Jimmy Nicholl

Nicholl started his career as a junior player at Manchester United. His senior career started in 1974. He helped the club win the 1977 FA Cup Final and collected a runners-up medal in 1979. In 1981, he left the club after scoring five goals, joining Sunderland on a permanent contract after a loan spell, and playing 32 games in one season before moving to Toronto Blizzard in Canada, scoring 11 goals in 77 games over the next two years before signing for Rangers. In 1984, he returned to the English league to sign for West Bromwich Albion where he stayed until their relegation from the First Division in 1986, then returning to Rangers for three years, helping them win two Scottish league titles in the process. After leaving Rangers, he signed for Dunfermline Athletic in 1989 before moving to a player-manager role at Raith Rovers, having originally joined them on 27 November 1990. Following his time at Rovers, Nicholl played one game for Bath City in February 1996, a 3–0 defeat at home to Macclesfield Town. He was sent off after 55 minutes and never played for the club again.

Nicholl had great success as manager of Raith Rovers, winning the 1994–95 Scottish League Cup and the 1994–95 Scottish First Division championship. Due to their League Cup triumph, Raith qualified for the 1995–96 UEFA Cup and reached the second round, where they were eliminated by eventual winners Bayern Munich. Having lost the first leg to Bayern 2–0 at Easter Road, Raith took a 1–0 lead at the Olympiastadion thanks to a goal by Danny Lennon. Bayern recovered to win 2–1 on the night and 4–1 on aggregate. On 28 February 1996, Nicholl was appointed manager of Millwall, who just over two months earlier had been top of Division One but were now sliding down the table. He was unable to arrest the decline and Millwall slipped into Division Two on the last day of the season. He remained at Millwall until the following February, and six months after that returned to Raith Rovers. His second spell at Raith lasted two years, and ended on 14 June 1999 after he had failed to get them back into the top flight. A 28-day spell as manager of Dunfermline Athletic followed later in 1999, and he later served as assistant manager to Jimmy Calderwood at East End Park. In May 2004, Nicholl followed Calderwood when he took over as manager at Aberdeen, again serving as his assistant until the two parted company with the club in May 2009. He resumed his partnership with Calderwood at Kilmarnock in 2010. Nicholl was appointed manager of Cowdenbeath in June 2010, but he left Cowdenbeath at the end…

Jimmy Nicholl was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, to Northern Irish parents. His family moved back to Northern Ireland when he was 3. Nicholl grew up on the Rathcoole estate on the outskirts of Belfast. After he began his football career as an apprentice with Manchester United, the club arranged for Nicholl's family to relocate to England, to avoid the unrest caused by the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Player

Manchester United

FA Cup: 1976–77; runner-up: 1978–79 Rangers

Scottish Premier Division: 1986–87, 1988–89 Scottish League Cup: 1983–84, 1986–87, 1987–88 Raith Rovers

Scottish First Division: 1992–93 Fife Cup: 1990–91, 1992–93

Manager

Raith Rovers

Scottish First Division: 1992–93, 1994–95 Scottish League Cup: 1994–95 Fife Cup: 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99 Cowdenbeath

Scottish Championship play-offs: 2013–14 Fife Cup: 2013–14