Stephen "Steve" Nicol (born 11 December 1961 in Irvine, Scotland) is a Scottish former professional footballer. A utility player who played in the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1980s, he was most recently coach of New England Revolution, and was the longest-tenured head coach in MLS to coach a single club.

As a player, Nicol was a significant member of the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1980s, with whom he won five Football League First Division titles, three FA Cup winners medals, and the 1984 European Cup. After 14 years with Liverpool, Nicol also played with several other English teams, including Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers, before emigrating to the United States in 1999.

He was the only defender to score a hat trick in the English Premier League.

He was also a regular member of the Scotland national football team, and represented his country at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Playing career[link]

Ayr United[link]

Nicol started his career with Ayr United in 1979 and spent just over two seasons with the Scottish side, racking up 70 league appearances, before Liverpool manager Bob Paisley decided to pay, what turned out to be, a bargain price of £300,000 to bring Nicol to Anfield on 26 October 1981.

Liverpool[link]

Two years in the reserves followed as Nicol gained experience.

He made his Reds debut on 31 August 1982 in a 0–0 league draw with Birmingham City at St Andrews, and made a further three league appearances that season. The Reds finished it as league champions for the 14th time, but Nicol did not make enough appearances to collect a title winner's medal.

Nicol became a regular in the 1983–84 season under new boss Joe Fagan, he also scored his first goal for the club on 22 October 1983, in a 1–0 league victory over Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road. He went on to win a League championship medal by the end of his first full season having not appeared enough times the previous season to qualify for a medal, however, he was not picked for the League Cup final victory over fierce Merseyside derby rivals Everton, the first ever all Merseyside final. He was selected for the European Cup final in Rome, Nicol played well and earned a winner's medal after a penalty shoot-out in which he missed his own spot-kick. Fortunately for Nicol A.S. Roma, playing in their home stadium, subsequently failed to score two of their penalty kicks and Liverpool won.

Nicol became a first-team regular for many subsequent seasons, winning the League championship and FA Cup "double" in 1986 under the guidance of Kenny Dalglish, pipping Everton to the title by just two points and then beating them 3–1 in the first ever all Merseyside FA Cup final. He was also settling into an international career with Scotland which would ultimately yield 27 caps and a place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. Jock Stein gave Nicol his international debut on 12 September 1984 in a friendly with Yugoslavia, The Scots turned on the style for the 18, 512 Hampden Park crowd thumping the Eastern Europeans 6–1, helping Nicol to settle in somewhat were club mates Graeme Souness, who also captained the side, and Kenny Dalglish, both scoring.

A versatile player, he played most often at right back following the departure of Phil Neal in 1986, though he also featured at left back, in the centre of defence and as a midfield player, he even played up front on a couple of occasions. He earned the nickname 'Chopsy' because of how he pronounced the word 'chips'.

In the 1987–88 season in goalscoring form, despite playing in a position not naturally conducive to attacking. This included a memorable hat-trick at Newcastle United and a phenomenal long-range header at Arsenal.^[1]

Nicol's defensive qualities were also much admired as Liverpool coasted to the League title but missed out on another "double" when Wimbledon surprisingly beat them 1–0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley. Nicol was the last Liverpool player to have a chance to equalise and force extra-time, his diving header in injury time flying narrowly over the crossbar.

A year later, Nicol accompanied his team-mates to many of the funerals and memorial services of the 96 fans who died at the Hillsborough disaster and played his part as Liverpool won the FA Cup against Everton, winning 3–2 after extra time, but lost the League title in a decider against Arsenal with virtually the last kick of the season. The campaign ended on a personal high for Nicol as he was named Footballer of the Year by football writers. Like many others in the Liverpool squad, Hillsborough was the second tragedy Nicol had witnessed, four years earlier just before the 1985 European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels football hooligans had charged a section of, mainly, Juventus supporters causing a retaining wall to collapse killing 39 people,

When Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 9–0 the following season to accumulate the club's biggest-ever League victory, Nicol was the only player to score twice, getting the first and last goals of the game in the seventh and 90th minutes. Liverpool regained the League title that season – their last to date – and, two years later, Nicol was in the team which, under Graeme Souness, won the FA Cup again in 1992 this time beating Sunderland 2–0.

