Steve Nicol was a professional footballer who most famously played as a right-back for Liverpool between 1981 and 1994. During this time he won four Premiership medals, a European Cup, three FA Cups, a Football League Super Cup and an FA Charity Shield. In 1989, he was the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year.
As a player, Nicol also had stints at Ayr United, Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion, Doncaster Rovers and Boston Bulldogs. Healso played for the Scottish national team and went on to enjoy success as a manager.
Nicol had stints presiding over Notts County and Boston Bulldogs, but most of his coaching success came with New England Revolution. The Scot won the MLS Coach of the Year award in 2002, the 2007 US Open Cup and the 2008 North American SuperLiga.
Career at Liverpool
Steve Nicol began his club career with Scotland's Ayr United in 1979 before moving to Liverpool in 1981. Legendary manager Bob Paisley signed him as the Reds forked out a reported £300,000 to bring him to Anfield.
Nicol had to wait some time before making his debut, which eventually came on August 31, 1982 in a 0-0 league draw with Birmingham City at St. Andrew's.
Liverpool finished as league champions in 1982/83, but Nicol did not make enough appearances to collect a winner's medal - only featuring three more times throughout the course of the campaign.
Breaking through at Liverpool
In 1983/84, Nicol became a regular as Joe Fagan replaced Paisley. On October 22 1983, Nicol scored his first goal for Liverpool in a 1-0 league win over Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
Nicol won a league winner's medal at the end of the season but did not appear in Liverpool's League Cup final win over Merseyside rivals Everton.
Liverpool players and coaching staff celebrate with the European Cup: (back row, l-r) Bruce Grobbelaar, Kenny Dalglish, Steve Nicol, Alan Hansen, Michael Robinson, Gary Gillespie, Mark Lawrenson, Ronnie Moran, Ian Rush, Tom Saunders; (front row, l-r) Ronnie Whelan, Phil Neal, Sammy Lee, Graeme Souness, Craig Johnston, Alan Kennedy, David Hodgson
In the European Cup final against AS Roma, Nicol came on as a substitute for Craig Johnston. After a 0-0 draw, the match went to a penalty shootout at the Stadio Olimpico. Nicol failed to convert his penalty but Liverpool won the game nonetheless.
The 1985 Heysel Stadium Disaster in the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus meant that English clubs were banned from the competition for five years.
The Reds were initially banned for 10 years but that was later reduced to six. Nevertheless, Nicol continued to enjoy success with Liverpool.
More silverware and a second tragedy
In 1986, under the guidance of Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool won the league championship and FA Cup double - edging out Everton in the title race and beating them 3-1 in the cup final.
Although he predominantly played at right back following the departure of Phil Neal, Nicol was utilised at left back, centre back, midfield and also played up front.
In 1987/88, Nicol had a productive goalscoring season even as a defender, scoring a hat-trick against Newcastle United and a famous long-range header against Arsenal. Liverpool breezed to another league title that season.
In the following campaign, Liverpool beat Everton to win the FA Cup but lost their league crown to Arsenal in a close race.
Steve Nicol of Liverpool (l) holds off Watford's Worrell Sterling (r)
The Scot scored twice in Liverpool's record top flight win during the 1989/90 season, a 9-0 drubbing of Crystal Palace. The Reds went on to win the title however, few would have predicted that they wouldn't win another one for 30 years.
Leaving Liverpool
The Scot left Liverpool to take on a player-assistant coach role under Howard Kendall at Notts County in January 1995. He took joint managerial charge of the club after Kendall's sacking but could not prevent them from being relegated from Division Two.
Nicol enjoyed a loan spell at West Bromwich Albion and a brief stint at Doncaster Rovers before moving to the USA, where he took over as a player-coach at Boston Bulldogs.
After serving as interim player-coach at New England Revolution, he returned to the Bulldogs where he winded down his playing career. Then in 2002, he became New England Revolution's assistant coach.
International career with Scotland
Nicol made his debut for Scotland in a friendly against Yugoslavia on September 12, 1984. Jock Stein's Scotland won the match 6-1, handing Nicol a memorable start to his international career.
Steve Nicol - Scotland is booked by referee Joel Quiniou
Altogether, Nicol amassed 27 caps for Scotland, the last of which came in a 2-2 draw with Switzerland on September 11, 1991 during UEFA Euro 92 qualifiers.
Managing at New England Revolution
New England Revolution's coach Steve Nicol (right), assistant coach Paul Mariner (centre) and goalkeeping coach Gwynne Williams, on the touchline prior to kick off.
On 24 October 2011, the club parted ways with Nicol, ending a decade-long partnership between the two.
"Robert [Kraft] and I met with Stevie today and we had a productive discussion about this past season and the direction the club needs to go in the future," said Jonathan Kraft, as per the New England Revolution's website.
"We all agreed a change of direction was needed to reverse the trend of the past couple of years. Stevie was a successful head coach and a tremendous ambassador for the Revolution for the past decade and set a high standard for success, leading us to four conference titles in six years. We thank him for all of his contributions."
Personal life
Net worth
It is unknown how much Nicol is worth, but his transfer to Liverpool from Ayr United was worth what proved to be a bargain reported price of £300,000.