Sonny Nickle (born 4 May 1969) is an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He played at club level as a or for

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central parliamentar ...

, St Helens,

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club that play in the Championship (rugby league), Betfred Championship. The club play their home games at the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) on the former site of Don Valley Stadium, their forme ...

and the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

Background

Sonny Nickle was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, England. He is the youngest of four brothers.

Playing career

Nickle joined St Helens from

in July 1991. St Helens paid Sheffield an initial fee of £80,000, set by an independent tribunal, and an additional £25,000 after Nickle was selected to play for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Sonny Nickle played in St Helens 4–5 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in the 1992 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1992–93 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted ...

, St. Helens on Sunday 18 October 1992. In 1995, he was part of the package put together by St Helens to bring Paul Newlove to the club from the

. Sonny Nickle was an athletic

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who was a powerful runner. He enjoyed the distinction of representing Great Britain on six occasions. Nickle played for Bradford at in their 1996 Challenge Cup Final defeat by St Helens. Nickle returned to St Helens in 1999, and played in their

1999 Super League Grand Final The 1999 Super League Grand Final was the Second official Grand Final conclusive and championship-deciding game of the Super League IV season. The match was played between St. Helens and Bradford Bulls on Saturday 9 October 1999, at Old Traffo ...

victory over

. Having won the 1999 Championship, St. Helens contested in the

2000 World Club Challenge The 2000 World Club Challenge was contested by 1999 NRL season premiers, the Melbourne Storm and 1999's Super League IV champions, St. Helens. The match was played on 22 January at JJB Stadium, Wigan before a crowd of 13,394. The Melbourne Storm ...

against

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Premiers the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

, with Nickle playing at in the loss. Nickle appeared from the bench in the Saints'

2000 Super League Grand Final The 2000 Super League Grand Final was the third official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding game of 2000's Super League V. Held on Saturday 14 October 2000 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens ...

victory over

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

. As Super League V champions, St. Helens played against 2000 NRL Premiers, the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

in the 2001 World Club Challenge, Nickle played at in Saints' victory. In September 2001, Nickle was suspended for six months for a tackle on

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

hooker

Robbie Mears Robert "Robbie" Mears (born 25 September 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. His usual position was as a . Background Mears was born in Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. Early years Mears played for Ingleb ...

, which broke the Leeds player's jaw. The suspension was changed to a nine-match ban following an appeal. The club attempted to shorten the ban by allowing Nickle to sign a short-term contract with

Northern Ford Premiership The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and was the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 2003. During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between ...

side Barrow Border Raiders, whose new season started earlier than St Helens. When Nickle re-signed with Saints, the RFL confirmed that Nickle had to serve the remainder of his ban, as the matches with Barrow would not count towards his suspension.

References

External links

Saints Heritage Society profile
1969 births Living people Bradford Bulls players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Hunslet R.L.F.C. players Leigh Centurions players People from Belle Isle, Leeds Rugby league players from Leeds Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Sheffield Eagles (1984) players St Helens R.F.C. players {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub