Charlie Nicholas podcast
Charlie Nicholas turned down the chance to join Liverpool (Image: Undr The Cosh)
View 4 Images
For a certain generation of Arsenal fans, Charlie Nicholas will be remembered as one of the greats.
“Champagne Charlie” was a fashion icon, cult hero, trend setter and a huge character both on and off the pitch. It is explored brilliantly in a new book Truly, Madly Charlie.
Nicholas also became a huge favourite on the terraces because the Scotland striker turned down at Liverpool at their absolute peak to join Arsenal who had become perennial underachievers. It was the summer of 1983 and rather than join his all-time hero Kenny Dalglish at Anfield, Nicholas opted for the bright lights of London with Arsenal.
“I thought if I go to Liverpool, I’d have to wait. Be a little bit patient. But patience and me is not a thing that gets on,” said Nicholas who had just scored 48 goals in one season for Celtic. “I met Don Howe and Terry Neill in the Park Lane Hotel in London. And it was just something about Don Howe. He kept saying ‘The Arsenal’.
“I’d been to Arsenal once before in my life a couple of years earlier to play for Celtic in Sammy Nelson’s testimonial. I only got on for about five or six minutes because Billy McNeill left me out of the team because Arsenal had been interested in me back then.
Get YOUR Mirror Football Newsletter
Get our comprehensive football coverage, with news, updates, opinions, analysis and everything that matters to you, straight to your inbox.
To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two:
“But I was really taken by the Marble Halls. I thought, wow, this was a wee bit special, and there was something about the Highbury stadium that stuck out for me. I think I got on for five, six minutes that night. It was a lovely experience.
“When Don started to talk to me, I felt a connection. Don was coach and Terry was manager but more technical director. He was trying to get Chippy Brady back from Juventus. And we were trying to sign Ray Wilkins from Chelsea. Anyway, neither of those happened!”
And, to be honest, Nicholas’s career never really reached its full potential at Arsenal even though he was so popular on the terraces. He would also seem to score against Tottenham. “They were better than us - but we’d always beat them!”
You would see an army of thousands of Arsenal fans in their “casual” 1980s designer labels, wedge haircuts with a perm at the back. It was like a cult. He was a brilliant character - and is still brilliant company. “I think Liverpool won eight in my four-year tenure there, and I won one. But obviously, my one was against Liverpool! So that was quite pleasant,” he recalls.
Sport, Football, pic: 5th April 1987, Littlewoods Cup Final at Wembley, Arsenal 2 v Liverpool 1, Arsenal's Charlie Nicholas turns to celebrate after scoring the 1st goal as Tony Adams joins in the celebrations, Charlie Nicholas, Arsenal striker, played for the club 1983-1988 (Photo by Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)
Sport, Football, pic: 5th April 1987, Littlewoods Cup Final at Wembley, Arsenal 2 v Liverpool 1, Arsenal's Charlie Nicholas turns to celebrate after scoring the 1st goal as Tony Adams joins in the celebrations, Charlie Nicholas, Arsenal striker, played for the club 1983-1988 (Photo by Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)
View 4 Images
Charlie Nicholas came back to haunt Liverpool(Image: Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)
“I don't have any regrets in terms of the club that I joined, but I do have regrets because, although I never really felt at the time that medals were of significant value, I think when you look back after your career, you feel as if you should have won more, especially the European Cup. I know Arsenal are still waiting for that little star above the crest even now - and I’m still dying to see it.”
Nicholas really cemented his name among Arsenal fans by scoring both goals in the 1987 Littlewoods Cup final. They made history as it was the first time Liverpool had lost after Ian Rush had scored. Liverpool were that dominant back then.
But in the background there were internal politics going on. George Graham, nicknamed Stroller in his playing days when he would frequent nightclubs in himself, transformed Arsenal but was a strict disciplinarian as a manager.
Nicholas’s playboy image was not for him. His nickname - Champagne Charlie - was coined when he was at Celtic. Good-looking, charming and he admits to liking a night out even if he insists he was often lonely in London as most of his teammates were married.
“George did the same when he was a player,” said Nicholas. “It was just a bit weird because even after the game, he did a press conference and was being asked: ‘Will you give Charlie a new contract now?’
“I was a nuisance to him really. Then very quickly the next season I wasn’t even training with the reserves. I ended up in what was the third team with the under-18 boys. Brian Clough wanted to sign me for Nottingham Forest and George blocked it. I went with Ken Friar to Toulon and we agreed a deal and he blocked that.
Charlie Nicholas book
Charlie Nicholas has released a new book
4View 4 Images
05 April 1987 Wembley: Rumbelows Cup Final Arsenal v Liverpool : Charlie Nicholas of Arsenal poses with the trophy (Photo by Mark Leech/Getty Images)
Arsenal won the Littlewoods Cup in 1987(Image: Mark Leech/Getty Images)
4View 4 Images
“I just couldn’t understand it and still don’t really. Until eventually I went back up the road to Scotland. I’ve seen him a couple of times in later years but it was just a bit cold. We shook hands and that was about it.
“But I loved my time at Arsenal and that day at Wembley was spectacular. I still love going back to the club and they are class in the way they treat you and look after you. Fans still look and do a second take probably because of the grey hair!
“We had an open top bus parade through the streets of Islington the next day. I’d never seen anything like it because you can’t do that in Glasgow - there would be a war! But it showed you just how big the club is, so many people. We had it again this summer when they won the league.
“That showed you the size of the club. I was doing a fan event and staying near Tower Bridge, I walked a short way and the fans were spilling back all the way. It’s brilliant to see the club doing so well - they deserve it.”