Steve Nicol

Ayr United

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.

Liverpool

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

Nicol was first capped at the senior level for Scotland on 12 September 1984, soon after becoming a first-team regular for Liverpool. Jock Stein gave Nicol his international debut in a friendly with Yugoslavia. His debut was a memorable one, as he helped Scotland beat Yugoslavia 6–1 in a friendly at Hampden Park in front of a crowd of 18,512. Helping Nicol settle in with the national team were club mates Kenny Dalglish and captain Graeme Souness, who both scored. The last of his 27 full caps for Scotland came on 11 September 1991 in a 2–2 draw in Switzerland during the Euro 92 qualifiers. He was in Scotland's squad for the 1986 World Cup.

Nicol's began his coaching career at Notts County F.C. as an assistant-coach / player for Howard Kendall. Following Kendall's dismissal, Nicol took over as club manager on an interim basis. He returned to playing following the appointment of former Shelbourne F.C. boss Colin Murphy. In 1999, Nicol moved to the United States to play for the Boston Bulldogs, and became player-manager following the departure of John Kerr.

New England Revolution

On 30 September 1999, Nicol took over interim coaching duties for the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer following the dismissal of then-player-coach Walter Zenga. At the conclusion of the 1999 season, Nicol returned to the Boston Bulldogs, but would rejoin the Revolution as an assistant to Fernando Clavijo on 10 January 2002. On 23 May 2002, Nicol was again named interim manager, this time following Clavijo's dismissal. In his first year as head coach, Nicol lead the Revolution to its first-ever MLS Cup final and was subsequently named MLS Coach of the Year. He was officially named head coach of the Revolution on 6 November 2002. Nicol would go on to become one of the most successful coaches in MLS history, and the most successful manager in Revolution history, bringing a period of "sustained excellence" to the club during his MLS-record ten year tenure as head coach. Under Nicol's leadership, the Revolution advanced to the MLS Eastern Conference Finals every year until 2008 and returned to the MLS Cup final in…

Club

International