Footballers who have played league football for both PNE and Charlton
A-O
314) Harry Hirst
PNE 2 apps; 0 goals
Charlton 2 apps; 0 goals
PNE debut 22/11/1924 v Bury (A) - Drawn 1-1
748) Matt Jackson
PNE 4 apps; 0 goals
Charlton 8 apps; 0 goals
PNE debut 30/03/1991 v Crewe (H) - Won 5-1
946) Kevin Nicholls
PNE 15 apps; 0 goals
Charlton 12 apps; 1 goal
PNE debut 11/08/2007 v Norwich (H) - Drawn 0-0
Player Profile - Kevin Nicholls
Kevin John Richard Nicholls was born in Newham on 2 January 1979 and began his playing career at Charlton, making his debut in a 2-1 defeat at Ipswich on 20 September 1996 as a 67 th minute substitute for Steven Brown. His full debut came four days later in a League Cup tie at Turf Moor in a 2-1 victory over Burnley. His first start in a league match could not have been better as he scored in the first minute against Barnsley on 15 February 1997.
Nicholls made 6 appearances in the 1996-97 season and made a further 6 appearances in 1997/98, the last of these was in a 4-1 home victory over Bradford on 21 September 1997. He then suffered a serious knee injury ruled him out for the remainder of the 1997-98 season and failed to break into the team in 1998-99 season. He was loaned to Brighton in February 1999 and scored on his debut in a 2-1 defeat at home to Leyton Orient on 27 February but within the month he was sent back after four games.
In June 1999, Nicholls was transferred to Wigan for £250,000 (rising to £650,000) based on appearances. He made his debut in a 2-0 win over Oxford on 23 October but was substituted at half time and was once again victim of injury. His next appearance was in April 2000 and was involved for the remainder of the season. Nicholls appeared in 20 league matches in the 2000/01 season to take his tally to 28. He scored his only goal for Wigan on his final appearance in the 2-1 defeat against Reading in the play-off semi-final on 16 May 2001.
In the summer of 2001, Joe Kinnear signed him for Luton for a fee rising to £150,000. He made his debut in a 2-0 victory at Carlisle on 10 August 2001 but was sent off a week later on his home debut in a 2-1 victory over Cheltenham . Nicholls was a pivotal player in Luton 's promotion season of 2001-02 making 42 appearances with 6 goals; he also became the team captain.
The 2002/03 season saw Nicholls make 36 league appearances, netting five times and became the "heart and soul of the team" according to Kinnear. Unfortunately the 2003-04 season saw the injuries return and missed 5 months of the season. Nicholls returned to his preferred central midfield position and helped Luton to finish in 10 th place, making 15 appearances and scoring twice.
In the 2004/05 season Nicholls was voted Player of the Year by the supporters as Luton won the League One championship and lifted the championship trophy following their 4-2 victory against Brentford in April. He scored 12 goals, most of which came, crucially at times, from the penalty spot in 44 appearances.
Nicholls was a vital part of the Luton side and made 37 league appearance, scoring 5 goals and finished 10th in the Championship in their first season. In the match against Liverpool in the FA Cup, a game in which the Hatters went into a 3-1 lead courtesy of Nicholls, once again, well struck penalty. The Hatters eventually fell short of the quality to see out the game, losing 5-3, but many of the players, such as Nicholls, who had spent the majority of their careers in the lower leagues, where now in the public eye. His last appearance at Luton was in a 1-1 draw against Burnley on 30 April 2006 having made 175 appearances for the Hatters scoring 30 goals.
On 27 July 2006, Nicholls signed for Leeds for £700,000. In his first training session with Leeds, he damaged his knee ligaments but his quick rehabilitation allowed him to make his debut for the club as a substitute in a 3-0 home defeat against Sunderland on 13 September 2006, one and a half months before he was due back.
Nicholls picked up another injury on 30 September 2006 against West Brom, which kept him out until December. On 26 October 2006, he was made the new captain of Leeds by new manager Dennis Wise.
Nicholls returned from injury on 16 December 2006, starting in the 1-0 loss against Ipswich Town. This was his first game as captain of Leeds and it ended with a red card in the dying minutes. Manager, Wise, decided not to appeal against the decision, so Nicholls missed Leeds ' following three matches over the Christmas period. Nicholls returned to the side once his suspension had been served in the 2-1 victory over Coventry .
Nicholls played in the 1-0 defeat at Birmingham on 27 February, but On 3 March Nicholls was dropped for Leeds' home match against Sheffield Wednesday. In his post-match interview, Dennis Wise said that Nicholls had asked to leave the club and return to his former club Luton . However, Wise stated that he would not allow Nicholls to return to Luton unless the original fee of £700,000 is paid back to Leeds . It was also stated that Nicholls had been stripped of his captaincy and became somewhat of a hate figure amongst Leeds fans as Leeds were relegated from the Championship and went into administration, he had made 13 appearances for Leeds.
On 29 June 2007, Nicholls joined Preston for an undisclosed fee and made his debut under Paul Simpson in the 0-0 draw against Norwich on 11 August. He was made captain and played regularly in the first few months of the season, but as the team's form deteriorated he asked to be removed as captain. Since the departure of Simpson and the arrival of Alan Irvine he has found his appearances limited, the last match he played in 2007/08 was a four minute appearance in the 4-1 FA Cup victory at Derby on 26 January. Nicholls suffered a knee injury in a reserve match against Tranmere in March 2008 and had made 18 league appearances for PNE during 2007/08.
Prior to the start of the 2008/09 campaign, Nicholl's contract at PNE was terminated by mutual consent. He returned to Luton and was immediately appointed captain as the League Two side battles against a record thirty point deduction at the start of the season.
He was capped once and then sent off for the England U-20 team.