Charles Nicholas (born 30 December 1961) is a Scottish former professional footballer. A striker, Nicholas is best known for his spells at Celtic and Arsenal. He won 20 international caps for Scotland, including playing at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Nicholas began his career at Celtic, and by the age of 21 was considered the most exciting emerging talent in British football. With several English clubs keen to sign him, he joined Arsenal in the summer of 1983. He spent over four years there, and scored both their goals in their League Cup Final win over Liverpool in 1987. Nicholas fell out of favour at Highbury later that year, and moved back to Scotland to join Aberdeen. He won two Cup Finals in his time at Pittodrie, before rejoining Celtic in 1990. His second spell at Parkhead was less successful than his first, but he spent five seasons there before moving on to Clyde for one season before retiring from playing.
Since retiring he has worked in the media, most recently on the Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday, until August 2020.
Born in Cowcaddens, Glasgow, Nicholas grew in the Maryhill area of the city (specifically the Wyndford estate) where he was a childhood friend and neighbour of fellow footballer Jim Duffy. He began his career as a youth with the Celtic Boys Club, before signing for Celtic in 1979. He made his first team debut at 17 years of age on 14 August 1979 in a Glasgow Cup tie against Queens Park, scoring Celtic's second goal in a 3–1 win. Aside from his goal, the youngster displayed alertness and confidence. He made his second appearance in the next round of the same competition on 22 August, opening the scoring in a 3–0 win over Clyde and providing the assist for Bobby Lennox to score Celtic's third goal. Nicholas returned to playing for the reserves again for the rest of the season. His next first team outing was in July 1980 in a Drybrough Cup tie against Ayr United. Celtic lost 1–0 in a poor showing, although Nicholas continued to impress with his quick and busy play.
His first appearance for Celtic in a major competition came on 16 August 1980 when he replaced the injured Frank McGarvey during the second half of Celtic's 3–0 win away against Kilmarnock in the league. Nicholas began to feature regularly for Celtic, and on 30 August scored his first goals in major competition when he netted twice during a 6–1 win over Stirling Albion in the Scottish League Cup. Playing up front alongside one of either Frank McGarvey or George McCluskey, he went on to score 20 goals in 23 games up to the end of December 1980. He continued to score regularly after the turn of the year, including two goals against Rangers in February 1981 as Celtic came from behind to win 3–1 and go top of the league. Manager Billy McNeill praised Nicholas, stating "It's a wonderful thing for a youngster to score twice in one of those [Old Firm] games", adding that "The world is going to hear a lot more about Charlie [Nicholas]". He finished the season with a total of 28 goals, the last of which he scored in a 1–0 win over Rangers at Ibrox in April 1981, and Celtic went on to clinch the Scottish Premier Division title days later with a win away at Dundee United. Nicholas' form saw him win the 1981 Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year Award.
The following season saw Nicholas play less regularly, having lost his place in the side to McCluskey. Worse, he suffered a broken leg in a friendly match against Morton in January 1982 and missed the rest of the season.
Nicholas returned to the team for the start of season 1982–83 in August 1982, playing in all six matches of the group stages of the 1982–83 Scottish League Cup, scoring seven goals as Celtic qualified with ease, including a four-goal haul in a 7–1 rout of Dunfermline. Celtic, and Nicholas, continued their goalscoring form into the league campaign, and by mid September Nicholas had amassed a total of 16 goals. Celtic faced Ajax in the first round of the European Cup in September 1982. Nicholas scored a penalty in the first leg at Parkhead, which finished 2–2 on the night. Celtic went into the second leg as underdogs, but an outstanding goal by Nicholas put Celtic ahead in Amsterdam. In a move also involving Paul McStay and Frank McGarvey, Nicholas received the ball from McGarvey and ran into the Ajax penalty box. He evaded two tackles from Ajax defenders before curling an excellently placed left-foot finish past goalkeeper Piet Schrijvers. Ajax later scored themselves, but a last minute winner from George McCluskey saw Celtic progress 4–3 on aggregate. Nicholas later said of his goal, "That was probably my all-time favourite goal. My greatest game."
Nicholas was now being described as the most outstanding young player to emerge in Scotland since Kenny Dalglish. He displayed an excellent touch and great vision on the ball and possessed a strong shot with both feet. The only asset he lacked was a turn of pace, although his other attributes covered for that. His partnership up front with Frank McGarvey helped Nicholas become the leading goalscorer in Scotland and one of the best strikers in the British game. On 4 December 1982, he opened the scoring for Celtic in their 2–1 win over Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final. After New Year, Nicholas became the centre of intense media speculation linking him with a move to England; with television, radio and newspapers journalists travelling north to cover Nicholas' goalscoring exploits. The Celtic star was featured regularly on the Saturday lunch-time television show Saint and Greavsie which showed Nicholas' latest goals. Despite his prolific goalscoring, the uncertainty over his future at Celtic appeared to unsettle the team towards the end of the season and they ended up losing the league to Dundee United. In the final league match of the season, Nicholas scored twice from penalty kicks as Celtic recovered from a 2–0 deficit at half-time against Rangers to win 4–2. At the end of the game he ran behind the goal to wave what appeared to be his "goodbyes" to the Celtic fans.
He finished the season with 48 goals and won both the Scottish PFA Player of the Year and Scottish Football Writers' Player of the Year awards. The weeks that followed the end of the season saw Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal all being strongly linked with signing Nicholas. Liverpool's Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness, whom Nicholas knew from being with in the Scotland international squad, made strenuous efforts to persuade Nicholas to come to Anfield. Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan were also interested in signing the Celtic player.
Terry Neill signed Nicholas for Arsenal on 22 June 1983 for a transfer fee of £750,000 (£2,550,000 today), making him at the time the second most expensive export from the Scottish league. As a 21-year-old at the time of his move to Arsenal, he reportedly became the highest paid footballer in Britain and was described as being "the most exciting player to emerge in Britain since George Best". He made his competitive debut for Arsenal in the opening league match of the season on 27 August 1983 at Highbury against Luton Town. Although he did not score, Nicholas turned in an impressive performance and helped his side to a 2–1 win. Former Scotland international Ian St John said that Nicholas showed he was a player of "genuine class" and that there was a "buzz of excitement every time he moved on to the ball". Two days later, Nicholas scored his first goals for his new club in a 2–1 win away at Wolves.
However, he failed to score again until Boxing Day. By this time Arsenal had endured a slump in form and were lying sixteenth in the First Division, resulting in the sacking of manager Terry Neill on 16 December 1983. The festive period saw Nicholas return to scoring form: He scored twice in a 4–2 win over North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day, endearing himself to the supporters. Nicholas scored again upon the following day from a penalty kick in a 1–1 draw against Birmingham City, his first goal scored at Highbury. Under new manager Don Howe, Arsenal improved in the second half of the season and eventually finished in sixth place. The 1983–84 campaign would prove to be Nicholas' best at Arsenal, with him scoring a sum of 11 times in the league: As so, he won Arsenal's Player of the Year award for 1984.