Thomas Nicol (24 February 1870 – 10 June 1915)
was 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 ...
who played for
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
first as a
centre forward and then as a
full back in the 1890s, before later becoming a
bowls champion in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
.
Football career
Burnley
Nicol was born in
Whitburn, West Lothian
Whitburn (originally Whiteburn) is a small town in West Lothian, Scotland, halfway between Scotlands's two largest cities, about east of Glasgow and west of Edinburgh. The nearest major towns are Bathgate, and Livingston, .
History
Origin ...
and after playing local football in Scotland with
Mossend Swifts, he was one of several Scottish players recruited by
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
. For his Burnley debut on 7 March 1891 he replaced leading scorer
Claude Lambie, who had returned to Scotland, and scored a hat-trick in a 6–2 victory over
Preston North End.
Preston had won
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
in each of the two preceding years, but the defeat at
Turf Moor
Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...
resulted in them finishing the
1890–91 as runners-up, two points behind
Everton.
In 1891 a team representing
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
embarked on an extensive tour of Britain, playing over twenty games against both club and national teams. The game against Burnley took place on 31 October 1891 at Turf Moor, and at the time Burnley were lying eighth in the Football League. Despite fielding
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
goalkeeper
Jack Hillman
William John 'Jack' Hillman (30 October 1871 – 16 December 1952) was an English football goalkeeper who played for Burnley, Everton, Dundee, Manchester City and Millwall.
Career
Jack Hillman was born in Tavistock, Devon, but it was in Lan ...
, Burnley were held to a 2–2 draw, even though Nicol twice giving Burnley the lead.
A few weeks later, Nicol was one of three goal-scorers in a 3–0 victory over
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
, this being the first league victory for Burnley against their local rivals, ensuring that his name would be entered "''in any (Burnley) hall of fame''".
The match on 12 December 1891 was played in terrible conditions, having snowed for more than two hours before kick-off. Nicol forced the ball over the line after a goalmouth scramble ensued from
James Matthew
James Matthew was a 19th-century Scottish footballer who appeared in the Football League for Burnley and Accrington
Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, ea ...
's cross, with only seven minutes on the clock. Nicol was also involved in the build-up to the second goal, scored by
Hugh Galbraith
Hugh Galbraith (22 December 1868 – 1930) (another source believes Hugh Galbraith was born in Waterford, Ireland and was born on 2 December 1867) was a Scottish footballer, most notable as a player for Luton Town.
Career
According to the so ...
, while the third was scored by
Billy Bowes
William Bowes was a Scottish 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 foot ...
after 35 minutes, although Rovers' goalkeeper,
Herby Arthur
William John Herbert Arthur (14 February 1863 – 27 November 1930) was an English association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers and the England nation ...
contested the goal, claiming that the ball had not crossed the line. Rovers were reluctant to come out for the second half, in which they would be playing into the wind, and only seven players appeared for the restart. After Burnley's captain,
Alex Stewart, and Blackburn's
Joe Lofthouse
Joseph Morris Lofthouse (14 April 1865 – 10 June 1919) was an English people, English association football, footballer.
Playing career
Joseph Lofthouse was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Blackburn on 14 April 1865. A talented footballer he j ...
had been sent off for fighting, the remaining Rovers players, with the exception of goalkeeper Arthur, walked off the pitch in protest. After a few farcical minutes, when Burnley's scored a "goal" which was disallowed as
offside, the referee,
Charles Clegg, abandoned the match with the scoreline at 3–0.
On 9 January 1892, Nicol and fellow forward
Alex McLardie both scored
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
s in a 9–0 victory over
Darwen
Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners".
The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the s ...
.
For the
1891–92 season, Nicol was Burnley's top scorer, with 17 goals from 25 league appearances as they finished seventh in the table.
For the next two seasons, Nicol played at
right-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
before moving forward to
outside-right
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
for the
1894–95 season. Nicol again found his goal-scoring form and was the club's top-scorer for the season with 11 league goals from 22 appearances. He made a further contribution of eight goals in the
1895–96 season including a hat-trick in a 6–0 defeat of
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
on 13 April 1886.
The following November, Nicol joined Burnley's arch-rivals, Blackburn Rovers; in his 5 full seasons with Burnley he made a total of 150 appearances, scoring 45 goals.
Blackburn Rovers
Nicol stayed with Blackburn Rovers until the end of the
1896–97 season, scoring twice from 19 league and cup appearances, before moving to the south coast to join
Southern League Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
in the 1897 close season.
Southampton
At the "''Saints''", Nicol reverted to the right-back position lining up alongside
Harry Haynes
Harry Haynes (21 April 1873 – 29 May 1902) was an English footballer who played as a full back for Walsall Town Swifts, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Small Heath and Southampton in the 1890s.
Career
Midlands
Haynes was born in Walsall and afte ...
; their defensive prowess helped Southampton to retain their Southern League title, conceding only 18 goals from 22 matches. He made his debut on 2 October 1897, with
Samuel Meston
Samuel Meston (16 January 1872 – 14 August 1948) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half-back for Stoke and Southampton. Whilst with Southampton, he appeared in two FA Cup Finals and won six Southern League championship ...
moving forward to
right-half
A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...
to accommodate him, thus displacing
William McMillan, who had been ever-present in the previous season. The Saints also reached the 1898
FA Cup semi-final
The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world.
Location
The semi-finals have always been contested at neutr ...
, where they were defeated by
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
in rather controversial circumstances after goalkeeper
George Clawley
George Clawley (10 April 1875 – 16 July 1920) was an English professional goalkeeper who played for Stoke, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was the goalkeeper for the Spurs side that ...
had his eyes "''choked with snow''" and conceded two goals in the final minutes of the game.
Nicol was "''completely fearless, even reckless (and) usually won the ball irrespective of obstacles''"
and became "''one of the finest backs ever to don the cherry and white shirt''".
Injury resulted in him losing his place to
Peter Durber in October 1898, although he did make two appearances at
outside-left
Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...
later that season (replacing
Tom Smith), in which the Saints claimed the championship for the third consecutive season.
He retired at the end of the 1898–99 season, having made 37 appearances for Southampton, scoring twice.
After football
On his retirement, he became the landlord of the Kingsland Tavern in
St Mary's Street.
He sold the pub in 1901 to fellow Southampton footballer
Harry Brown and later took over a pub in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
.
Bowls
Nicol became a
bowls player of some repute and in 1907 he became a "knight" by winning the 133rd annual championship at the
Southampton Old Bowling Green
Southampton Old Bowling Green, situated on the corner of Lower Canal Walk and Platform Road, Southampton, England, is the world's oldest surviving bowling green. It was first used in 1299; Chesterfield Bowling Club in Derbyshire is believed to dat ...
,
which is the world's oldest surviving
bowling green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
having been first used in 1299.
Honours
Southampton
*
Southern League championship: 1897–98 and 1898–99
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicol, Tom
1870 births
1915 deaths
Scottish footballers
English Football League players
Southern Football League players
Burnley F.C. players
Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
People from Whitburn, West Lothian
Footballers from West Lothian
Broxburn Athletic F.C. players
Mossend Swifts F.C. players
Men's association football forwards
Men's association football fullbacks