Ashley Joseph Nicholls (born 30 October 1981) is an English footballer who plays for Maidenhead United.

Ashley Nicholls
Personal information
Full name Ashley Joseph Nicholls[1]
Date of birth (1981-10-30) 30 October 1981 (age 42)[1]
Place of birth Ipswich,[1] England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Maidenhead United
Youth career
Ipswich Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2002 Ipswich Town 0 (0)
2002Canvey Island (loan) 2 (1)
2002–2004 Darlington 67 (6)
2004Cambridge United (loan) 16 (1)
2004–2006 Cambridge United 32 (0)
2005Rushden & Diamonds (loan) 11 (0)
2006Rushden & Diamonds (loan) 19 (0)
2006–2007 Grays Athletic 35 (0)
2007–2008 Boston United 16 (4)
2008–2009 Maidenhead United 41 (4)
2009–2010 Bishop's Stortford 16 (3)
2009–2010Newport County (loan) 6 (0)
2010 Eastleigh 4 (0)
2010–2011 Maidenhead United 21 (1)
2011–2013 Dorchester Town 72 (3)
2013–2014 Bromley 33 (2)
2014– Maidenhead United 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8:33, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Career edit

Nicholls was born in Ipswich and started his football career in the youth scheme of his home football club, Ipswich Town. In the spring of 2002, while in the youth scheme, he was loaned to Canvey Island where he played two games and scored one goal.

He was not offered a professional contract by Ipswich, so in the summer of 2002 he joined Darlington on a free transfer and stayed there for two seasons, playing 76 matches and scoring seven goals. He scored in his debut match for Darlington, against Cambridge United, his future team.

He was loaned to Cambridge United in February 2004 and joined permanently on a free transfer the following summer. His contract was due to run until the summer of 2006. As of the summer of 2005, he had played 47 matches for United, scoring once.

New Grays Athletic manager, Frank Gray signed Nicholls on a one-year deal at the start of the 2006–07 season. After a host of managers, Justin Edinburgh was finally implemented and did not see him in his future plans, releasing him in May 2007.[3]

On 28 July 2007, he signed for Boston United after a successful trial. However, Nicholls departed at the end of the season.[4]

Nicholls joined Conference South outfit Maidenhead United on 3 May 2008. After featuring in all but one game for The Magpies during the 2008–09 season, Nicholls signed for Bishop's Stortford on 30 May 2009.[5]

In December 2009, Nicholls joined Conference South leaders Newport County on a one-month loan arrangement. His loan period at Newport concluded 29 February 2010. In March 2010, he joined Eastleigh. After leaving Dorchester Town, Nicholls joined Bromley on 5 June 2013.[6] He scored his first goal for the club in a 3-1 friendly victory over Millwall on 23 July 2013, before netting again in Bromley's next pre-season match, a 2–0 win over rivals Welling United. He scored his first league goal for the club in a 3–0 home win over Staines Town on 14 September 2013. His next goal came in a 2–0 victory at home to Havant & Waterlooville on 23 November 2013.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Ashley Nicholls". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  2. ^ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2003). Playfair Football Annual 2003–2004. London: Headline. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7553-1313-6.
  3. ^ "Edinburgh begins summer clearout". BBC Sport. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  4. ^ Taylor confirms first departures Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Official Boston United Website
  5. ^ Nicholls signs Archived 26 October 2005 at archive.today, Official Bishop's Stortford F.C. website
  6. ^ "New boy straight in to Eastleigh squad". This Is Hampshire. 12 March 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.

External links edit