History, Politics And Current Affairs

In 1976, when Villa drew 2-2 at Leicester, Nicholl scored all four goals, twice equalising after conceding two own goals. He asked for the match ball only to be told the referee wanted to keep it. “My first hat-trick in a Villa shirt and I didn’t even get the ball,” he said in 2006. “My third goal, Leicester’s second, was the best I ever scored – a diving header.”