Patrick Kevin Francis Michael Nevin (born 6 September 1963) is a Scottish former 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 winger. In a 20-year career, he appeared for

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

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 ...

, Everton,

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

and

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. He won 28 caps for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, scattered across a ten-year international career, and was selected for the

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...

finals squad. Since retiring as a player, Nevin has worked as a chief executive of Motherwell and as a football writer and broadcaster.

Club career

Clyde

Nevin trained with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

as a youngster, but was rejected for being too small. He was signed by

in 1981. In his first season, the club were promoted as

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

champions; Nevin scored 14 goals in 30 starts and was voted SPFA Second Division Player of the Year. He scored six goals in 44 starts in his second season with the club. He was inducted into the inaugural Clyde FC Hall of Fame in 2011.

Chelsea

Nevin arrived at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

in mid-1983 for £95,000, in a team managed by John Neal. Nevin's skill and pace made him a pivotal player at Chelsea and he very soon became firm favourite with the fans. In 1983–84, he scored 14 goals, created numerous others for the likes of

Kerry Dixon Kerry Michael Dixon (born 24 July 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward. His club career was spent most notably at Chelsea, where he won the Second Division twice. His 193 goals for the club across all co ...

and

David Speedie David Robert Speedie (born 20 February 1960) is a Scottish former footballer who played for several clubs in England during the 1980s and 1990s, most notably Chelsea, Coventry City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. He accumulated more than 500 f ...

and put in some dazzling performances – during a 4–0 win over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, he tormented the opposition defence, leaving five defenders trailing in his wake – as Chelsea won promotion as

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

champions. In the same season he was voted Chelsea's player of the year. Chelsea finished a respectable sixth in the First Division and reached 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 ...

semi-final in 1984–85. Nevin set up three goals in the quarter-final against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

as Chelsea came back from 3–0 down to draw 4–4, and he set up the winning goal scored by

in the replay. The club were in the title race for much of the 1985–86, with Nevin scoring a late equaliser against Liverpool at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

and a crucial header against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

to seal a 2–1 win. A late collapse saw Chelsea finish sixth after being in the title race for most of the season. The club's performances dropped and they finished 14th in 1986–87, though Nevin was again voted Chelsea player of the year. They were relegated a year later.

Everton

Chelsea were relegated in 1988 and Nevin was sold to Everton. He scored 20 goals in 138 appearances for the club, but struggled to re-capture his previous form with manager

Colin Harvey James Colin Harvey (born 16 November 1944 in Liverpool, England) is an English former footballer who is best known for his time as a player, coach and manager with Everton. Playing career Harvey was born in Liverpool and joined Everton as ...

adopting a far more rigid system. He helped the side reach the

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 ...

final in 1989, scoring the winner against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

in the semi-final, but they lost 3–2 in the final to arch-rivals

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...

returned to the club as manager in November 1990; he and Nevin openly disagreed with each other, which reduced Nevin's playing opportunities, as did the arrival of new wingers

Robert Warzycha Robert Warzycha () (born 20 August 1963) is a Polish former professional association football player. Warzycha had a long career in Europe, playing for teams in Poland, Hungary and England with Everton in the Premier League. He won two Polish E ...

and Mark Ward. Nevin was unfortunate to arrive at Everton just after one of the finest spells in their history, when they had collected two league titles, an

and the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

. In contrast, Nevin's four seasons at the club saw a runners-up medal in the

(1989) being the closest he came to being part of a trophy winning side, and they never finished higher than sixth in the league (1990).

Tranmere Rovers

Nevin spent time on loan with fellow

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

club

, then in the second tier of

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

, before signing permanently in 1992. The club competed in the Division One play-offs in three consecutive seasons (1992–93, 1993–94 and 1994–95) but on each occasion they were eliminated in the semi-final.

Return to Scotland

In 1997, Nevin returned to Scotland and played for

and later

before retiring in 2000.

International career

In 1982 while playing for Clyde, Nevin travelled to Finland to play for the Scotland U18 team at the UEFA European Youth Championship and was named player of the tournament after helping Scotland win it. The following year, he starred for the Scotland U20 team that reached the quarter-finals of the

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

. Nevin won 28

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Scottish national side, making his debut against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in 1986. He scored five goals in a ten-year international career and played at

Euro 92 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...

, but was not selected in the final squads for the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

s. He made his final appearance for Scotland in 1996 but did not appear at the

Euro 96 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

finals.

