Sam Alastair Nicholson (born 20 January 1995) is 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 plays as a left winger or left midfielder for

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

Career

Heart of Midlothian

Nicholson attended

Penicuik High School Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. It lies on the A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hills. N ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...

and grew up supporting Heart of Midlothian. He joined Hearts aged 12, progressing through their youth teams until on 31 August 2013, he made his senior debut for the club, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute in a

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

match against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

, replacing Jamie Walker in a 2–0 defeat. His first senior goal for the side came on 18 January 2014, helping Hearts come from 3–1 down at

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of . As well as St Jo ...

scoring in the 89th minute to help Hearts earn a point in a 3–3 draw against

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 ...

. On 16 June 2014, Nicholson signed a new three-year contract extending his stay until the summer of 2017, following the club's relegation to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

. Nicholson began the 2014–15 season by setting up a goal for

Osman Sow Serigne Osman Petter Sow (born 22 April 1990) is a Swedish professional footballer who currently plays for Thai side Sukhothai. He is of Senegalese descent. Club career Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Sow started his youth career at FoC Farsta an ...

at Ibrox in stoppage time. He scored his first goal of the season against Hibs in the

Edinburgh Derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce r ...

; a solo effort after he nutmegged Scott Robertson and hit a left-footed drive beyond the keeper.

Minnesota United

On 28 June 2017, it was confirmed that Nicholson agreed to a contract with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...

, and would be eligible to join the team on 10 July 2017.

Colorado Rapids

Nicholson was traded from Minnesota to

on 1 May 2018. Colorado also received an International Roster slot. Minnesota received

Eric Miller Eric, Erik, or Erick Miller may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Eric Miller (record producer) (c. 1941–2017), American record producer and Norman Granz's protégé *Eric Miller (photographer) (born 1951), South African photographer during and ...

and $50,000 of General Allocation Money in return.

Bristol Rovers

On 22 July 2020, Nicholson returned to the UK, delighted to sign for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. He made his debut for the club on 5 September 2020, in a 3-0

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 ...

defeat to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. Nicholson scored his first goal for the club on 31 October 2020, opening the scoring in a 1–1 draw at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, driving forward with the ball before firing in from the edge of the box. In late March 2021, Rovers' manager

Joey Barton Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City. He is currently the man ...

announced that Nicholson would miss the rest of the season as Rovers would fight against the drop, due to the fact that he was to have surgery on his hip, which it was announced in April 2021 he had still yet to have had the operation and would likely miss the start of the 2021–22 season also. Nicholson opened his account for the 2021–22 season as he opened the scoring in a

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 ...

1–1 draw with Barrow, who had been reduced to ten men. The season ended in success for Nicholson and Rovers as a 7–0 victory on the final day of the season saw Rovers move into the final automatic promotion place on goals scored.

Return to Colorado

On 17 June 2022, it was announced that Nicholson had re-joined MLS side

on a two-and-a-half year deal. Nicholson made his second debut for the club in a 2–2 comeback draw with

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

Career statistics

Honours

Heart of Midlothian *

: 2014–15 Bristol Rovers *

EFL 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 ...

third-place promotion: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Sam Living people 1995 births Scottish footballers Footballers from Edinburgh People educated at Penicuik High School Association football wingers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Minnesota United FC players Colorado Rapids players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Major League Soccer players English Football League players Scotland youth international footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Sportspeople from Midlothian