Charlie Nicklas

Not to be confused with Charlie Nicholas.

Charlie Nicklas
Personal information
Full name Charles Nicklas[1]
Date of birth (1930-04-26)26 April 1930[1]
Place of birth Sunderland, England
Date of death 26 July 2018(2018-07-26) (aged 88)[2]
Place of death Sunderland, England
Height 5 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1.74 m)[3]
Position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1950 Silksworth Colliery Welfare
1950–1953 Hull City 6 (1)
1953–1954 Darlington 17 (6)
1954–1955 Headington United 13 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Charles Nicklas (26 April 1930 – 26 July 2018) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward in the Football League for Hull City and Darlington. Before joining Hull, Nicklas played non-league football for Silksworth Colliery Welfare, and after leaving Darlington he played in the Southern League for Headington United.[1][4]

Life and career

Nicklas was born in 1930 in Sunderland, which was then in County Durham.[1] He played as a wing half before what the Sunderland Echo described as a promising career was interrupted by National Service in the Royal Air Force.[3] He began playing for Wearside League club Silksworth Colliery Welfare at the start of the 1950–51 season,[5] but soon went on trial with Football League Second Division club Hull City, and turned professional with that club in December 1950.[6]

He made his first-team debut a year later, on 27 October 1951, playing in the unaccustomed position of centre forward; although he had played a few reserve matches in that position, the Yorkshire Post doubted that "a home match against a team playing as strongly as Rotherham United are just now is the ideal occasion" for a youngster's debut.[7] Rotherham took a three-goal lead, but Hull came back to draw, and Nicklas scored their opener: he "had his faults, but dash, speed and courage were not among them. He harassed [the goalkeeper] into a goal offering and accepted it with glee".[8] He was known for his pace, having competed in professional sprint races.[3] Nicklas played five more matches for Hull, the last of which was on 22 March 1952.[9]

Nicklas stayed with the club until the end of the following season, when he moved on to Darlington of the Third Division North.[1] He scored six goals from seventeen league matches for Darlington,[1] and spent the 1954–55 season with Headington United in the Southern League, scoring four goals from fourteen matches in all competitions.[10]

Nicklas, a nephew of Sunderland and Fulham player Barney Travers,[3] died in his native Sunderland in 2018 at the age of 88.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1998). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–1998. Queen Anne Press. p. 405. ISBN 978-1-85291-585-8.
  2. ^ a b "Charlie Nicklas". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Trevor Ford takes over again". Sunderland Echo. 2 November 1951. p. 13.
  4. ^ "Charlie Nicklas". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  5. ^ "Dawdon ring changes". Sunderland Echo. 25 August 1950. p. 12.
  6. ^ "City's young wing-half". Daily Mail. Hull. 13 December 1950. p. 6.
  7. ^ Ulyatt, Richard (27 October 1951). "More bold moves by team selectors". Yorkshire Post. p. 11.
  8. ^ "Great day for the newcomers". Yorkshire Post. 29 October 1951. p. 3.
  9. ^ "Players". TigerBase. Matt Wales. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Charlie Nicklas". Rage Online. Retrieved 19 January 2021.