Nicky George Nicolau (born 12 October 1983) is an English

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 ...

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

origin who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He last played for Bishops Stortford in 2015.

Early career

Born in St Pancras, London, Nicolau started his career with Arsenal, winning the FA Youth Cup in 2001, but never broke into the first team after spending 10 years at the club. He has been capped by Cyprus at U-17, U-19 and U-21 level, with 3 caps for the U-21s.

Career

On 25 March 2004 he joined

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

on loan, making his Football League debut two days later in the club's 2–1 victory at Carlisle United. Having impressed in his loan spell, in May 2004 he agreed a one-year contract to join the club on a permanent basis. In the 2004–05 season, Nicolau helped Southend reach a second consecutive

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 Le ...

final, and win promotion from

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

via the playoffs he was offered a new one-year contract with the club. However, he turned the offer down hoping to improve the terms of the offer which were at the same rate of pay as his previous contract. After five weeks of impasse,

withdrew the offer and Nicolau signed for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

the following day. He had a loan spell at

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

where he made 11 appearances, scoring 1 goal and was released by Swindon at the end of the 2005–06 season. Nicolau spent the following season at

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, and was released by the club after one season, before manager

Paul Fairclough Paul Fairclough (born 31 January 1950) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of the England C team. As a player, he made five appearances for Cheshunt in the 1981–82 season. Managerial career Stevenage In ...

changed his mind and decided to offer Nicolau a new contract. He left the club at the end of the 2007–08 season after turning down a new contract. After a trial at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, he moved on trial with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

in August 2008 and played in a behind closed doors friendly against Winterton Rangers but despite impressing in the game, manager

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, ...

decided to let Nicolau leave the club the following day. Nicolau re-signed for the Bees in September 2008, turning down an offer from

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (" Harmony"; also tran ...

in Cyprus as he would have to complete

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 ...

, before leaving the club for a third time at the end of the season. In September 2009 he joined Woking on a non-contract basis, before signing a contract until the end of the season shortly after. In August 2010, he signed for

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

of the Conference South, before joining

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

in November. On 12 July 2011, he signed a one-year contract with Lincoln City. He was released at the end of the 2012–13 season. On 29 May 2013, he signed for Conference South club

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

Honours

;Arsenal: * FA Youth Cup Winner: 2001 ;Southend United: *

(IV): Playoffs 2005

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolau, Nicky 1983 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Camden People from St Pancras, London English men's footballers Cypriot men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Arsenal F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Woking F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players English people of Greek Cypriot descent