Barry Nicholson
Encyclopedia
Barry Nicholson is a Scottish professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 for Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

.

Early years

As a boy Nicholson was a supporter who watched home town club Queen of the South
Queen of the South F.C.
Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club founded in 1919 and located in Dumfries. The club currently plays in the Scottish First Division, the second tier of Scottish football. They are officially nicknamed The Doonhamers, but usually referred to as Queens or QoS...

 with his father. From playing youth football in Dumfries he then joined Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...

. Limited appearances in Rangers' first team saw him move on in 2000.

Dunfermline Athletic

Nicholson joined Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Dunfermline, Fife, commonly known as just Dunfermline. They currently compete in the Scottish Premier League....

 under the helm of Jimmy Calderwood
Jimmy Calderwood
James "Jimmy" Calderwood is a Scottish former footballer and currently without a club having recently been manager of Ross County. Calderwood played for English clubs Birmingham City and Cambridge United and Dutch clubs Sparta Rotterdam, Willem II Tilburg, Roda JC and Heracles Almelo...

 and was first team regular in what was the Pars most successful period for a considerable period of time. 2002–03 in Scottish football saw them finish 5th. The following season, Dunfermline did even better finishing in fourth place as well as reaching the 2004 Scottish Cup Final
2004 Scottish Cup Final
The 2004 Scottish Cup Final was played on 22 May 2004 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 118th Scottish Cup. The final was contested by Dunfermline Athletic and Celtic. Celtic came from behind to win the match 3–1.-Match details:...

, which also saw them qualify for a UEFA competition for the first time since 1970.

Aberdeen

Nicholson's performances at East End Park saw him signed by Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...

 for a fee of £250,000 in July 2005 and re-joined former boss Calderwood who had since moved to Pittodrie
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Stadium is an all-seated football stadium situated in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. It was first used in 1899 and from 1903 has been the home of Aberdeen Football Club...

. The move paid dividends as his strong performances towards the end of the 2006–07 season
2006-07 in Scottish football
The 2006–07 season was the 110th season of competitive football in Scotland.-2006:*9 July: Rangers defender Fernando Ricksen is banned for the club's pre-season trip to South Africa, following an incident on the outbound flight. Manager Paul Le Guen cited "wholly inappropriate and...

 saw him score vital goals. The most notable of these goals was the last minute equaliser against Hearts
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...

, which all but clinched third place for Aberdeen, with only two matches of the season left at that stage.

In season 2006/07, the club finished in third place in the league and thus qualified for the 2007-08 UEFA Cup from which the Dons qualified from their group after a 4–0 win against F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the Parken Sport & Entertainment....

. The Dons in the next round were twice ahead at home against Bayern Munich before drawing 2–2. The Bavarians won the return leg comfortably.

In October 2007, Nicholson scored the first hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

 of his career, by scoring three goals against Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club are a Scottish football club from Inverness who compete in the Scottish Premier League. They are currently managed by Terry Butcher and assistant manager Maurice Malpas...

 in the quarter finals of the CIS Cup
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...

, with two of these goals being penalties.

Nicholson scored the 2nd goal for Aberdeen against Queen of the South in the 2007/08 Scottish Cup
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...

 semi finals. Queens won the 7 goal thriller 4–3 to make it to the final for the first in their history. He later magnanimously said, "I think that they were the better team and deserved to go through."

Preston North End

On 30 June 2008, Nicholson accepted a 2-year contract with an option of a 3rd year on a free transfer for Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

, subject to passing a medical.

Nicholson scored his first goal for Preston in a 2–0 pre season friendly away to Chorley
Chorley F.C.
Chorley Football Club are a football club from Chorley, Lancashire, England. They were founded as a rugby union club in 1875 but switched to football in 1883. They have reached the FA Cup second round twice in 1986–87 and 1990–91. Their best performance in the FA Trophy was in 1995–96 when they...

.
On 22 August 2009 Nicholson sustained a suspected broken leg in the Championship game vs Peterborough United
Peterborough United F.C.
Peterborough United Football Club are a professional English football club based in Peterborough. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and played in the old Midland League, which they won six times; eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1960, replacing Gateshead. Their home ground is...

. Nicholson returned from injury for the final game of the 2009/10 season only to limp off the field within 15 minutes suffering from an injury to the same leg. Nicholson returned to the side in January 2011 playing regularly for the remainder of the season.

International

Nicholson has won 3 caps for Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

, the first being in the friendly draw with Poland
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...

 in April 2001 while the last one was in the friendly defeat to Sweden
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...

 in November 2004.
# Date Opponent Result Competition
1 25 April 2001 Poland 1–1 Scotland Friendly match
2 6 October 2001 Scotland 2–1 Latvia World Cup qualifier
3 17 November 2004 Scotland 1–4 Sweden Friendly match

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK