Nigel Sims

Nigel Sims
Nigel Sims (1959)
Personnel
Surname	David Nigel Sims
birthday	August 9, 1931
place of birth	Coton in the Elms ,  England
date of death	January 6, 2018
Place of death	Gorseinon ,  Wales
position	goalkeeper
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1948-1956	Wolverhampton Wanderers	38 (0)
1956-1964	Aston Villa	264 (0)
1963	Toronto City
1964-1965	Peterborough United	16 (0)
1967	Toronto Falcons	2 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

David Nigel Sims (born August 9, 1931 in Coton in the Elms , † January 6, 2018 in Gorseinon ) was an English football goalkeeper . After his first professional years as a substitute behind Bert Williams at Wolverhampton Wanderers , he became Aston Villa's record goalkeeper . With the "Villans" he won the FA Cup in 1957 and the first league cup in the 1960/61 season .

Athletic career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Sims was born in 1931 in the small village of Coton in the Elms, not far from Burton . In his youth he stood in the village team as a goalkeeper between the posts and was an attacker if necessary. He was discovered later by a scout for the Wolverhampton Wanderers , but although the performance shown in the trial training was not completely convincing, the Wolves signed him in 1948. During the upheaval of the club, in which the later successful coach Stan Cullis his predecessor Ted Vizard had replaced, Sims was initially just one of many goalkeeping talents. The young apprentice woodworker first drew attention to himself in a game of the reserve team. The opportunity arose at short notice after the scheduled goalkeeper fell ill with food poisoning. Sims remained in the game without conceding a goal and afterwards he trained regularly with the first team and in the reserve team. On April 18, 1949 (Easter Monday) he represented for the first time in the first team regular goalkeeper Bert Williams against Sheffield United in the top English division. After further missions, he made well-founded hopes to be in the starting line-up for the upcoming FA Cup final . Williams reported but ready for the final against Leicester City again, which Wolverhampton won 3-1.

Sims began his military service later in the year (first in Rhyl , later in Oswestry ). Although he was still available for training sessions and competitive games, he only ran once for the first team in the next two years. It was not until 1951 that he achieved a double-digit yield of league game stakes per season. At the beginning of the 1953/54 season, which brought the "Wolves" the English championship , Sims was suddenly the first choice before Williams ousted him again and thus could claim the majority of the success for himself (Sims played eight of the 42 league games at the end) . It was not until March 1956 that Sims said goodbye to Wolverhampton and gave up in a duel with Williams. Although he had developed into a physically very strong and present goalkeeper, he had only played in 38 league games in a good seven years.

Aston Villa

Sims found in March 1957 with the Eric Houghton trained "Villans" a club in the lower half of the table in the first division. Immediately after his arrival there was immediate success. Not only did they manage to stay close , but Aston Villa also reached the final of the FA Cup the following year. There Sims and his men defeated the famous "Busby Babes" from Manchester United surprisingly 2: 1 - "benefited" by the early injury of United's goalie Ray Wood . When Houghton was replaced by Joe Mercer in the 1958/59 season , Sims became increasingly dissatisfied. At first, Mercer could not avert the fall into the second division . In addition, Sims was often critical of Mercer's tactical views and was upset that the new coach often let him play with injuries. Sims was considered one of the best English goalkeepers of his time at the time and subsequently criticized the fact that both an offer from Manchester United (immediately after the Munich plane disaster in February 1958) and later by Arsenal had been refused. Also in the English national team he never got a chance of probation, which Sims largely attributed to the influential functionary Arthur Oakley of the Wolverhampton Wanderers, who as part of the selection committee of the English Football Association used to vote against the consideration of players who leave "his" Wolves had.

In the 1959/60 season Sims won the second division championship with Aston Villa and the following year, in addition to the respectable success with ninth place in the first division, the title in the first edition of the league cup . In the final against Rotherham United , however, he only took part in the first leg, which was lost 2-0 in Rotherham; He missed the successful 3-0 comeback in the second leg due to injury and was replaced by Geoff Sidebottom . Sims spent three more years with the club and in 1963 again reached a league cup final, in which he was defeated by local rivals Birmingham City . In total, Sims completed 310 competitive games for Aston Villa by mid-1964 and was the club's internal record holder until namesake Nigel Spink surpassed him decades later.

End of career

Free transfer Sims moved to the third English division to Peterborough United and let his active career in English football end there. In addition, he hired himself in North American football in the 1960s and stood in goal for City and the Falcons in Toronto, Canada . In addition, Sims worked for a few years as a coach in college sports . Aside from sport, he pursued his profession as a carpenter and settled on the Welsh Gower Peninsula . In April 2012, Sims published his autobiography In Safe Hands , which was created in collaboration with author Colin Abbott .

Almost six years later, Sims died in January 2018 in the Welsh city of Gorseinon .

Title / Awards

• English League Cup (1): 1960/61
• English Cup (1): 1956/57

literature

• Colin J Abbott: In Safe Hands Nigel Sims' Football Memories . abz Publications, 2012, ISBN 978-0-9572151-0-8 .

Web links

• Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League AZ Player's Database
• Profile on barryhugmansfootballers.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Nigel Sims (www.lerwill-life.org.uk)
2. ↑ ^{a b} RIP Nigel Sims: Tributes paid to legendary Aston Villa FA Cup winner (Birmingham Live)
3. ↑ RIP Nigel Sims (Aston Villa)
4. ↑ Nigel Sims (NASL Jerseys)