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The Big Interview: Colin Nixon (part three)

Sat, 20/06/2020 - 00:43

In this new series we plan to bring extended interviews with some of Glentoran’s greatest ever players, speaking to Media Director Ian Clarke about many interesting aspects of their long, trophy laden careers with the Glens.

Part Three: Another League & Cup

After Roy Coyle went, Paul Millar came in as manager. How did that impact your game?

I enjoyed playing for him. He was the one who moved me to centre half, which is where I’d always seen myself playing. I only played right back because Tommy Cassidy needed a right back - maybe that was one of the two players he needed – so I filled in there but stayed at full back for over 10 years. I slotted in there and since I loved getting forward and scoring goals, I was very happy playing there. Plus, I spent so much of my career as a full back playing behind either Glenn Little or Tim McCann, two great right wingers. But I was a centre half when I signed for Rangers and when I played for the Colts and Seconds.

Windy’s first and biggest signing was Gary Hamilton. What difference did he make to the team?

Whatever anyone says about Gary Hamilton he was a quality, quality footballer. His skill level was second to none and he scored some of the best goals I ever saw at the Oval. It was a pleasure to be on the same pitch as Gary and to watch him in action.

A couple of years later you won your fourth league title when Alan McDonald. That team got a lot of stick for their style of football despite winning our first title in four years. How did you feel about that?

There were a lot of hard men in that team and more than anything else we battled our way to the league title. Plus, we had a good run to the Setanta Cup Final as well. Alan was different to anything I’d experienced before and I really liked the man. If anything he was too nice. Certainly not what you’d thought of him as a player. I’d watched him as a player when he’d kick the tripe out of you, but that’s the opposite of who he was off the pitch. I think as a manger he was just too nice. But in saying that it worked for him and for Glentoran as we won the league. I couldn’t say a word against him. He was a great fella and was taken far too soon. That was a tragedy.

1,959 appearances between them - Colin Nixon, Paul Leeman & Michael Halliday with the Gibson Cup in 2009

It doesn’t matter what anybody says about that season. If you win the league you deserve it and we definitely deserved it that year. You can maybe fluke the cup with a couple of easy draws and the odd decision going your way, but you can’t do that over the course of a season. Also, you can argue about one championship winning team over another, but they’re all different and they all deserve full credit for winning it. I don’t look back on any of the teams I played in that won the league with any regrets. The only regret I have is that we should have won it more often with the players we had. It’s scary how many times we came close in years when we should have been able to get it over the line.

After Alan McDonald went, we started to hear about the club’s financial difficulties. That was a massive cloud hanging over your last 3 or 4 seasons at the club. How did that impact on the players?

It was incredible. The fall Glentoran had from grace was shocking. At that point I’d played fifteen years at Glentoran when the club was mostly on the top, well thought of and just a great institution. For the club to slip the way it did was heartbreaking to be honest.

When did the players first become aware of the scale of the problem?

Well there started to be delays in getting paid some months. During the wage difficulties I was the one who pulled the players together to get them to train and play. I also had to front things on television to make it clear the players were okay and determined to see the situation through. You had players like Richard Clarke, who was travelling three times a week from Castlederg in that level of uncertainty. Could you imagine the fallout if the players had been negative about the club in public, or even worse if they’d gone on strike as was rumoured? I wore my heart on my sleeve for Glentoran my whole life and I wasn’t going to let anything like that happen if we could avoid it. I wore my heart on my sleeve the whole time I played for Glentoran and I loved the club. I got on well with the Chairman at the time, Terence Brannigan, who I felt was doing his best under very difficult circumstances. He and I worked well together in our areas because above all we had to make sure there was no players strike. At any other time there would have been 4 or 5 other players doing it with me, but by that time people like Paul (Leeman) were gone and there was only me and Elliott left who’d been through the great years and who really got what Glentoran meant. Elliott was right there with me. Elliott is a great friend of mine. His talent was obvious when he came to the Glens as a kid, even in training you just couldn’t score against him. So, it’s great to see how he’s gone on through good and bad years to become a genuine Glentoran legend.

How did you feel about leaving the club after so long?

To be honest I didn’t see eye to eye with Eddie Patterson from day one. I just didn’t see the fit and from a very early stage I had a feeling he’d be my last manager at Glentoran.  The departure wasn’t handled well because I’d agreed a deal with the club to join the coaching staff but that didn’t happen, as Eddie just pulled me aside at training one night and told me that the new contract wasn’t going to happen. What made it strange was that at the time the Chairman was very supportive of me and told me he wanted me to stay. But I took the view that it was a football decision and if the manager didn’t want me then I shouldn’t hang around.

Nicky & Elliott Morris with the Irish Cup in May 2013, Colin's last game for the Glens

Despite all the background noise and uncertainty, we went on to win the Cup in that last season. What do you think it says about that group of players that they managed to do that?

The players really galvanised to win that cup. Nobody really fancied us against Cliftonville but the way the mentality of the players was after all the difficulties I felt there was only going to be one winner that day. I came off the bench that day for my last appearance and to be honest that cup win was probably as good an achievement as I experienced in my whole playing career.

Personally, it was a bittersweet experience for me as I knew it was going to be my last match. But I want to put on record that the send off I got from the Glentoran faithful was absolutely incredible. They had meant so much to me over the years and the send off they gave me will stay with me to the grave. It was unbelievable. My kids were there too and that all added to it for me. I never took the backing of the supporters for granted and I think that send off showed me that they understood that.

Finally, Nicky, what is your abiding memory of 20 years at the Glens and is there anything you’d like to say about where the club is now?

I’m so pleased to see the investment and the Glens Starting to ride high again. It’s a totally unique club and there’s no other club or support anything like it either here or in the Republic of Ireland. It has a unique history and a unique support and that’s something I was very proud of every time I pulled on the shirt. Mick and Paul are doing a fantastic job. There seems to be a real professional look about the place, and I hear from Elliott all about the really positive mood and attitude around the club. I’ve been back a few times this season and there’s a totally different atmosphere. It’s reminiscent of a few years ago and its clearly the atmosphere of a great club pulling itself back to the top. You knew it was going to happen sooner or later because you can’t keep a club like that down. Lessons needed to be learned but hopefully they’ve been learned, and the club will push on now and build for the best possible future. I’ll always love Glentoran and I’m excited for what’s coming next.

 

Colin & family salute the Glentoran faithful after his final home match