Charlie Nicholas

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Charlie Nicholas bigraphy, stories - Scottish footballer

Charlie Nicholas : biography

30 December 1961 –

Charles "Charlie" Nicholas (born 30 December 1961 in Cowcaddens, Glasgow, Scotland) is a former professional football player from Scotland. During his career, he played as a striker for Celtic, Arsenal, Aberdeen and Clyde, and the Scottish national team. After retiring from playing he began a new job as a panelist on the Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday.

Honours

Celtic
  • Scottish Premier League winner: 1980–81, 1981–82
  • Scottish League Cup winner: 1982
  • Scottish League Cup runner-up: 1995
  • Scottish Cup winner: 1995
Arsenal
  • Football League Cup winner: 1987
Aberdeen
  • Scottish Premier League runner-up: 1988–89, 1989–90
  • Scottish Cup winner: 1990
  • Scottish League Cup winner: 1989
  • Scottish League Cup runner-up: 1988

Career after retirement

Nicholas now works as a pundit on the Sky Sports News programme Soccer Saturday and Sky Sports’ coverage of the Scottish Premier League Scottish Cup and Scotland Internationals. He is also a part-time newspaper columnist. In April 2010, Nicholas criticised Celtic’s majority shareholder Dermot Desmond. He accused Desmond and the board of presiding over the worst Celtic squad he had ever seen. Nicholas was quoted criticising Desmond’s handling of the club, accusing him of treating the Glasgow club like "a toy" and failing to invest properly in the playing staff.http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/celtic/2010/04/27/i-had-phone-call-from-dermot-desmond-after-criticising-celtic-reveals-charlie-nicholas-86908-22215113/ He also introduced the looped scarf trend.

Club career

Celtic

Nicholas started his career with Celtic, making his debut in 1980 at the age of 18. He had a superb 1982-83 season which saw him score a total of 50 goals in all competitions (including 29 in the league) and win the Scottish Footballer of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards.

Nicholas had the envious choice of being offered a contract at Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. He had interviews at both Liverpool and Manchester United. The Scottish players at Liverpool at that time, particularly Graeme Souness, were trying their best to persuade Nicholas to join them.

In total, he played 84 league games for Celtic, scoring an impressive 48 goals.

Arsenal

Terry Neill signed Nicholas for Arsenal on 22 June 1983, for £800,000. As a 21-year-old at the time of his move to Arsenal, he reportedly became the highest paid footballer in Britain and was described as being "the most exciting player to emerge in Britain since George Best".http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ju5kAAAAIBAJ&sjid=un4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=5522,2462764&dq=soccer+has+new+best&hl=en However, he did not live up to the hype surrounding his move; and Neill was sacked as Arsenal’s manager in December 1983 following poor results.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4_5jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7-YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6624,9775153&dq=terry+neill&hl=en

Nicholas’s lifestyle in the capital was the subject of much tabloid speculation, earning him the nickname "Champagne Charlie". He only scored 11 goals in his first season (although two were against Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby).

Nicholas barely broke double figures in the following seasons, and fell out with Arsenal’s new manager George Graham with the latter’s arrival in 1986. Despite scoring both goals in Arsenal’s 2-1 League Cup final victory over Liverpool in 1987, Nicholas was dropped four games into the start of the 1987-88 season, in favour of Perry Groves as the strike-partner for new signing Alan Smith.

Just months before his goals against Liverpool in the League Cup final, manager Kenny Dalglish had been interested in signing Nicholas for the Anfield club.

In all he scored 54 goals in 184 matches for the Gunners. His best season goals wise was the 1983-84 campaign, where he scored 11 times in the league.