John McNichol
Encyclopedia
John "Johnny" McNichol was a Scottish footballer who played more than 500 games in the Football League
in England. An inside forward
, he played more than 150 games for Brighton & Hove Albion
and more than 200 for each of Chelsea
and Crystal Palace
.
McNichol graduated from junior
footballer and apprentice motor mechanic in his native Scotland to a professional contract with English First Division
club Newcastle United. After two years, he had found success with the reserve team
but was never selected in the first eleven. Brighton & Hove Albion, struggling in the Third Division, broke their transfer record to sign him. McNichol spent four years with the club, acquiring "the reputation as the finest inside-forward in the Third Division", before moving to the First Division as Chelsea manager Ted Drake
's first signing. He was part of the Chelsea team that won the League championship in the 1954–55 season. In 1958 he joined Crystal Palace, whom he captained to promotion from the Fourth Division, and finished his on-field career in the Southern League
as player-manager of Tunbridge Wells Rangers. He then spent 25 years working on the commercial side of football with two of his previous clubs.
, Ayrshire
. His father, Danny, died when he was five, so McNichol and seven siblings were raised by their mother, Catherine. He attended St Joseph's School in Kilmarnock, and started work as a messenger boy for a local draper's shop when he left school. His shop work stopped him playing football on Saturdays, but he was able to play some midweek football for Junior
club Hurlford United
. When he was taken on at the local bus garage as an apprentice motor mechanic, he became available on Saturdays as well. Hurlford paid him ten shillings
a game, nearly as much as his apprentice's wages. During the Second World War, McNichol was called up to the Fleet Air Arm
as a mechanic, but was able to play friendly matches for Inverness
-based club Clachnacuddin
. Because of the number of professional players stationed around the country, such matches were played at a fairly high standard.
. After two trial matches, he signed professional forms with the club on his 21st birthday. McNichol spent two years at Newcastle, but never made a first-team appearance. Behind the likes of England international
forwards Roy Bentley
and Len Shackleton
in the pecking order, he doubled his income working as a motor mechanic for a local funeral director whose "two or three Rolls-Royces [made] a nice change from working on bus engines". In his second season, he was part of the reserve team
that won the Central League title, but a disagreement over personal terms on his contract renewal – the Newcastle management felt a lower wage was justified because of the player's earnings outside the game – prompted McNichol to seek first-team football elsewhere.
had finished bottom of the Third Division South
the season before and were struggling financially, yet manager Don Welsh
persuaded the directors to break the club transfer record by paying £5,000 for a player yet to make his debut in the Football League
, and persuaded McNichol to sign. He made his first appearance in the League on 21 August 1948, at the age of 23, as Brighton drew with Swindon Town
at home. The club finished sixth in the division in McNichol's first season and eighth, despite having no regular goalscorer – McNichol's nine goals made him top scorer – in 1949–50. The next year, McNichol played in all of Brighton's games, the only man so to do, and again finished as top scorer for the season, this time with 14 goals. According to Carder and Harris, he "had a superb season with a brand of play which won him the reputation as the finest inside-forward in the Third Division". Appointed club captain when Billy Lane
took over from Welsh as manager, McNichol flourished under Lane's attacking policy. He scored 14 goals in the 1951–52 season as Brighton narrowly failed to mount a successful challenge to Plymouth Argyle
for the title, "was again the star of the side", and "was thought by many to be the most stylish inside-forward to play for the Albion".
That season, McNichol scored a hat-trick
against eventual runners-up Reading
, which caught the eye of manager Ted Drake
. Shortly before the next season started, he became Drake's first signing for his new club, Chelsea
, at a fee of £12,000 plus the player Jimmy Leadbetter
, a club record fee received for Albion. He had scored 39 goals in all competitions from 165 appearances. Although scouts
from bigger clubs had been watching the player since soon after his arrival at the club – he had apparently already turned down moves to Manchester City
, Everton
and Huddersfield Town
– Brighton's supporters were disappointed, seeing his sale as a backward step.