He remained a regular player for Liverpool until the start of the 1994–95 season, when he was forced onto the sidelines with the arrival of new defenders Phil Babb and John Scales.

In 13 years at Anfield, he had played a total of 343 league games and scored 36 goals. He was the club's longest serving player in terms of unbroken service, although Ian Rush had joined the club more than a year before him his service had been disrupted by a year-long spell at Juventus.[3]

Notts County[link]

Nicol stayed at Liverpool until 20 January 1995 when he took on the a player-coach role at Notts County, being recruited by County's former Everton manager Howard Kendall. He stayed in the role for just 10 months playing 22 times, although he did receive his first taste of management at Meadow Lane when he took charge of the club with two other players for the final months of the Magpies' disastrous 1994-95 campaign. Unfortunately his efforts were not enough to save Notts County from relegation to Division Two.

Sheffield Wednesday[link]

Following the end of the season, Nicol next moved to Sheffield Wednesday in the November of '95, where he made his debut against former derby rivals Everton at Goodison Park on the 25 November a game which ended in a 2–2 draw. However, probably Nicol's best memory of his time at Hillsborough happened on 7 December 1996 when his Wednesday side travelled to his old stomping ground of Anfield, the Sheffield side completely nullified the Liverpool attack, which contained the likes of Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and John Barnes, and came away with a surprise 1–0 victory with Nicol playing a major part in the Wednesday defence.

English lower-divisions, move to America[link]

Nicol went on to make 49 league appearances before spending a spell on loan at West Bromwich Albion during the 1997–98 season where he played nine games. He then had a short spell with Doncaster Rovers before heading to the U.S. to take a player-coach position with Boston Bulldogs of the A-League in 1999.

In September of that year, he took over as interim player-coach with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer for the final two games of the season, winning both. He returned to Boston Bulldogs as player-coach for the 2000 and 2001 seasons before re-joining the Revs in 2002 as an assistant coach.

Scotland[link]

Nicol was first capped at senior level for Scotland on 12 September 1984, soon after becoming a first team regular for Liverpool. His debut was a memorable one, as he helped Scotland beat Yugoslavia 6-1 in a friendly at Hampden Park. The last of his 27 full caps for Scotland came on 11 September 1991 in a 2-2 draw in Switzerland during the Euro 92 qualifiers. He was in Scotland's squad for the 1986 World Cup.^[2]

Coaching career[link]

Nicol took over as head coach of New England Revolution on an interim basis initially, then permanently after 21 games, leading the team to the MLS Cup that season, and was named MLS Coach of the Year in his first year. The team has advanced to the MLS Eastern Conference Finals in each of his years as coach until 2008, and returned to the MLS Cup in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Nicol's Revolution has the unique distinction of having not scored a goal in regulation time in the first three of their four final appearances (losing all four). One of the coaches who worked under him is ex-Plymouth Argyle, Ipswich Town, Arsenal and England centre forward Paul Mariner. On October 24, 2011, Nicol and the Revolution mutually decided to part ways, ending his 10 season tenure.^[3]

Personal[link]

Nicol lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, with his wife Eleanor, their children Michael and Katy, and one grandson, Patrick.^[4]

Nicol still holds a place in the hearts of Liverpool supporters everywhere, this was shown in the 2006 poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop which was compiled by the official Liverpool Football Club web site. 110,000 supporters worldwide took part in the poll in which they had to supply their favourite 100 Reds of all time. Nicol came in at a more than respectable 39th position. He is 17th in the all time list of appearances for Liverpool, with a total of 468 games for the Reds.

