25th Anniversary: Nick Pickering joins the Association

Nick celebrates the Houchen FAC Final goal

The CCFPA is proud to announce that it has completed the last piece of a Cup winning  jigsaw by signing up the last player to join from the Sky Blues victorious cup winning team of May 1987, Nick Pickering.

Having tracked down and got the signature of the other ‘missing piece’, Brian Kilcline, earlier this month we were delighted to catch up with Nick at the 25th Anniversary celebrations last weekend (20th/21st April 2012).  Nick joined at the Friday reunion and Celebration Dinner at Nailcote Hall (reported separately) and immediately showed his was proud to wear the Association badge and tie at the lunch time photocall and the evening dinner and dance. Nick also came to the Ricoh along with many of his F.A.Cup winning colleagues as  our guests to watch the Sky Blues game against Doncaster.

Nick (left) with Greg Downs at Nailcote

Nick told CCFPA Membership Secretary Mike Young he really enjoyed the celebration weekend and couldn’t wait to come back again to Coventry to see his compatriots from a quarter of a century ago. In fact Nick will be back in the area soon to attend another Reunion at Stoneleigh Deer Park G.C. on 11th May next with other members of the victorious ’87 squad (including, I understand, Brian ‘Killer’ Kilcline who was not able to make the Nailcote event).

Capped for England once, winger Nick was brought to Highfield Road by Don Mackay from Sunderland in February 1986 to provide width especially on the left but it was the following season (1986-87) where the 22 year old really made his real mark under George Curtis and John Sillett. Nick admits he saw the move to Coventry as a bit of a gamble but it certainly paid off as an especially tight knit squad built by George and John finished a comfortable 10th in Division 1, reached the 4th Round of the League Cup as well as, of course, carrying off the F.A.Cup for the first (and only) time in the Club’s history.

Nick moved on to Derby County in 1989 having scored ten goals in 93 appearances for CCFC. After a loan spell with Middlesbrough Nick finished his career at Darlington and then Burnley (1993) and since hanging up his boots has been doing coaching and media work.

We published an extensive interview with Nick on this website on April 4th done by Steve Carpenter of Coventry Observer in conjunction with CCFPA which you can access by putting Nick’s name into the ‘Search News’ box on the right.