, McNichol found himself playing at right-back
after ten minutes when Sid Tickridge
sustained an injury. Once restored to the forward line, his goals helped Chelsea avoid relegation to the Second Division at the end of his first season. A "dramatic last-minute goal ... enabled Chelsea to snatch a lucky victory at West Bromwich" with three games left, and he scored the third goal of Chelsea's 3–1 defeat of Manchester City in their last fixture of the season which confirmed their escape from the relegation positions.
Two seasons later, Chelsea won the First Division
title for the first time. As they beat Charlton Athletic
in March 1955 to "maintain their challenging position in the Championship", The Times
reporter described how "McNichol filled the role of general, and was instigator of many dangerous movements". Two weeks later, McNichol, "the most effective of their forwards", scored twice as a Chelsea team displaying "a propensity to play the man in preference to the ball" beat Tottenham Hotspur
4–2, and the title was confirmed with one game still to play. McNichol had missed only two games in the 42-game season, and scored 14 goals, a good return for a player in his position; an inside forward
was normally more a creator than a scorer of goals, but his profile on Chelsea's website describes him as "clever, astute and most of all a clinical finisher".
He stayed at the club for three more seasons, but later lost his place in the side to the young Jimmy Greaves
: "There was no disgrace in losing my place to him. I couldn't grumble about that. We used to get on very well, and he would listen to the instructions I gave him. Then he became world famous!" The respect was mutual: though Greaves described the Chelsea title-winning side as "almost certainly one of the least talented teams ever to win the title", he made an exception for McNichol, "the ball player of the team". In all competitions, he made 202 appearances for Chelsea and scored 66 goals.
While at Brighton, McNichol had worked in a local garage, wanting to keep up his skills in case injury put an early end to his football career. When he joined Chelsea, his decision to remain living in the area had upset Drake. In addition, he bought a newsagent's shop in Hove, so not only did he have to travel by train from the south coast – as did teammates Stan Willemse
and Eric Parsons
– he further annoyed the Chelsea management by getting up even earlier each morning to open the shop before coming in to training. His wife Connie, whom he had known since childhood, ran the business in his absence. He claimed to have "earned more working in that shop than playing for Chelsea. Even in that championship season."
in March 1958. Manager Cyril Spiers
appointed him captain, a position he retained for the four years of his Palace career. He scored on his debut for the club, and produced seven goals from the twelve games he played in what remained of the 1957–58 season. As McNichol grew older, his playing position became more defensive, as he became first a wing half
, then full back. Palace had been placed in the Fourth Division
when the Football League structure was reorganised on national lines prior to the 1958–59 season, and McNichol captained them to promotion to the Third Division in 1961, their first promotion for 40 years. He played on for two seasons, but his professional career was brought to a close by facial injuries, a fractured cheekbone and broken jaw, sustained during the 1962–63 season. In all competitions, he scored 15 goals from 205 appearances.
. Having sold the newsagents, he returned to Crystal Palace to work in the commercial side of the game, where he was responsible for the establishment of weekly pools and bingo
competitions as a means of raising funds for the club. He moved back to Brighton & Hove Albion to occupy a similar role from 1979 to 1992, and after retirement continued to live in the Saltdean
area of Brighton.
Despite the successes of his career, McNichol had regrets. He described Chelsea's decision not to accept their invitation to participate in the inaugural season of the European Cup as his "one big disappointment", and "thought it was strange at the time", despite the national team
selectors' preference for players plying their trade for Scottish clubs, that he was never chosen to represent his country.
McNichol retained contact with his previous clubs. One of 24 former players and managers nominated as "Albion Legends" as part of Brighton's centenary events in 2001, he took an active role in the celebrations. The surviving members of Chelsea's 1955 title-winning team used to meet for an annual dinner, and were guests of the club at the last match of the 2004–05 season as they celebrated their second League title, 50 years after the first.
He died in March 2007 at the age of 81.
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
in England. An inside forward
Inside forward
In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...
, he played more than 150 games for Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....
and more than 200 for each of Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
and Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
.