Honours[link]

Liverpool

• League Championship (Level 1): 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990
• European Cup: 1984
• FA Cup: 1986, 1989, 1992
• Screen Sport Super Cup: 1986
• Charity Shield: 1986 (shared), 1989, 1989, 1990
• FWA Footballer of the Year 1989

Runner-up

• Charity Shield: 1984, 1985
• Intercontinental Cup: 1984
• European Super Cup: 1984, 1985
• Division 1 (Level 1): 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991
• European Cup: 1985
• League Cup 1987
• FA Cup: 1988

New England Revolution

• US Open Cup 2007
• MLS Coach of the Year Award 2002
• MLS Cup Runner-up: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007
• North American SuperLiga 2008

See also[link]

• List of current MLS coaches

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Liverpool FC profile
• New England Revolution profile
• LFCHistory.net profile
• Steve Nicol career stats at Soccerbase
• Liverpool seasonal record (part 1) 1981/82-1985/86 at sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool seasonal record (part 2) 1986/87-1989/90 at sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool seasonal record (part 3) 1990/91-1994/95 at sporting-heroes.net
• Sheffield Wednesday seasonal record 1995/96-1997/98 at sporting-heroes.net
• Scottish caps 1984–91 at sporting-heroes.net
• Profile of Nicol from Soccer New England
• Steve Nicol at National-Football-Teams.com

v t e Scotland squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Leighton 2 Gough 3 Malpas 4 Souness (c) 5 McLeish 6 Miller 7 Strachan 8 Aitken 9 Bannon 10 Bett 11 McStay 12 Goram 13 Nicol 14 Narey 15 Albiston 16 McAvennie 17 Archibald 18 Sharp 19 Nicholas 20 Sturrock 21 Cooper 22 Rough Coach: Ferguson

Matt Reis

Personal information
Full name	Matt Reis
Date of birth	(1975-03-28) March 28, 1975 (age 37)
Place of birth	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	New England Revolution
Number	1
Youth career
1994–1997	UCLA Bruins
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2002	Los Angeles Galaxy	39	(0)
2000	→ Orange County Zodiac (loan)	7	(0)
2003–	New England Revolution	215	(0)
National team‡
2006–2007	United States	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 22, 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of April 3, 2009

Matt Reis (born March 28, 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American soccer player who currently plays for New England Revolution in Major League Soccer.

Career[link]

College[link]

Reis played college soccer at UCLA. He finished his college career with an NCAA Championship in 1997, and was named 1997 NCAA College Cup Defensive MVP after recording 20 saves - including a school-record 11 in the semifinals - and posting 221 shutout minutes on the way to the title.

Professional[link]

Reis was selected by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the third and last round of the 1998 MLS College Draft. However, with Kevin Hartman firmly entrenched in the nets, Matt did not see much playing time during his five seasons in LA; the most games he played in a season was 16 in 2001 when Hartman was out with injuries. In 2000, the Galaxy sent him on loan to the Orange County Zodiac for seven games.^[1] Reis was traded to New England Revolution after the 2002 MLS season for a draft pick.

With the Revs, Reis started out as a backup to Adin Brown, but won the starting job midway through the 2004 season. He became the first goalie in MLS history to stop two penalty kicks in one playoff game, doing as the Revs upset the much-favored Columbus Crew. He also saved two out of four penalties in the penalty kick shootout against the Fire in the first round of the 2006 Playoffs. Reis was a finalist for the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award in both 2005 and 2006. He won the SuperLiga in 2008 and the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup in 2007 with the Revs.

International[link]

He got his first cap for the United States on January 22, 2006, a 0-0 shutout against Canada.

