George Nicol (14 December 1903 – 18 December 1968), also known as Geordie Nicol, was a Scottish professional footballer who scored 63 goals from 103 appearances in the English Football League playing for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Brighton & Hove Albion and Gillingham. He played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Nicol was born in

Saltcoats Saltcoats ( gd, Baile an t-Salainn) is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages al ...

, Scotland, and played in Scottish Junior football before joining Manchester United in January 1928. He moved on to Brighton in May 1929, and was their leading scorer in the 1930–31 season with 31 goals in all competitions. He had a season in the Irish League with

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

before returning to England to play for Gillingham and then for French club RC Roubaix. He died in Ardrossan at the age of 65.

References

1903 births 1968 deaths People from Saltcoats Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players NIFL Premiership players Kilwinning Rangers F.C. players RC Roubaix players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Ardrossan Winton Rovers F.C. players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Scottish expatriate sportspeople in France Saltcoats Victoria F.C. players Footballers from North Ayrshire {{Scotland-footy-forward-1900s-stub