McNichol graduated from junior
Scottish Junior Football Association
The Scottish Junior Football Association is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the Junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "Junior" refers to the level of football played...
footballer and apprentice motor mechanic in his native Scotland to a professional contract with English First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
club Newcastle United. After two years, he had found success with the reserve team
Reserve team
Large professional sports clubs often have far more players under contract than could possibly play in a match. As a result, many of these clubs create second teams composed of players who need playing time, but have little hope of playing on the first team. The players on this second team are...
but was never selected in the first eleven. Brighton & Hove Albion, struggling in the Third Division, broke their transfer record to sign him. McNichol spent four years with the club, acquiring "the reputation as the finest inside-forward in the Third Division", before moving to the First Division as Chelsea manager Ted Drake
Ted Drake
Edward Joseph "Ted" Drake was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly...
's first signing. He was part of the Chelsea team that won the League championship in the 1954–55 season. In 1958 he joined Crystal Palace, whom he captained to promotion from the Fourth Division, and finished his on-field career in the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
as player-manager of Tunbridge Wells Rangers. He then spent 25 years working on the commercial side of football with two of his previous clubs.
Early life and career
McNichol was born in KilmarnockKilmarnock
Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...
, Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
. His father, Danny, died when he was five, so McNichol and seven siblings were raised by their mother, Catherine. He attended St Joseph's School in Kilmarnock, and started work as a messenger boy for a local draper's shop when he left school. His shop work stopped him playing football on Saturdays, but he was able to play some midweek football for Junior
Scottish Junior Football Association
The Scottish Junior Football Association is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the Junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "Junior" refers to the level of football played...
club Hurlford United
Hurlford United F.C.
Hurlford United Football Club are a Scottish football club based in Hurlford, near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Nicknamed The Ford, they were formed in 1938 and play at Blair Park, wearing red and white strips...
. When he was taken on at the local bus garage as an apprentice motor mechanic, he became available on Saturdays as well. Hurlford paid him ten shillings
£sd
£sd was the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies used in the Kingdom of England, later the United Kingdom, and ultimately in much of the British Empire...
a game, nearly as much as his apprentice's wages. During the Second World War, McNichol was called up to the Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
as a mechanic, but was able to play friendly matches for Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
-based club Clachnacuddin
Clachnacuddin F.C.
Clachnacuddin F.C. are a semi-professional senior football club from the city of Inverness who currently play in Scotland's Highland Football League. They have won the most League championships in the competition's history a total of 18 times overall. Their home ground is Grant Street Park in the...
. Because of the number of professional players stationed around the country, such matches were played at a fairly high standard.
Newcastle United
After the war, McNichol returned to Hurlford, but, amid interest from other clubs, he accepted a trial with Newcastle UnitedNewcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
. After two trial matches, he signed professional forms with the club on his 21st birthday. McNichol spent two years at Newcastle, but never made a first-team appearance. Behind the likes of England international
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
forwards Roy Bentley
Roy Bentley
Roy Thomas Frank Bentley is a retired English football player who played most notably for Chelsea and the England national side. He later became a manager...
and Len Shackleton
Len Shackleton
Leonard Francis Shackleton, was an English footballer of the post-World War II period. Known as the Clown Prince of Football, he is generally regarded as one of English football's finest ever entertainers....
in the pecking order, he doubled his income working as a motor mechanic for a local funeral director whose "two or three Rolls-Royces [made] a nice change from working on bus engines". In his second season, he was part of the reserve team
Reserve team
Large professional sports clubs often have far more players under contract than could possibly play in a match. As a result, many of these clubs create second teams composed of players who need playing time, but have little hope of playing on the first team. The players on this second team are...
that won the Central League title, but a disagreement over personal terms on his contract renewal – the Newcastle management felt a lower wage was justified because of the player's earnings outside the game – prompted McNichol to seek first-team football elsewhere.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....
had finished bottom of the Third Division South
Football League Third Division South
The Football League Third Division South was a level of English professional football which ran in parallel to Third Division North from 1921 to 1958....
