballer and manager.
He played for Witton Albion, Burnley (1965-1968) (no league appearances), Halifax Town (1968-1969) (42 league appearances, 3 goals) and Luton Town (1969-1972) (97 league appearances, 6 goals), before establishing himself as a centre-half with Aston Villa (1972-1977) (210 league appearances, 11 goals). He captained the side to victory over Everton in the 1976/1977 League Cup after two final replays. The game is fondly remembered as one of the greatest goals in any Aston Villa match, a forty yard left footer which helped take the match to extra time. Nicholl is famously known for scoring all four goals in Aston Villa's 2-2 draw with Leicester City in March 1976, scoring two own goals as well as both of Villa's.
He signed for Southampton F.C. in June 1977 and became the backbone of a successful side. He scored eight goals in 228 league appearances, before joining Grimsby Town in August 1983, for whom he made 70 league appearances in three years. He won 51 Northern Ireland full international caps, frequently appearing alongside his cousin Jimmy Nicholl.
He returned to Southampton as the club's manager when Lawrie McMenemy resigned in 1986. He kept the Saints in the First Division but was sacked in May 1991 after failing to keep them out of the bottom half of the top flight.
It was three years before Nicholl returned to football. Early in the 1994-95 season he replaced Kenny Hibbitt as manager of Walsall F.C. and his first season at the club was successful as they were promoted from Division Three as runners-up. The Saddlers finished in the top half of Division Two during the next two seasons but Nicholl quit in May 1997 after failing to get Walsall into Division One, citing family reasons. He spent the next two years as assistant manager of Northern Ireland, working alongside Lawrie McMenemy, but since the 1999-2000 has not been employed in football and is unlikely to make a comeback. He made a brief return to Walsall as then-manager Ray Graydon's assistant manager in November 2001, but left in January 2002 through loyalty to Graydon, who had been sacked. He is now a regular at The Bescot Stadium, both as a supporter and as a commentator for local radio.
However, following the sacking of former Walsall player-manager Paul Merson in February 2006, Nicholl offered his services to the club within hours of Merson's departure. Nicholl remains popular amongst Walsall fans, but was not offered the manager's job - which later went to former Birmingham City captain Kevan Broadhurst.
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