Nigel Sims

David Nigel Sims (9 August 1931 – 6 January 2018) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Peterborough United in the 1950s and 1960s.^[1]

Sims was born at Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire. He joined Wolverhampton Wanderers from Stapenhill in August 1948 as understudy to Bert Williams, and made his first-team debut on 18 April 1949 in a 1–1 draw with Sheffield United in the First Division.^[2] While a National Serviceman in 1950, Sims played for the Army in a representative match against an Irish Football Association XI.^[3] During his eight seasons at Wolves he only made 39 appearances^[4] before transferring to Midlands rivals Aston Villa in March 1956.^[5] He made his debut against Burnley that same month.

He was on the winning side in the 1957 FA Cup final, in which Villa beat Manchester United 2–1,^[6] followed three years later by a Second Division winners' medal. In 1961, he helped Villa lift the inaugural League Cup.^[7]

He played representative matches for the Football League,^[8] and in 1958, was the first winner of Aston Villa supporters' "Terrace Trophy".^[9]

In September 1964, having lost his place in the side, he transferred to Peterborough United. He appeared only sixteen times for them before trying his luck in Canada, having already spent a summer with Toronto City in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League.^[10] He appeared twice for the Toronto Falcons in the National Professional Soccer League,^[11] and also played for Toronto Italia.

In Safe Hands, a book about his footballing memories, was published in August 2012.^[12]

Honours

Aston Villa

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Script error: No such module "Authority control".