Leigh Nicol

Leigh Caitlyn Nicol (born 26 September 1995) is a Scottish footballer who plays for Crystal Palace in the English FA Women's Championship.

Leigh Nicol
Personal information
Full name Leigh Caitlyn Nicol[1]
Date of birth (1995-09-26) 26 September 1995[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Crystal Palace
Youth career
Motherwell
2009–2012 Celtic
2013 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Reading Women 4 (0)
2015 London Bees [3] 9 (1)
2016–2018 Millwall Lionesses[4] 28 (1)
2018–2020 Charlton Athletic 7 (0)
2020- Crystal Palace 0 (0)
National team
2009 Scotland U-16 1 (0)
2010–2012 Scotland U-17 6 (1)
2012–2014 Scotland U-19 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Nicol started her footballing career at Motherwell Girls where she was captain of her age group from 2006 to 2008. She then moved onto Celtic's Academy where she captained the club's under 15, under 17 and reserve sides. With Celtic Nicol also won the SWF Scottish U17 Cup title in 2011.[5][6]

She then moved to London to secure a place at Arsenal's prestigious academy where she could continue her education whilst training and playing for Arsenal Ladies' reserve side.[7]

An opportunity to play first team football opened up when former Arsenal Ladies player Jayne Ludlow became manager of FA WSL 2 club Reading Women. This move led to Nicol and a number of other Arsenal reserve players joining Reading in 2014.[8] Nicol had some success playing first team football for Reading but after one season she left at the beginning of 2015 to join London Bees to get more first team opportunities.[3] In February 2016 Nicol announced that she had signed for Millwall Lionesses.[4][9] She went on to win the club's Player of the Year award in 2017.[10]

International career

Nicol represented Scotland at Under 16's level in a Challenge Match against Wales in November 2009. She also went on to play seven times for Scotland's Under 17's and got on the score sheet in a 5–0 win over Wales in April 2012. Her international career continued and she also went on to make a number of appearances for Scotland at Under 19 level. Notable matches she has been involved in at this level are a 7–3 win over Italy, and a 14–1 victory against Georgia.

Personal life

Her grandfather was Jimmy Welsh, also a footballer, who played for Airdrie in the 1950s.[11]

Honours

Club
  • SWF Scottish Youth Cup: 2011[6]

Individual
  • Celtic Reserves Players Player of The Year: 2012
  • Millwall Player of the Year: 2017[10]

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/03/2015 and 31/03/2015" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 3. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  2. "Leigh Nicol". Scottish FA.co.uk.
  3. "Nicol and Williams sign from Reading". London Bees WSL.com.
  4. "Leigh Nicol (Millwall)". FAWSL.com.
  5. "Leigh Nicol- Reading WFC". FAWSL.com.
  6. "SWF Youth Cup Final". Youth Football Scotland.co.uk.
  7. "Scotland starlet on the verge of dream Arsenal move". Youth Football Scotland.co.uk.
  8. "Women add to squad". Reading FC.co.uk.
  9. "Millwall Lionesses add three signings to their squad". Millwall.co.uk.
  10. "Player of the Year Awards". FAWSL.com.
  11. "Budding Scotland star Leigh Nicol's dream move to Arsenal Ladies". Daily Record.co.uk.


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