Kenneth William Nicholas (3 February 1938 – 24 March 2007) was an English sportsman, best known for his football career. After playing both football and rugby

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 for his country at schoolboy level, Nicholas became a professional footballer, playing in England as a full back for Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, Watford

Watford F.C.

Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

, Guildford City

Guildford City F.C.

Guildford City Football Club is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was originally established in 1921, folded in 1974 and were reformed in 1996...

, Hastings United and Tonbridge, before finishing his career in Portuguese football.

Career

Born in Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

, Nicholas represented England's schoolboy and youth football teams, as well as its rugby schoolboys team. He joined Football League First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 side Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in 1955, but was unable to break into the team, and joined Fourth Division

Football League Fourth Division

The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...

 Watford

Watford F.C.

Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

 on a free transfer in 1959. By contrast to his time at Arsenal, Nicholas immediately became a first-choice starter in Watford's team, under the management of Ron Burgess

Ron Burgess (footballer)

William Arthur Ronald Burgess Burgess was a Wales international footballer, who played at wing-half. Burgess worked as a miner before joining Tottenham Hotspur from his local team Cwm Villa...

. In 1959–60, his first season at Watford, Nicholas helped Watford gain promotion to the Third Division

Football League Third Division

The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

 for the first time in their history. Nicholas continued to play regularly over the following five seasons; at the end of his Watford career he had made 219 appearances in all competitions under 3 different managers.

Ken Furphy

Ken Furphy

Ken Furphy is an English former football player and manager.Despite being on the books at Everton between 1950–1951, Furphy was a lower league player with Runcorn Darlington and then Workington...

, a full back himself, became Watford player-manager in November 1964, and the 1964–65 season proved to be Nicholas's last at Vicarage Road

Vicarage Road

Vicarage Road, a stadium in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, is the home of the football club Watford and their tenants, the Saracens rugby union club. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 17,477.-History:...

. At the end of the season he joined Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 side Guildford City

Guildford City F.C.

Guildford City Football Club is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was originally established in 1921, folded in 1974 and were reformed in 1996...

. The following year he moved to Hastings United, and after a spell at Tonbridge, Nicholas moved to the Algarve in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, where he finished his career.

Nicholas died on 24 March 2007, after a long illness.