Alex Jack Nicholson (born 1 February 1994) is a Welsh

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and as a right-winger for Blyth Spartans. He has also played for the Wales U19 national team. He previously played for Newcastle Academy and Reserves,

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, Blyth Spartans,

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Career

Newcastle United

Nicholson signed for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in 2007, originally playing as a winger before converting to full-back. He made his

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

debut in December 2010 but did not play for the first team.

Preston North End

After leaving Newcastle, Nicholson signed for

on 26 September 2013 until the end of the season, having trained with the team without a contract since pre-season. He made his first team debut in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

on 8 October 2013, this turned out to be his only appearance for the club. On 27 March 2014, Nicholson joined

on loan. Helping them to secure the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division, securing promotion to the Conference North. He was then released by Preston North End at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Blyth Spartans

Nicholson joined the Blyth Spartans, playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, signing a one-year contract at the start of the 2014–2015 season. He was part of the squad which reached the 2014/2015 FA Cup 1st Round Proper being drawn against Conference club

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

on 27 October, he was then part of the team that reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup after beating

4–1. He was part of the team that famously reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup before bowing out of the cup, losing 3–2 to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. Nicholson later signed another year contract at the start of the 2015–2016 season.

Gateshead

In June 2019, Nicholson became Mike Williamson's first signing when he moved to

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

. At the end of his first season with the club, he won the club's Players' Player of the Year Award. In the 2021–22 season, Nicholson made 23 league appearances as the club won promotion to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. On 6 June 2022, it was announced that Nicholson was to leave the club to move away from full-time football.

Blyth Spartans return

In June 2022, Nicholson returned to National League North club Blyth Spartans.

International career

Nicholson was selected for a Wales U19 friendly match against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in September 2012, and went on to play in all three of Wales' games at the 2013 U19 European Championship qualifiers in Slovenia.

Career statistics

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Alex 1994 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne Welsh men's footballers Men's association football defenders Preston North End F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players South Shields F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players Wales men's youth international footballers