"Nicky" English (born 20 October 1962) is an Irish former hurler who played as a full-forward at senior level for the Tipperary county team.
[1][2][3] Born in Cullen, County Tipperary, English first played competitive Gaelic games during his schooling at the Abbey CBS.
He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Tipperary minor teams as a dual player, before later joining the under-21 sides.
As a hurling analyst in the media English writes a weekly column in The Irish Times, while he has also worked as a co-commentator with TV3 and RTÉ Radio 1 during their championship coverage.
After beginning a degree in electrical engineering in 1980, English switched courses and started a Bachelor of Arts in 1981 before later completing his higher diploma in education.
A narrow 0–14 to 3–3 defeat of University College Galway allowed UCC retain the title and give English, who finished as the season's top scorer, a second Fitzgibbon Cup medal.
English added a third successive Fitzgibbon Cup medal to his collection in 1983, as UCC secured the three-in-a-row following a 3–12 to 1–3 of University College Galway once again.
A narrow 0–7 to 0–5 defeat of fierce rivals University College Dublin gave English a fourth successive Fitzgibbon Cup medal.
A 1–15 to 1–7 defeat of University College Galway gave English a remarkable fifth successive Fitzgibbon Cup medal, in what was his last game in the competition.
His second championship season also brought an early exit, while Tipperary lost back-to-back Munster titles to Cork in 1984 and 1985.
In spite of these defeats, English's contribution to the game was acknowledged at the end of each year when he collected three successive All-Star awards.
Cork provided the opposition and were going for a record-breaking sixth successive championship, however, early in the second half English scored a remarkable goal when he kicked the sliotar to the net after losing his hurley.
That famous score put Tipperary ahead by seven points, however, Cork came roaring back to salvage a 1–18 apiece draw.
On 4 September 1988 Tipperary faced Galway in the All-Ireland decider, with English being named as captain in place of the dropped Pat O'Neill.
Tipperary made it a provincial three-in-a-row in 1989, with English winning his third Munster medal following a 0–26 to 2–8 defeat of an overtly physical Waterford.
The opening thirty-five minutes saw both sides trade score-for-score, however, a controversial 20-metre free, miss-hit by Michael Cleary, landed in the net and gave Tipp a lead which they never surrendered.
After two disappointing championship campaigns, Tipperary bounced back in 2001 with a 1–19 to 0–17 defeat of Clare to take a second league title under English's tenure.
The westerners put it up to Tipp, however, two goals by Mark O'Leary gave the Munster men the threshold to withstand a Galway comeback.
[16] Tipperary surrendered their Munster crown to Waterford in 2002, before later exiting the championship with a defeat by Kilkenny at the All-Ireland semi-final stage.
In 2010 he was regarded as a possible contender to succeed Liam Sheedy as Tipperary manager, a role he was linked to again in 2012 following the resignation of Declan Ryan.