Biography
Imposing centre back Nicholas “Nicky” Mohan was born in Middlesbrough and came through the junior ranks at his hometown club during a period in the late 1980s when the club hovered between Divisions One and Two. Mohan made his first team debut in January 1989, coming off the bench in an FA Cup tie against Grimsby Town and was chosen as Boro’s first team left back for the last three League games of the 1988/89 season, which ended in relegation to Division Two. Mohan kept his place for much of the 1989/90 season as Boro continued to struggle in the lower reaches of Division Two, until March 1990 when a serious injury caused Mohan to miss 20 months of football. When he returned to first team action in November 1991 it was as a dominating centre back with an eye for goal – his first strike for Boro came in a November 1991 win against Charlton Athletic. Middlesbrough were promoted to the newly formed Premier League at the end of the 1991/92 season, a change that saw Mohan fall down the defensive pecking order at the Riverside Stadium.
In September 1992 Mohan joined Terry Dolan’s Hull City on a month’s loan and in five starts for the Tigers he showed himself to be a cut above his teammates in terms of defensive skills. He also offered a threat at the other end of the pitch, scoring a set piece goal against Fulham that saw the Tigers race into a 3-0 lead after 13 minutes at Craven Cottage, only to eventually be pegged back to a 3-3 draw.
Mohan returned to Middlesbrough a revitalised figure and from December 1992 onwards he was a regular starter in Boro’s Premier League side that was relegated straight back to League Division 1. Nicky remained a Boro first team regular during the 1993/94 season and by the end of that term he had made 131 appearances and scored four goals for Middlesbrough.
In July 1994 Leicester City, newly promoted to the Premier League, paid £330,000 for Mohan’s signature and in his only season at Filbert Street he made 26 appearances, suffering his second top flight relegation in three seasons. A year later in July 1995 League Division 2 side Bradford City paid £225,000 for Mohan as manager Chris Kamara assembled a squad at Valley Parade for the 1995/96 season that won promotion to League Division 1 via a play-offs victory against Notts County at Wembley. Mohan missed only two matches in the 1996/97 season as Bradford narrowly avoided an immediate relegation, taking his Bantams tally to 101 appearances and 4 goals.
In August 1997 he dropped back down to League Division 2 and had two seasons at Wycombe Wanderers, scoring twice in 68 appearances. In March 1999 he switched to divisional rivals Stoke City and over the next two years he played regularly for the Potters as they twice missed out on promotion via the play-offs, losing out at the semi-finals stage to Gillingham in 2000 and Walsall in 2001. That latter play-off campaign drew Mohan’s time at Stoke to close, during which he scored 7 goals in 115 appearances.
In July 2001 Mohan, now in his early 30s, returned to Boothferry Park and signed for Brian Little’s resurgent Tigers – Little had twice before signed Mohan when in charge at Leicester City and Stoke City. Nicky was a first choice centre half for the first three months of the season, scoring a goal in a September 4-0 thumping of York City, but from mid-November onwards he struggled with injuries and was only able to play sporadically for the rest of the season. He left City in the 2002 close season and decided to drop out of the professional game – in his 14 season career Mohan made 476 senior appearances and scored 19 goals.
Nicky dropped into the non-league scene in 2002, short spells at Gateshead and Harrogate Town were followed by more successful times at Spennymoor United and Thornaby. He ended his playing days in 2009 at East Cleveland side Guisborough Town.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 6 October 1970, Middlesbrough
Hull City First Game: 26 September 1992, Leyton Orient A (League Division 2), 21 years, 356 days old
Hull City Final Game: 20 April 2002, Lincoln City H (League Division 3), 31 years, 196 days old
Clubs
Middlesbrough (1987-1994), Hull City (1992, loan), Leicester City (1994-1995), Bradford City (1995-1997), Wycombe Wanderers (1997-1999), Stoke City (1999-2001), Hull City (2001-2002), Gateshead (2002), Harrogate Town (2002), Spennymoor United (2002-2003), Thornaby (2003-2006), Bishop Auckland (2006-2007), Stokesley SC (2007-2008), Guisborough Town (2008-2009)
Hull City Record
Career: 35 apps, 2 goals
Nicky Mohan| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992/93 | 5 (0) | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2001/02 | 26 (1) | 1 | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 |