the season before and were struggling financially, yet manager Don Welsh
Don Welsh
Donald "Don" Welsh was an English football player and manager. As a player he played at inside left for Charlton Athletic and for England, winning the FA Cup with Charlton in 1946–47.-Playing career:...
persuaded the directors to break the club transfer record by paying £5,000 for a player yet to make his debut in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, and persuaded McNichol to sign. He made his first appearance in the League on 21 August 1948, at the age of 23, as Brighton drew with Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
at home. The club finished sixth in the division in McNichol's first season and eighth, despite having no regular goalscorer – McNichol's nine goals made him top scorer – in 1949–50. The next year, McNichol played in all of Brighton's games, the only man so to do, and again finished as top scorer for the season, this time with 14 goals. According to Carder and Harris, he "had a superb season with a brand of play which won him the reputation as the finest inside-forward in the Third Division". Appointed club captain when Billy Lane
Billy Lane (footballer)
For other people of the same name see Billy Lane and Billy Lane William Henry Charles 'Billy' Lane was an English footballer who played for the London City Mission, Gnome Athletic, Park Avondale, Summerstown, Barnet, Tottenham Hotspur, Northfleet United, Leicester City, Walsall , Reading,...
took over from Welsh as manager, McNichol flourished under Lane's attacking policy. He scored 14 goals in the 1951–52 season as Brighton narrowly failed to mount a successful challenge to Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
for the title, "was again the star of the side", and "was thought by many to be the most stylish inside-forward to play for the Albion".
That season, McNichol scored a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
against eventual runners-up Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
, which caught the eye of manager Ted Drake
Ted Drake
Edward Joseph "Ted" Drake was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly...
. Shortly before the next season started, he became Drake's first signing for his new club, Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
, at a fee of £12,000 plus the player Jimmy Leadbetter
Jimmy Leadbetter
James Hunter "Jimmy" Leadbetter was a Scottish footballer who is most notable for his achievements as a left-winger with Ipswich Town during the 1950s and 1960s....
, a club record fee received for Albion. He had scored 39 goals in all competitions from 165 appearances. Although scouts
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...
from bigger clubs had been watching the player since soon after his arrival at the club – he had apparently already turned down moves to Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
, Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
and Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
– Brighton's supporters were disappointed, seeing his sale as a backward step.
Chelsea
On his Chelsea debut away at Manchester UnitedManchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
, McNichol found himself playing at right-back
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
after ten minutes when Sid Tickridge
Sid Tickridge
Sid Tickridge was a former professional footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Brentford and represented England at schoolboy level.- Football career :...
sustained an injury. Once restored to the forward line, his goals helped Chelsea avoid relegation to the Second Division at the end of his first season. A "dramatic last-minute goal ... enabled Chelsea to snatch a lucky victory at West Bromwich" with three games left, and he scored the third goal of Chelsea's 3–1 defeat of Manchester City in their last fixture of the season which confirmed their escape from the relegation positions.
Two seasons later, Chelsea won the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
title for the first time. As they beat Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
in March 1955 to "maintain their challenging position in the Championship", The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
reporter described how "McNichol filled the role of general, and was instigator of many dangerous movements". Two weeks later, McNichol, "the most effective of their forwards", scored twice as a Chelsea team displaying "a propensity to play the man in preference to the ball" beat Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
4–2, and the title was confirmed with one game still to play. McNichol had missed only two games in the 42-game season, and scored 14 goals, a good return for a player in his position; an inside forward
Inside forward
In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...
was normally more a creator than a scorer of goals, but his profile on Chelsea's website describes him as "clever, astute and most of all a clinical finisher".
He stayed at the club for three more seasons, but later lost his place in the side to the young Jimmy Greaves
Jimmy Greaves
James Peter 'Jimmy' Greaves is an English former football player, England's third highest international goalscorer, the highest goalscorer in the history of Tottenham Hotspur football club, the highest goalscorer in the history of English top flight football and more recently a television pundit -...
: "There was no disgrace in losing my place to him. I couldn't grumble about that. We used to get on very well, and he would listen to the instructions I gave him. Then he became world famous!" The respect was mutual: though Greaves described the Chelsea title-winning side as "almost certainly one of the least talented teams ever to win the title", he made an exception for McNichol, "the ball player of the team". In all competitions, he made 202 appearances for Chelsea and scored 66 goals.
