Saddlers Legends

That was the great thing about the man at the helm at Bescot from 1994-1997, he loved the club.

Although before his arrival Chris Nicholl had no history or link to Walsall football club, when he did take charge from departing Kenny Hibbert he fell in love with the club.

It’s also fair to say that Walsall’s run to Division 1 (or the Championship as it is now!) wouldn’t have happened without Nicholl.

When he took the reins early in the 1994/95 season Walsall had spent a number of years in the basement division and hadn’t really come close to escaping.

However with the arrival of Nicholl came the arrival of some great players like Adrian Viveash and Martin O’Connor and in his first season in charge the Saddlers gained promotion after battling for a point at Gigg Lane, Bury.

Fans had reason to be optomistic again after years of languishing in Division 3. The next season also began well but a poor final few months meant only an 11th place finish.

The following season went a similar way and Nicholl felt he had taken the club as far as he could.

Nicholl returned to Walsall as assistant to Ray Graydon in November 2001 but left alongside Graydon when he was sacked three months later.

His time at the club however did what Walsall does to most people- it hooked him and Nicholl is still a regular at the Banks’ Stadium.