Barry Nicholson

Barry Nicholson

Personal information
Full name	Barry Nicholson
Date of birth	24 August 1978 (1978-08-24)
Place of birth	Dumfries, Scotland
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Preston North End
Number	10
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–2000	Rangers	8	(0)
2000–2005	Dunfermline Athletic	174	(23)
2005–2008	Aberdeen	102	(13)
2008–	Preston North End	82	(9)
National team‡
2001–2004	Scotland	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 January 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 April 2009

Barry Nicholson (born 24 August 1978 in Dumfries, Scotland) is a Scottish professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Preston North End.

Early years

As a boy Nicholson was a supporter who watched home town club Queen of the South with his father. From playing youth football in Dumfries he then joined Rangers. Limited appearances in Rangers' first team saw him move on in 2000.

Dunfermline Athletic

Nicholson joined Dunfermline Athletic under the helm of Jimmy Calderwood 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, 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 for a fee of £250,000 in July 2005 and re-joined former boss Calderwood who had since moved to Pittodrie. The move paid dividends as his strong performances towards the end of the 2006–07 season saw him score vital goals. The most notable of these goals was the last minute equaliser against Hearts, 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. 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 of his career, by scoring three goals against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the quarter finals of the CIS Cup, 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 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, subject to passing a medical.

Nicholson scored his first goal for Preston in a 2–0 pre season friendly away to Chorley. On 22 August 2009 Nicholson sustained a suspected broken leg in the Championship game vs Peterborough United. 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, the first being in the friendly draw with Poland in April 2001 while the last one was in the friendly defeat to Sweden in November 2004.

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

Honours

• Dunfermline Athletic – 2004 Scottish Cup finalist

External links

• Barry Nicholson career stats at Soccerbase