Nikki Bull (born 2 October 1981) is an English 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 is the manager of

Guildford City Guildford City Football Club (formerly Guildford United and AFC Guildford) is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was established in 1921, folded in 1974 and was reformed in 1996. Guildford City play in the . Histo ...

. During his playing career, he was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, representing

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, Hayes and latterly

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

, whom he also later managed until February 2017.

Playing career

Bull was born in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, East Sussex and moved to

in the summer of 2002 after being released by

. In his first season at the club he was named player of the year and scored his solitary goal for the club, a penalty in the final home match as promotion to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

was secured. He again won the Player of the Year trophy in the 2005–06 season. In Aldershot's double-winning promotion season, Bull was named Goalkeeper of the Year and Non-League footballer of the Year by his peers. Despite his success, he said that he would leave Aldershot no matter what happened, and this was confirmed by the club at the end of the season. However, on 27 May 2008 it was announced that Bull would be staying on at Aldershot for a further two years. Bull played for Aldershot Town in their first game in

the 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 ...

against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

on 9 August 2008, which was won 1–0. He agreed to leave Aldershot at the end of July 2009 to pursue a career outside of football. However, he instead opted to continue his football career, and signed for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

on 3 August 2009. The following year, he turned down the offer of a further one-year contract with the Bees, and instead agreed a similar deal with

on 7 June 2010. On 29 July 2010, Bull put in an outstanding performance against a

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

reserve side, making a very large number of saves and hampering Chelsea's efforts to score, which played a huge part in Wycombe's eventual 5–1 victory. On 25 April 2011, Bull saved a penalty in a match against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Adams Park Adams Park is an association football stadium in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Built in 1990, it is the home ground of the local Wycombe Wanderers in League One. It was also leased from 2002 to 2014 to the rugby union club London Was ...

. His save prevented Crewe from equalising and Wycombe went on to win 2–0. Bull played every first team game in both league and cup and was rewarded by winning both the supporters' and players' player of the year awards. On 9 August 2011, Wycombe were involved in a penalty shootout against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

in the first round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. Wycombe won 5–4 on penalties after Bull saved a penalty in the shootout. On 8 November 2012, Bull left Wycombe by mutual consent. After being out of football for 18 months, Bull signed for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

side,

. Bull scored an injury time equaliser in the Kent derby at Tonbridge Angels on Boxing Day 2014. He also captained the side for the latter part of the season as Margate were promoted to the

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

via the play-offs after beating

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

1–0 and won the Players' Player of the Season award in 2014–15.

Managerial career

In December 2015, Bull was appointed manager of

until the end of the 2015–16 season. His appointment was subsequently extended until the end of the 2017–18 season. He resigned from his post in February 2017. On 11 May 2018, Bull was appointed as first-team manager of

Premier Division side

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

on a two-year contract. Likewise with his spell at Margate, Bull will continue as a player/manager. On 10 October 2021, Leatherhead parted company with Bull by mutual consent, with the club bottom of the Isthmian League Premier Division after only one league win since the opening day of the season. On 29 January 2022, he was named as the new manager of

Combined Counties Football League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

Premier Division South side

, with his first game coming against Colliers Wood United.

Honours

Aldershot Town *

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

: 2008 Wycombe Wanderers *

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 ...

(promotion): 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, Nikki 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Hastings English footballers England semi-pro international footballers Association football goalkeepers Aston Villa F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Margate F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players English football managers Margate F.C. managers Leatherhead F.C. managers National League (English football) managers