Kevin Nicholson (footballer)

Kevin Nicholson

Personal information
Full name	Kevin John Nicholson
Date of birth	(1980-10-02) 2 October 1980 (age 43)
Place of birth	Derby, England
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	Exeter City (assistant manager)
Youth career
199?–1998	Sheffield Wednesday
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2001	Sheffield Wednesday	1	(0)
2001	→ Forest Green Rovers (loan)	1	(0)
2001	Northampton Town	7	(0)
2001–2004	Notts County	95	(3)
2004	→ Scarborough (loan)	13	(1)
2004–2006	Scarborough	82	(4)
2006–2007	Forest Green Rovers	44	(6)
2007–2014	Torquay United	314	(13)
2014–2015	Kidderminster Harriers	43	(1)
2015	Bath City	11	(1)
2015–2017	Torquay United	19	(0)
2018–2019	Mousehole
Total		630	(31)
International career
2007–2009	England C	4	(0)
Managerial career
2015–2017	Torquay United
2018–2019	Mousehole
2022	Exeter City (caretaker manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kevin John Nicholson (born 2 October 1980) is an English former professional footballer who is currently assistant manager of Exeter City.

Playing career

Born in Derby, Nicholson began his career as a trainee with Sheffield Wednesday, turning professional in August 1998. His first team debut came on 28 August 2000 when he replaced Andy Hinchcliffe as a first-half substitute in Wednesday's 1–1 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers. ^[1] However, this was his only first team appearance for Wednesday as he was allowed to join Forest Green Rovers on loan in January 2001, before moving to Northampton Town on a free transfer the following month.^{[ citation needed ]}

In March 2001, Nicholson joined Notts County on a free transfer, ^[2] and soon became a regular in the County side. He joined Scarborough on loan in March 2004, ^[3] scoring on his debut ^[4] and moved to Scarborough on a free transfer at the end of the season. ^[5] He was a regular in Scarborough's Conference National side for the next two seasons, but left in May 2006 to join Forest Green Rovers ^[6] after Scarborough's relegation to the Conference North amid financial problems that would see the club dissolved a year later. ^[7]

His form with Forest Green earned Nicholson a call-up to the England C squad for the Home Internationals, and suggestions of a move back to the football league with Barnet, managed by England C boss Paul Fairclough. ^[8] However, Nicholson joined Torquay United on a free transfer on 20 June 2007. ^[9]

He spent seven years with Torquay but after their relegation from the Football League in May 2014 he was released by the club. ^[10]

On 7 August 2014, Nicholson signed non-contract terms with Kidderminster Harriers. ^[11] On 9 August 2014, he made his debut for Kidderminster in a goalless draw away at Lincoln City. On 1 November 2014, he scored his first goal for the Harriers against former club Torquay United. On 15 November 2014, Nicholson signed a contract with Kidderminster Harriers until the end of the season. ^[12] After the last game of the season, a 2–1 loss away to Eastleigh, Kevin announced that he would not be signing a new contract and was looking for a new club.^{[ citation needed ]}

In July 2015, Nicholson signed for Bath City.^{[ citation needed ]}

Coaching career

On 28 September 2015, it was announced by the club that Kevin Nicholson, former Torquay United player would be the club's new player-manager. Torquay United Chairman, David Phillips was quoted as saying "We are delighted to have Kevin on board as player-manager. As a player for the club, he displayed outstanding consistency over many years and is quite rightly regarded as a legend here". ^[13] After a slow start to his managerial career Kevin brought in a group of new players in the January transfer window and led Torquay to an unlikely escape from a near-certain relegation, earning him such nicknames as 'The Ranieri of the Riviera'. ^[14] After a summer of financial uncertainty at Torquay Kevin retained his position as manager for the 2016/17 season with a smaller squad than before, and one that made a better start than in 2015/16, but failed to continue their excellent form from the end of that season when they engineered the great escape. Despite that by the end of September the team seemed to have settled into a mid table position showing flashes of previous form but seeming unlikely to press for the promotional places on the basis of their inconsistent performances and lack of finance.^{[ citation needed ]}

In August 2017, following a poor start to the 2017-18 season, Nicholson departed Torquay. ^[15]

Nicholson joined South West Peninsula League club Mousehole as player-manager and director of the associated Endorsed Academy. ^[16] Despite achieving an 85% winning record at the club, he left in June 2019 as he was unable to commit to a new academy structure. ^[17]

In August 2019 he became head of coaching at Exeter City. ^[18]

On 4 October 2022, first-team manager Matt Taylor was appointed manager of Rotherham United ^[19] with Nicholson being appointed caretaker manager. Nicholson oversaw six matches in charge of the first-team, having a 50% win record with three wins and three defeats. Following the appointment of Gary Caldwell, Nicholson continued to work closely with the first-team and was appointed assistant manager on 10 November 2022. ^[20]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 22 October 2022

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Torquay United	28 September 2015	17 August 2017	93	28	23	42	030.1	[21] [22]
Exeter City (caretaker)	4 October 2022	24 October 2022	6	3	0	3	050.0
Total			99	31	23	45	031.3	—

Honours

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2011–12 League Two ^[23]

References

1. "ENGLISH DIVISION 1 | Sheff Wed 1-1 Blackburn". BBC Sport . 28 August 2000. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
2. "Notts County FC season 2000/01". Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
3. "Football | My Club | Notts County | Boro sign Nicholson". BBC Sport . 12 March 2004. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
4. "York & North Yorkshire". BBC News. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
5. "Football | My Club | Scarborough | Scarborough land Nicholson". BBC Sport . 9 August 2004. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
6. "Football | My Club | Forest Green Rovers | Forest Green swoop for Nicholson". BBC Sport . 23 May 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
7. "Football | Non League | Scarborough FC go out of business". BBC Sport . 20 June 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
8. "Newsham becomes first new Gladiators signing of the summer | non League Daily". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2007.
9. "Football | My Club | Torquay United | Nicholson quits Rovers for Gulls". BBC Sport. 21 June 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
10. "Torquay United release long-serving left-back Kevin Nicholson". BBC Sport. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
11. "EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Nicholson becomes a Kidderminster Harriers player after agreeing non-contract terms". Harriers.co.uk. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
12. "NEWS: Kevin Nicholson signs contract". Archived from the original on 19 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
13. "Club Statement - Player-Manager Appointed". Torquayunited.com. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
14. Godfrey, Mark (14 April 2016). "Ranieri of the Riviera – Torquay's latest escape". Footballpink.net. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
15. "Kevin Nicholson: Torquay United player-manager leaves National League club". BBC Sport. 17 August 2017.
16. "Ex-Torquay United manager Kevin Nicholson flies west to join Mousehole AFC & Endorsed Academy". Mousehole A.F.C. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
17. "Kevin Nicholson leaves the Seagulls". Mousehole A.F.C. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
18. "Kevin Nicholson: Exeter City hand coaching role to ex-Torquay United boss". BBC Sport. 12 August 2019.
19. "📝 Club Statement: Matt Taylor". www.exetercityfc.co.uk. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
20. "📝 Update on the bootroom staff". www.exetercityfc.co.uk. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
21. "Torquay United: Kevin Nicholson named as new manager". BBC Sport. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
22. "Torquay: Results/matches: 2015/16". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 May 2017. Individual seasons accessed via dropdown menu.
23. "Arsenal striker Robin van Persie named PFA Player of the Year". BBC Sport. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2018.

External links

• Kevin Nicholson at Soccerbase