John Andrew Nicholson (born 8 March 1888 in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

, Scotland and died 13 June 1970 in Weston super Mare, England) was a Scottish

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 left half. He made over 190

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 ...

and 40 Scottish League appearances in the years before and after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Career

"Jock" Nicholson played locally for Glasgow Ashfield before

Sam Hollis Sam Hollis (1866 – 17 April 1942) was an English football trainer and manager. Born in Nottingham as Samuel Woodroffe Moore, he had comparatively little football experience, having previously worked in the local registry and as a landlord i ...

signed him in July 1911 for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Nicholson made his debut for Bristol City in the Second Division at left half in a 1-0 win v Fulham on 2 September 1911 alongside Reuben Marr and Billy Wedlock in the half back line. In his debut season 1911-12 Nicholson made 37 appearances missing only one match. The following season Nicholson was again the regular left half making 33 appearances. In 1913-14 Nicholson made 31 appearances and switched from left half to replace Bob Young at right half after Christmas. Nicholson continued at right half in 1914-15 making 33 appearances playing alongside Billy Wedlock and

Arthur Moss Arthur Harold Moss (November 1889 in Greenwich Village – February 20, 1969 in Neuilly-sur-Marne) was an American expatriate poet and magazine editor. Life His parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants. After serving in World War I, he atten ...

in the half backs; Nicholson also scored his first goal in a 2-3 defeat v Birmingham City on 19 December 1914. Nicholson did not play in war time matches for Bristol City but returned to the team as regular left half for the season 1919-20 making 28 appearances and scoring two goals. Nicholson also played in 4 of the 5 Cup ties including the semi-final as Bristol City reached the FA Cup Semi-final for only the second time in their history losing 1-2 to Huddersfield Town at

Stamford Bridge (stadium) Stamford Bridge () is a football stadium in Fulham, adjacent to the borough of Chelsea in West London. It is the home of Premier League club Chelsea. With a capacity of 40,341, it is the ninth largest venue of the 2022–23 Premier League seas ...

. Nicholson took over from Wedlock as captain of Bristol City early in 1920-21 making 34 appearances scoring one goal and leading the team into 3rd place in the Second Division. Nicholson moved to

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

in the summer of 1921. Nicholson made 17 appearances scoring one goal for Rangers in 1921-22, then 10 appearances in 1922-23 but only 3 appearances in 1923-24. Nicholson joined

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

in the summer of 1924 and made 12 appearances in the 1924-25 season. Jock Nicholson rejoined Bristol City as trainer in 1925 for six seasons following his retirement from playing. He also coached the Swiss club Etoile-Carouse, was trainer at

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 ...

and coached in Sweden. After a final retirement from football Nicholson settled back near Bristol and died in Weston-super-Mare in 1970.

Honours

;with Bristol City *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

semi-finalist 1920

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, John 1888 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Ayr Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wing halves English Football League players Scottish Football League players Bristol City F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Ashfield F.C. players Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Bristol City F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Junior Football Association players