Today marks the 15th anniversary of the untimely death of former Plymouth Argyle and England Under-21 goalkeeper Alan Nicholls and I will take a look back at Alan's career at Home Park.
Alan Nicholls arrived at Plymouth Argyle in 1993 after Peter Shilton paid £5,000 to Cheltenham Town for his services.
A former schoolboy prodigy in his native West Midlands, a young Alan had been watched by several of the big clubs in the region, including West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Wolves.
He eventually signed schoolboy forms with Wolves and made rapid progress that saw Graham Turner put him on standby for the first team at the tender age of 15.
Unfortunately for Alan, his involvement in a ticket-touting scam saw him dismissed from Molineux. He was then forced to drop down into non-league football with CradleyTown as Wolves retained his registration, thus preventing him from signing for another league side.
His performances for Cradley brought him to the attentions of Argyle's neighbours Torquay United who offered Alan a trial. However, because his registration was still retained by Wolves, he was unable to sign for the Gulls.
Alan later joined for Cheltenham and his performances for the Robins brought him to the attentions of Peter Shilton who signed for the Pilgrims prior to the start of the 1993-94 season.
He made his debut for Argyle in a Coca-Cola Cup tie against Birmingham City, which the Pilgrims won 2-0, and kept his place in the side for their next league encounter against Port Vale that they also won 2-0.
As the season went on Alan continued to produce a number of outstanding performances and many of his Argyle team-mates would draw comparisions between him and Shilton in terms of stature, build and ability.
In March 1994, he was called up to the England Under-21 squad to face Denmark, but he was forced to pull out of the squad because Argyle were playing Barnet on the same night.
He would have to wait until the summer to make his debut for his country as he was selected in the England Under-21 squad for the Toulon Tournament in France.
The squad also featured future England internationals Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp, Sol Campbell and Trevor Sinclair and Alan was selected to play in England's second group game against the host nation.
Sadly Alan was to endure a nightmare debut as France defeated England 3-0 and he was substituted later in the name and replaced by Aston Villa's Michael Oakes.
Following his return to Home Park ahead of the 1994-95 campaign, Alan struggled to recapture the form that saw him selected for the Under-21 side and struggled for form and fitness for much of the season.
He also became involved in a number of off-the-field incidents, which later led to his departure following the appointment of Neil Warnock as Shilton's replacement.
After leaving Home Park, Alan had a trial with Gillingham before eventually returning to non-league football with Stalybridge Celtic.
A few months after joining the Cheshire club Alan was involved in the fatal motorbike crash which claimed both his life and the life of Matt Lindsey, brother of his Celtic team-mate Scott Lindsey. It was a tragic end for a player who had shown much promise early in his career.
Alan is buried in St Paul's Parish Church in Blackheath, Birmingham and his headstone is engraved with a Three Lions crest and an image of him making an spectacular save in full Plymouth Argyle kit.
He is still fondly remembered by those who saw him appear for the Pilgrims and many of them rank him as one of the best goalkeepers they have seen play for Plymouth Argyle.
