[4] He grew up a fan of Arsenal, appreciating fellow South London-born Black British players such as Paul Davis and David Rocastle.

[4] As a junior player Nosworthy played initially as a midfielder, but his first team debut, on 28 November 1999 against Fulham, came in attack.

[5] Following this Nosworthy made appearances in wide midfield and at left-back and centre-back before cementing his position as a right-back towards the end of the 2000–01 season.

[7] His primary position was at the back though sometimes played up front and was occasionally used as an emergency striker with some success,[8] scoring twice in a 2–1 win over Crystal Palace in the last game of the 2002–03 season, a result which helped Gillingham to its highest ever league finish of 11th in the second tier.

Nosworthy claimed that the additional concentration and organisation skills required to play in central defence improved his game.

[12] This improvement, which was also acknowledged by his then manager,[13] combined with consistency of performance in his new role, led the club to extend his contract until June 2010.

[10] Sunderland fans famously used to chant " they tried to get the ball past Nyron but he said no no no" to the tune of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab", he also acted as the club's "Kick It Out" anti-racism campaign ambassador during this period.

[15] Nosworthy remained with Sunderland, playing regularly through relegation and subsequent promotion back to the Premier League.

With the arrival of new manager Steve Bruce he found his appearances became more limited and he was eventually allowed to leave on loan to Sheffield United in February 2010, agreeing a deal to remain with the Blades until the end of the season.

[17] He was a regular starter in the Blades back four for most of the season but with the team in freefall, and all but relegated, he was released early from his loan deal and returned to Sunderland in mid-April 2011, having played a further thirty two times for the Yorkshire club.

He made 12 league appearances including a 4–2 victory over Bradford City in the FA Cup third round, a day before his loan was due to end.