On this day in 1987, Lincoln City handed professional terms to a teenager who would go on to make more than 500 Football League appearances.
Shane Nicholson was only 17 when his promotion into Colin Murphy’s senior squad was reported by the Lincolnshire Echo. The Collingham youngster was just 12 months into his YTS contract, but Murphy had seen enough to move quickly.
It was not something the City manager did regularly. In fact, Murphy admitted that Nicholson’s promotion was a rare departure from his usual approach to young players.
“It’s a very unusual move for me to make. It isn’t often that I will sign a player halfway through their present contracts. I made people like Gary Strodder and Phil Turner wait.”
Those were notable comparisons. Both Gary Strodder and Phil Turner had progressed into the Lincoln City first team, but Murphy had made each of them wait before receiving professional terms. Nicholson’s early promotion therefore demonstrated just how highly the manager rated him.
Nicholson had been on Murphy’s radar for some time. The City manager first spotted him as a 14-year-old schoolboy and immediately recognised his potential.
“He looks to me to have the makings of a first division footballer. I knew that as soon as I set eyes on him.”
John Pickering, Murphy’s former assistant, had played an important part in Nicholson’s early development. His opportunity at senior level then arrived during the difficult 1986/87 campaign under George Kerr.
Nicholson made his Football League debut at Burnley on 22 November 1986, becoming the youngest player to represent Lincoln City in the competition. He was just 16 years and 172 days old when he appeared at Turf Moor.
He went on to make seven league appearances during a season which ended with the Imps becoming the first club automatically relegated into non-league football. However, one of the few positives from that campaign was the emergence of a young defender who appeared capable of becoming a first-team regular.
By the time the newspaper report appeared, Nicholson had played in each of City’s opening five matches in the GM Vauxhall Conference. The Echo noted his increasing strength at left-back, although Murphy was not yet certain where his long-term future would lie.
“He is ready to take on professional terms now. He is a big, strong lad, mature for his age.
“But he still has a lot of work to do. I don’t know yet whether he is a left-back, left of midfield or a left half.”
Nicholson was understandably delighted, but Murphy also offered a warning. Professional terms represented the beginning of the journey, not its completion.
“The main thing now is that he keeps his feet planted firmly on the ground.
“There is always a danger that lads in his position may think they have cracked it, but that is not the case. This is just the beginning.”
The manager even acknowledged that the responsibility for Nicholson’s continued development did not rest solely with the player. Murphy admitted that he would have to accept some of the blame if the teenager failed to fulfil his potential, although he believed professional status would place Nicholson in a stronger position to work on his game.
That faith was repaid. Nicholson became a regular during the remainder of the 1987/88 season as City immediately reclaimed their Football League place by winning the Conference title. He then established himself at left-back following promotion, eventually making 133 league appearances and scoring six goals during his first spell with the Imps.
Derby County paid £100,000 for him in April 1992. Although he did not quite fulfil Murphy’s prediction of becoming a top-flight player, Nicholson spent much of the next decade competing in the second tier with Derby, West Bromwich Albion, Stockport County and Sheffield United.
There were also spells with Chesterfield and Tranmere Rovers during a professional career which brought 523 league appearances. Almost two decades after making his City debut, he returned to Sincil Bank on loan from Chesterfield in November 2006 and added another eight appearances to his Imps record.
Murphy was right about one thing in particular. It really was just the beginning.
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