While at Brighton, McNichol had worked in a local garage, wanting to keep up his skills in case injury put an early end to his football career. When he joined Chelsea, his decision to remain living in the area had upset Drake. In addition, he bought a newsagent's shop in Hove, so not only did he have to travel by train from the south coast – as did teammates Stan Willemse
Stan Willemse
Stanley B "Stan" Willemse was an English footballer who played as a left-back in the Football League for Brighton and Hove Albion, Chelsea and Leyton Orient....
and Eric Parsons
Eric Parsons
Eric "Rabbit" Parsons was a footballer who played for West Ham United, Chelsea and Brentford.A winger and crowd favourite whose blistering pace earned him the nickname "the Rabbit", Parsons started his career with West Ham United, spotted by the club during a game against West Ham Boys at Upton...
– he further annoyed the Chelsea management by getting up even earlier each morning to open the shop before coming in to training. His wife Connie, whom he had known since childhood, ran the business in his absence. He claimed to have "earned more working in that shop than playing for Chelsea. Even in that championship season."
Crystal Palace
McNichol signed for Third Division South club Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
in March 1958. Manager Cyril Spiers
Cyril Spiers
Cyril Henry Spiers was an English association football goalkeeper who played for Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur and later went on to manage at Football League clubs for twenty years.-Career:...
appointed him captain, a position he retained for the four years of his Palace career. He scored on his debut for the club, and produced seven goals from the twelve games he played in what remained of the 1957–58 season. As McNichol grew older, his playing position became more defensive, as he became first a wing half
Wing half
In association football, the position of wing half or wing half back) was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries...
, then full back. Palace had been placed in the Fourth Division
Football League Fourth Division
The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...
when the Football League structure was reorganised on national lines prior to the 1958–59 season, and McNichol captained them to promotion to the Third Division in 1961, their first promotion for 40 years. He played on for two seasons, but his professional career was brought to a close by facial injuries, a fractured cheekbone and broken jaw, sustained during the 1962–63 season. In all competitions, he scored 15 goals from 205 appearances.
Later life and career
McNichol remained in the South of England, spending four years as player-manager of Tunbridge Wells Rangers in the Southern LeagueSouthern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
. Having sold the newsagents, he returned to Crystal Palace to work in the commercial side of the game, where he was responsible for the establishment of weekly pools and bingo
Bingo (Non-US)
Bingo or housey-housey or housie is a gambling game that began in Italy in the 1500s. The game is believed to have migrated to France, Great Britain, and other parts of Europe in the 1700s...
competitions as a means of raising funds for the club. He moved back to Brighton & Hove Albion to occupy a similar role from 1979 to 1992, and after retirement continued to live in the Saltdean
Saltdean
Saltdean is a residential district located on the chalk cliffs of the south coast of England in East Sussex, United Kingdom. It is situated on the eastern edge of the city of Brighton and Hove, with part outside the city boundary in Lewes district...
area of Brighton.
Despite the successes of his career, McNichol had regrets. He described Chelsea's decision not to accept their invitation to participate in the inaugural season of the European Cup as his "one big disappointment", and "thought it was strange at the time", despite the national team
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
selectors' preference for players plying their trade for Scottish clubs, that he was never chosen to represent his country.
McNichol retained contact with his previous clubs. One of 24 former players and managers nominated as "Albion Legends" as part of Brighton's centenary events in 2001, he took an active role in the celebrations. The surviving members of Chelsea's 1955 title-winning team used to meet for an annual dinner, and were guests of the club at the last match of the 2004–05 season as they celebrated their second League title, 50 years after the first.
He died in March 2007 at the age of 81.
Honours
Newcastle United Reserves- The Central League winners: 1947–48
Chelsea
- Football League First DivisionFootball League First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
winners: 1954–55
Crystal Palace
- Football League Fourth DivisionFootball League Fourth DivisionThe Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...
runners-up: 1960–61