James Michael Nicholl (born 28 December 1956) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played for several clubs, including Manchester United and Rangers.

In recent years he has worked as an assistant coach for several Scottish clubs, including Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Falkirk, Rangers and Dundee.

After he began his football career as an apprentice with Manchester United, the club arranged for Nicholl's family to relocate to England, to avoid the unrest caused by the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

After leaving Rangers, he signed for Dunfermline Athletic in 1989 before moving to a player-manager role at Raith Rovers, having originally joined them on 27 November 1990.

Following his time at Rovers, Nicholl played one game for Bath City in February 1996, a 3–0 defeat at home to Macclesfield Town.

[6] Having lost the first leg to Bayern 2–0 at Easter Road,[7] Raith took a 1–0 lead at the Olympiastadion thanks to a goal by Danny Lennon.

[citation needed] His second spell at Raith lasted two years, and ended on 14 June 1999 after he had failed to get them back into the top flight.

[17] He led the Blue Brazil to avoid relegation via the Scottish Championship play-offs in the 2013–14 season beating local rivals Dunfermline Athletic in the two-legged final.

[18] While still at Cowdenbeath, Nicholl had also become assistant manager to Michael O'Neill with the Northern Ireland national team in March 2015.

[21] After Murty left Rangers on 1 May, Nicholl and Jonatan Johansson were placed in interim charge[22] until the appointment of Steven Gerrard on 1 June.