Personal[link]

Matt is considered to be a bit of a jokester among his teammates and in the soccer community. As an April Fools Day prank in 2004, the Revs' front office announced their newest foreign acquisition, Luis "El Lobo" Fangoso, who eventually turned out to be Matt Reis wearing a shaggy wig and headband. Although the initial joke died down fairly quickly, Reis' antics helped him win over many Revolution fans (to this day, Revs fans occasionally make joking references to Fangoso when discussing possible player transactions). On April 1, 2007, the Revolution announced that they had resigned Fangoso to a 2 year deal.^[2]

Reis, who is bald, also convinced Mexican international Jose Manuel Abundis, who had just signed with the team, to shave his head for the 2006 MLS Playoffs. This has enabled Reis to achieve cult status among Revs fans who know him as the "Shaven headed, short sleeved shot stopper".

Matt is 37 years old (was born in 1975), and is married to Nicole Reis (née Odom), who was an All American Softball player at UCLA. They have three boys - Jacob, Christian, and Weston, of whom the latter two are identical twins. He is the son of J.T. and Kathy Reis of Mission Viejo, California, and he has one older brother, Mike.

Honors[link]

United States[link]

• CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (1): 2005

Los Angeles Galaxy[link]

• CONCACAF Champions Cup (1): 2000
• Major League Soccer MLS Cup (1): 2002
• Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield (2): 1998, 2002
• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1): 2001

New England Revolution[link]

• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1): 2007
• North American SuperLiga (1): 2008

See also[link]

• List of current MLS players

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Matt Reis

• MLS player profile
• Matt Reis at National-Football-Teams.com

v t e United States squad – 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (3rd Title) 1 Hahnemann 2 Hejduk 3 Vanney 4 Onyewu 5 O'Brien 6 Cherundolo 7 Beasley 8 Dempsey 9 Quaranta 10 Donovan 11 Casey 12 Conrad 13 Noonan 14 Armas 15 Olsen 16 Wolff 18 Keller 19 Ralston 21 Davis 22 Sanneh 23 Pope 24 Reis 25 Mastroeni Coach: Arena

Zack Schilawski (born April 15, 1987 in Raleigh, North Carolina) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Carolina RailHawks in the North American Soccer League.

Career[link]

High School[link]

He played all 4 years for Cary in North Carolina, earning All Conference team honors all 4 years, and All State honors for 3 years, in addition to graduating 2nd in his academic class in 2006.

College and Amateur[link]

Schilawski played college soccer at Wake Forest University from 2006 to 2009 where he appeared in 99 games, scoring 40 goals and adding 20 assists. He was a member of Wake Forest's 2007 NCAA College Cup Championship team, and scored the game-winning goal against Ohio State in the final of the 2007 College Cup at SAS Soccer Park in his hometown, Cary, NC.^[2] In 2009 he was also named to the All-ACC 1st Team and the College Soccer News All-American 2nd Team.

During his college years Schilawski also played for both Cary Clarets and their predecessor Cary RailHawks U23's in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional[link]

Schilawski was drafted in the first round (9th overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by New England Revolution.^[3]

He made his MLS debut with a start in the season opener against Los Angeles Galaxy (March 27). Netted a hat trick in the home opener against Toronto FC (April 10), becoming the first rookie in MLS history to register a hat trick in his home debut and just the third rookie in MLS history to net a hat trick. Scored the Revs’ lone goal in a 1-1 tie with FC Dallas (May 1). Scored the game-winner in 3-2 win over New York to help snap a seven-game winless streak (May 29). Started his first game since Aug. 7 when he was in the starting 11 at Chivas USA (Sept. 10). Appeared in all five SuperLiga matches - making two starts - and scored one goal. Notched the game-winning goal in the 1-0 win over Pumas UNAM (July 14). Started the first two matches before coming on as a substitute against Monarcas Morelia (July 20) and Puebla (Aug. 4). Came on as a 70th-minute substitute in the final against Morelia (Sept. 1), and recorded his first professional assist on Kevin Alston’s 79th-minute goal.

Schilawski was waived by New England on March 5, 2012.^[4] Following his release, Schilawski trialled with Chicago Fire, but wasn't signed by the club.^[5]

Schilawski signed with NASL club Carolina RailHawks on April 27, 2012.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• MLS player profile
• Wake Forest bio