Villa mourn death of cup hero Nicholl
FORMER Villa captain Chris Nicholl has died at the age of 77.
The big centre-half played for the club between 1972 and 1977 and made 250 appearances, scoring 20 goals. He was part of the side who won the League Cup in 1975 and 1977, the first against Norwich thanks to the only goal coming from Ray Graydon. The second triumph famously featured a 40-yard Nicholl piledriver against Everton in the second replay at Old Trafford, which Villa eventually won 3-2.
He lined up alongside the likes of Charlie Aitken and Brian Little, with both pieces of silverware secured under Ron Saunders.
Nicholl also played for Luton, Southampton and Grimsby, while he earned 51 international caps for Northern Ireland, despite being English-born, scoring three times. He also managed the Aston Villa Old Stars, who played in testimonials and charity games, and ventured into coaching following his retirement in 1984.
Nicholl was in the dug-out at Southampton a year later and guided them to 100 victories in 293 matches in charge. He also had a successful stint at Walsall, in which he won almost half of his 157 games at the helm between 1994 and 1997. Nicholl finished his coaching career when assisting Lawrie McMenemy with Northern Ireland before the turn of the millennium.
Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with dementia and returned to Southampton to be nearer his family, residing in an assistedliving facility. He took part in a BBC documentary ‘Dementia, Football and Me’, hosted by Alan Shearer, in 2017, and confirmed he was brain-damaged from heading footballs.
Former Villa striker Stan Collymore paid tribute, saying: “Extremely sad to hear of Chris Nicholl passing. Perhaps apt that on League Cup final day, a tournament he etched his name indelibly into, he passed away.”