Post-playing career

After retiring as a player, Nevin became chief executive of Motherwell. He resigned in April 2002, after Motherwell chairman John Boyle put the club into administration due to financial problems. He works as a football pundit on television and radio. Nevin co-wrote a book, ''In Ma Head, Son'', with psychologist Dr George Sik. It explores Nevin's worries, motivation and troubles during the 1996–97 season at

as he neared the end of his playing career. He has an arts

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

from

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and G ...

. His interest in literature, the arts, and his musical taste distinguishes him from many of his peers. He preferred The Fall and

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

. He was interviewed by music magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' and was a guest music presenter on Radio City during his Everton and Tranmere career. At the second

Bowlie Weekender The Bowlie Weekender was a music festival curated by Belle & Sebastian at the Pontin's Holiday camp in Camber Sands, Sussex between Friday 23 and Sunday 25 April 1999. The event was the inspiration for All Tomorrow's Parties, a music festival ...

, hosted by ATP he played a DJ set, playing

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. A ...

and "My New House" by The Fall while wearing a

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were an American indie pop band from New York City, formed in 2007. The band centered around founding member and principal songwriter Kip Berman (vocals, guitar). In the band's final iteration, Berman was joined ...

T-shirt. The following day he slipped an indiepop reference onto 5 Live while talking about the Man Utd vs Arsenal match. He has also appeared as a guest DJ at Scared To Dance and How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, which are both indiepop club nights in London. He makes a guest appearance on the 1986 Ted Chippington / Vindaloo Summer Special (with Robert Lloyd & The Nightingales and Fuzzbox) video of "Rockin With Rita". In 2010, Nevin signed as a non-playing substitute for new club

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

after Colin Murray of BBC Radio 5 live offered the new club £2,000 if they named Nevin and

Perry Groves Perry Groves (born 19 April 1965) is an English former association football, footballer, known chiefly for his time at Arsenal F.C., Arsenal. He was a fast-paced player who usually played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger, and occasionally as a Stri ...

as unused substitutes at every game in the 2010–11 season. This was live on 'Kicking off with Colin Murray', a show Nevin has appeared on every week since the start of the 2009–10 season.

Personal life

Nevin grew up supporting

.Pat Nevin Internet Interview
''ToffeeWeb''. He switched his support to Hibernian after feeling that his boyhood club had become a large corporate organisation and the

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

stadium no longer felt like home.Nevin on Hibernian
, Hibernian official website, 15 October 2009. Another reason was Celtic fans chanting

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

songs.Celtic fans' IRA chants drove me away from the club I love, says Pat Nevin
The Scotsman, 7 September 2011. He also supports his former club Chelsea, and writes a weekly column for the Chelsea website. Nevin lives in

Duns, Scottish Borders Duns is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was the county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Berwickshire. History Early history Duns Law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfor ...

, a small town in the Scottish Borders with his wife and two children. His daughter, also a keen sports player, was a Scottish champion in

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

. He received an honorary degree from

Abertay University , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of C ...

in 2012. Nevin is the cousin of the retired English footballer

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

. In 2021 Nevin wrote and released his autobiography.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nevin goal.''

Honours

Clyde *

: 1981–82 Chelsea *

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. The ...

: 1985–86 *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1983–84 Everton *

Runner-up: 1988–89 *

Runner-up: 1988–89, 1990–91 Kilmarnock *

Ayrshire Cup The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, with t ...

: 1997–98 Scotland *

Rous Cup The Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America. Overview The Rous Cup arose from the ashes of the British Home Cha ...

Runner-up:

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

* UEFA U18 Championship:

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Individual * SPFA Second Division Player of the Year: 1981–82 * UEFA U18 Championship Best Player:

Chelsea Player of the Year Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...

: 1983–84, 1986–87 *Tranmere Rovers Hall of Fame: Inducted, 2010 *

Gwladys Street's Hall of Fame Gwladys Street's Hall of Fame celebrates the men who have contributed to the history of English association football, football club Everton F.C., Everton. Everton's ground, Goodison Park, is on Gwladys Street in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpoo ...

: Inducted, 2012 * Clyde Hall of Fame: Inducted, 2012

References

External links

Clyde FC Hall of Fame profileChelsea FC Legends profileEverton FC profileProfile from BBC Press OfficePat Nevin
on the Chelsea in America Celebrity Podcast ''(2009)''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevin, Pat 1963 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Association football wingers Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland B international footballers UEFA Euro 1992 players Clyde F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Everton F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Motherwell F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish people of Irish descent Scottish chief executives Scottish association football commentators Scotland under-21 international footballers FA Cup Final players