Pat Nevin
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Patrick Kevin Francis Michael Nevin (born 6 September 1963 in Glasgow)[1] is a Scottish former footballer. In a 20-year career he played for Clyde, Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere Rovers, Kilmarnock and Motherwell as a winger.
Professional career
Clyde
Nevin trained with Celtic as a youngster, but was rejected for being too small.[2] He was signed by Clyde in 1981. In his first season, the club were promoted as Scottish Second Division champions; Nevin scored twelve goals and was voted young player of the year for the division.
Chelsea
Nevin joined Chelsea in the summer of 1983 for £95,000, joining fellow new recruits Kerry Dixon, Nigel Spackman, David Speedie and Eddie Niedzwiecki in manager John Neal's new-look Chelsea side. Nevin's skill and pace made him a pivotal player at Chelsea and a firm favourite with the fans.
In 1983-84, he scored 14 goals, created numerous others for the likes of Dixon and Speedie and put in some dazzling performances - during a 4-0 win over Newcastle United, he tormented the opposition defence, leaving five defenders trailing in his wake - as Chelsea won promotion as Second Division champions. In the same season he was voted Chelsea's player of the year. Chelsea finished a respectable sixth in the First Division the following year and reached the Milk Cup semi-finals, where Nevin was once again the star turn, setting up three goals in the quarter-final against Sheffield Wednesday as Chelsea came back from 3-0 down to draw 4-4; he also set up the winner for Speedie in the replay. The club were in the title race for much of the next season, with Nevin scoring a late equaliser against Liverpool at Anfield and a crucial header against West Ham United to seal a 2-1 win, though a late collapse saw Chelsea finish sixth. A year later, the club's performances dropped and they finished 14th, though Nevin was again voted Chelsea player of the year.
Everton
Chelsea were relegated in 1988 and Nevin was sold to Everton for £925,000. He scored 20 goals in 138 appearances for the club, but struggled to re-capture his previous form with manager Colin Harvey adopting a far more rigid system. He helped the side reach the FA Cup final in 1989, scoring the winner against Norwich City in the semi-final, but they lost 3-2 in the final to arch-rivals Liverpool. Howard Kendall returned to the club as manager in 1990; he and Nevin openly disagreed with each other, which reduced Nevin's playing opportunities, as did the arrival of new wingers Robert Warzycha and Mark Ward.
Tranmere Rovers
Nevin spent time on loan with fellow Merseyside club Tranmere Rovers, then in the second tier of English football, before signing permanently in 1992. The club competed in the Division One play-offs in three consecutive seasons (1992-1993, 1993-1994 and 1994-1995) but on each occasion they were eliminated in the semi-final.
Return to Scotland
In 1997, Nevin returned to Scotland and played for Kilmarnock and later Motherwell before retiring in 2000.
International career
In 1981 while playing for Clyde, he travelled to Finland to play for the Scotland under-19 team at the European Youth Championships and was named player of the tournament after helping Scotland win it.
Nevin won 28 caps for the Scottish national side, making his debut against Romania in 1986. He scored five goals in a ten-year international career and played at Euro 92, but was not selected in the final squads for the 1986 or 1990 World Cups. He made his final appearance for Scotland in 1996.
Retirement
He had a stint as chief executive of Motherwell but the club were hit hard by the collapse of the SPL's television deal and went into administration.
He now works as a television football analyst for BBC Scotland's Sportscene and Channel Five, a co-commentator for BBC Radio Five Live and as a newspaper columnist. In 1997 he published a book, In Ma Head, Son, which was co-written with psychologist Dr George Sik. The book covers his career at Tranmere during the 1996-97 season and eschews the typical footballer's autobiography being a dialogue with Sik which explores his worries, motivation and troubles as he comes to the end of his playing career.
He has an arts degree from Glasgow Caledonian University. He was noted during his playing days for being somewhat different from the stereotypical footballer, especially through his interest in literature and the arts, and in his musical tastes, preferring The Fall and Joy Division to Phil Collins or Lionel Richie. As such, he was interviewed by the NME and was a guest presenter on Radio City during his Everton and Tranmere career. This alternative image was the inspiration for the formation, with his permission, of the team Pat Nevin's Haircut which competed in the internal Edinburgh University leagues from 1987 to 1991. It won the 1988 The Guardian "Soccer Diary" award for the worst football shirt in the UK: pink, with small blue rectangular shapes.[citation needed]
Nevin now lives in the Borders, with his wife and two children. He participated in the "Alan Doyle and Son" show at the Borders General Hospital Radio on 7 February 2008 alongside Zander Law and local singer songwriter Jesse Rae. He is also good friends with former Hollyoaks actor and local celebrity Barry Foy.
Allegiance
Nevin grew up supporting Celtic,[2] but now supports SPL rivals Hibernian, watching games at Easter Road when he is not otherwise engaged for football commentary.[3] He has been reported to have switched allegiances for, among other things, feeling that his boyhood heroes had become a large corporate organisation and that Celtic Park no longer felt like home.[3] He also supports his former club Chelsea, and writes a weekly column for the Chelsea website.[4]
References
1. ^ PAT NEVIN, Newcastle Fans.
2. ^ a b Pat Nevin Internet Interview, ToffeeWeb.
3. ^ a b Nevin on Hibernian, Hibernian F.C. official website, 15 October 2009.
4. ^ PAT NEVIN: ALL HANDS TO THE PUMP, Chelsea F.C. official website.
External links
* Profile from BBC Press Office ~ hXXp://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/radiofivelive/patnevin.shtml
* Pat Nevin on the Chelsea in America Celebrity Podcast (2009).
