Jimmy Nicholl - ”I’ll always be grateful to United”

Defensive stalwart Jimmy Nicholl is the latest UTD Podcast guest, as he tells some riveting stories from his time growing up at United and amassing almost 250 appearances for the Reds, between 1975 and 1981.

Jimmy played for both United and Rangers who, coincidentally, take on the Reds in a pre-season friendly at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday 20th July. You can get your tickets here.

Remarkably, after being born in Canada, his family escaped the Troubles in Northern Ireland thanks to the help of the club, with then-manager Tommy Docherty helping to arrange the move to Manchester. He puts his signing of a professional deal down to a bona-fide United legend and would go on to forge close bonds with the rest of the team.

There were real highs for club and country, which he details, such as winning the 1977 FA Cup and beating hosts Spain at the 1982 World Cup with Billy Bingham’s Northern Ireland, and the partying that ensued.

Jimmy explains why Ron Atkinson’s arrival proved to be the beginning of the end for him at United but he discusses his career in coaching after hanging up his boots and his current job as assistant manager to the country he served so well as a player.

There is one big regret, though, for the former full-back. Find out what it is, and much more, by listening to our revealing interview.

The best place to catch up on the back-catalogue of our interviews is over on the Manchester United App, where you can listen to - and watch - all of our episodes in full, for free. Here you can get early access to new episodes, published 24 hours before everywhere else.

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