Robert Hugh McNicol (13 February 1933 – 25 April 1980) was a Scottish professional

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 played as a full back. He made 56 Scottish League appearances for

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

and 228 in the English

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing for Accrington Stanley, Brighton & Hove Albion and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

Life and career

McNicol was born in 1933 in

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

, Scotland, and attended

Vale of Leven Academy Vale of Leven Academy is a non-denominational secondary school in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The school serves the surrounding towns of Alexandria, Balloch, Bonhill, Jamestown, and Renton. The current school building, opened in June 2009 ...

. He went on to train as a carpenter and played football for his school's Former Pupils team, from where he joined junior club

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...

. He was a member of their team that won the 1952–53 Scottish Junior Cup; the match programme described him as "a strong, resolute defender who has a senior future if desired". His senior future began forthwith: he joined

for the 1953–54 Division One season, and made 56 appearances in the top flight while completing his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

obligations with the RAF. After three years, McNicol moved to England to join Accrington Stanley of the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

. He made 147 consecutive appearances in league and cups, a run ended when he broke a toe while playing in goal. He signed for

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club Brighton & Hove Albion in June 1956, but despite making 99 appearances in all competitions, he failed to settle, twice submitted transfer requests, and was eventually allowed to leave on a free transfer in July 1962. He helped Gravesend & Northfleet of the Southern League reach the fourth round of the 1962–63 FA Cup, in which they were eliminated by

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

only after a

replay Replay may refer to: * Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology * Game replay, a recording of a game session. * Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film * Replay Professional, ...

. He attempted a return to the

with

, but appeared only once, and ended his football career with

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

. He became a newsagent, and later worked in the family haulage business. In 1980, McNicol and members of his family died in the

Dan-Air Flight 1008 Dan-Air Flight 1008 was a fatal accident involving a Boeing 727-46 jet aircraft operated by Dan Air Services Limited on an unscheduled international passenger service from Manchester to Tenerife. The crash occurred on 25 April 1980 in a fores ...

crash in

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNicol, Bob 1933 births 1980 deaths People from Cumbernauld Scottish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Vale of Leven F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players Southern Football League players Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1980 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Spain Footballers from North Lanarkshire