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Mark Nicholls
Born Hillingdon, 30/5/1977
Forward. Signed for Reading on loan from Chelsea on 30/12/1999. Returned to Chelsea on 10/2/2000, having scored three goals - a magnificent solo effort at Gillingham (see trivia below) and two goals in the AWS victory at Bristol Rovers. The first of the goals in the AWS game was a header whilst the second was a dipping shot from 30 yards, leading to slightly inaccurate chants of "Nicholls from the halfway line" on future visits to the Memorial Ground. Chelsea were quoted as wanting a fee of £800,000 for Mark, far above the valuation of Reading and most of our fans (see story below).
At Chelsea he was named Young Player of the Year for 1994, and also won the Chelsea Golden Boot in both 1994 (26 goals) and 1995 (28 goals). Before coming to Reading, he had had a loan spell at Chertsey Town, and later was loaned out to Grimsby Town from February to May 2000 and Colchester United in October 2000. This was followed by a trial at Aberdeen. In March 2001 he had a trial with Motherwell. Chelsea released him in May 2001.
In July 2001 he played for Aldershot Town on trial, and then had a trial with Swindon Town. He came close to signing a permanent deal with Greek team Akratitos but the deal fell through (see story below). He played one game with Partick Thistle before joining Torquay United on trial on 4/9/2001. This led to a two-month spell playing for them on a non-contract basis. He then joined Hamilton Academical for three weeks but in November 2001 signed for Clydebank. He stayed there until May 2002 when his contract expired.
The summer of 2002 was similar to that of 2001 - he had a trial at Aldershot Town in July, then signed with Chesham United before having a trial with Woking in August. The Conference club offered him terms but the deal fell through at a late stage and he instead signed for Maidenhead United in August. He stayed there until December 2002 when he moved to Uxbridge. Maidenhead stated that he had left purely for financial reasons.
Playing record:
Chelsea:
1995-2000 - 16 games (+36 as substitute), 3 goals
Reading:
1999/2000 - 6 games (+1), 3 goals
Grimsby Town:
1999/2000 - 6 games, 0 goals
Colchester United:
2000/01 - 3 games (+1), 0 goals
Torquay United:
2001/02 - 5 games (+6), 1 goal
Trivia - On Monday, 3rd January 2000, Mark scored Reading's first goal in a 2-2 draw at Gillingham. Radio 5 were covering parts of the first half but missed Gillingham's opening goal. Most of the second half was covered live, and Mark's goal was therefore the first goal of the new millennium to be heard live on national radio!
From Teamtalk, 9/2/2000:
Alan Pardew's hopes of signing Mark Nicholls have suffered a blow as he will have to pay £800,000 to sign the Chelsea player. Nicholls has done nothing but impressing since arriving at the Madejski Stadium on a temporary basis two months ago scoring three goals and making another. Pardew has made no secret of the fact that he would like the opportunity of completing a permanent deal for the 22-year-old. But Chelsea's valuation is double that of Pardew's and the deal may not even get past the drawing board stage if the Premiership club don't drop their asking price. Nicholls still has 15 months of his contract remaining at Stamford Bridge but manager Gianluca Vialli is willing to sell if the right offer comes in. But the Chelsea boss also knows that, with Nicholls having played around 50 first team games for the Blues including appearances in Europe, he can afford to ask a high price for a young player who has such experience. The news is not good for Pardew and Reading's fans though and Pardew has already said that there is no prospect of a deal being completed if Chelsea don't drop their price. Pardew said: "I have spoken to Chelsea and they are about £400,000 up on our valuation. All I can say is that unless it comes down on their side then nothing will happen. Hopefully they'll reconsider in time as I've been impressed with what Mark's done here. He's scored three goals for us and made one. Chelsea have seen that and that's why they have priced him so high." Pardew would love to sign Nicholls as he continues to reshape the Reading squad but it looks likely that if he is to get the midfielder then he will have to unload some other players including the ones that are on the transfer list at the moment.
From Teamtalk, 8/8/2001:
Ex-Reading midfielder Mark Nicholls' proposed transfer to Greek outfit Akratitos has fallen through after the club decided they did not need him. Nicholls met with Akratitos officials and agreed personal terms for the transfer, subject to a medical. He was to sign later on Wednesday, when Akratitos pulled out of the transfer, saying that they have enough players in their attack. Nicholls, 24, was a product of Chelsea youth system, and he was elected best young player at the London club in 1994, whilst only 17. He moved to Reading on loan in December 1999, and although his spell with The Royals was successful, plans for the deal to become permanent fell through at the eleventh hour.
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