Peter Nicholas (born 10 November 1959) is a
Welsh former professional
footballer and
Wales international, now football manager.
He was capped 73 times at senior level for Wales between 1979 and 1991.
Career
Crystal Palace
Nicholas was born in Maesglas,
Newport
Newport most commonly refers to:
*Newport, Wales
*Newport, Rhode Island, US
Newport or New Port may also refer to:
Places Asia
*Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay
Europe
Ireland
*Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
. He joined his first professional club,
Crystal Palace, in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
as a youth player. He spent five seasons at
Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...
, and played over 150 matches for the club, picking up the
Second Division title in
1978–79. In the meantime he had made his debut for
Wales, and would go on to win 73 caps for his country, scoring two goals. Originally a
centre half, he was later moved into
midfield and became known as a tough-tackling and uncompromising defensive midfielder.
Arsenal
However, despite his best efforts Crystal Palace could not sustain their place in the top flight and Nicholas was sold to
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
in March 1981 for £500,000, shortly before Palace's relegation back to the Second Division. At Arsenal, Nicholas went straight into the first team and didn't finish on a losing side for the rest of the
1980–81 season. He made 41 appearances the next season, and became captain of Wales as well. However, a series of injuries in the
1982–83 season meant his place in the Arsenal side became uncertain. In all, he played 80 matches for Arsenal, scoring three goals. His goals came in the league against
Ipswich Town in April 1981 and he scored further goals in the
League Cup; one against
Norwich City in the
1981–82 season and one against
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 ...
in the semi final (first leg) of the
1982–83 League Cup. He is also remembered for going in goal in an
FA Cup tie against rivals
Tottenham Hotspur in January 1982 after
Pat Jennings was injured.
Return to Crystal Palace
Looking for first team football, he returned to Palace on loan in August 1983 and at the end of that season the move was made permanent for £150,000. However, his second spell at Palace was not as successful, and he signed for
Luton Town in 1985. He played over 100 games for the Hatters and his form noticeably improved.
Aberdeen
He was signed by
Aberdeen for £350,000 in 1987. In
1987–88, he reached the
Scottish League Cup final, against
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 ...
; the match finished 3–3 and Nicholas missed a penalty in the ensuing
shootout, which meant Aberdeen went home empty-handed.
Later career
He later had spells with
Chelsea (winning another Second Division winners' medal), and
Watford before retiring in 1993.
After retirement, he became Chelsea's youth coach, before moving to
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 ...
and then returning to his old club Crystal Palace to take the same role there. He was later promoted to assistant manager at Palace, before being appointed manager of
League of Wales side
Barry Town
Barry Town United Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Tref Y Barri) is a semi-professional association football team based in Barry, Wales. They are known for representing Wales in Europe as winners of the Cymru Premier and Welsh Cup during ...
, where he won the title in 2001. He was also manager of
Newport County from 2002 until 2004 and led them to the 2003
FAW Premier Cup final. From August 2005 to April 2009 he was manager of
Llanelli and won the
Welsh Premier League title in 2008. He was replaced by
Andy Legg
Andrew Legg (born 28 July 1966) is a Welsh football manager and former Wales international player.
Born in Neath, he began his professional career with Swansea City after joining the club from local non-league football at the age of 22. He made ...
in April 2009.
Honours
Player
;Crystal Palace
*
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
Winner: 1
::
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
Manager
Llanelli
*
Welsh Premier League Winner:
::
2007–08
*
Welsh League Cup Winner:
::
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Individual
* League of Wales Manager of the Season:
2000–01,
2007–08
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Peter
1959 births
Living people
Welsh footballers
Wales international footballers
Association football midfielders
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
Luton Town F.C. players
Aberdeen F.C. players
Chelsea F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Newport County A.F.C. managers
Footballers from Newport, Wales
Welsh football managers
Cymru Premier managers
English Football League players
Llanelli Town A.F.C. managers
Barry Town United F.C. managers
Brentford F.C. non-playing staff
Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff