In especially good Nick

In wishing all of our United States-based supporters a very Happy Fourth of July, Cliftonville FC takes this apposite opportunity to look back on the Reds career of what records indicate is the only American to have ever turned out for the Club.

Goalkeeper Nicky Broujos arrived on loan from Sligo Rovers in the summer of 1993 and made the first of 48 appearances in an Ulster Cup clash at Coleraine on August 14.

Popular with team-mates and fans alike, Nicky’s colourful character shone through on the pitch in more ways than one thanks to the psychedelic Umbro jersey he sported despite the rest of the side being bedecked in O’Neill’s kitwear.

Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Nicky – the son of a US Army Colonel – played as a line backer, wide receiver and a quarter-back for his High School’s American Football team but, having developed a love for ‘soccer’ alongside other children in his father’s barracks, he initially operated as a striker before a selection dilemma forced him to take over as goalkeeper for one game – and that’s where he stayed.

His first step into Irish football came when he signed for Bray Wanderers in the mid-1980s before moving to Blackrock outfit TEK United. His form in helping the Leinster Senior League side progress to the latter stages of the FAI Cup caught the attention of some of the country’s bigger Clubs and Nicky was soon snapped up by Shelbourne.

After recovering from a broken hand, Broujos again signed for Bray but was quickly on the move to St James’s Gate, with whom title glory in the Leinster Senior League earned a switch to St Patrick’s Athletic under future Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr.

A two-year spell back home with Maryland ended when he was enticed back to the Emerald Isle to join Sligo Rovers, where he spent some of the finest years of his career, helping the Showgrounds outfit achieve promotion from the First Division in 1990, only for work commitments in Dublin to force him into a temporary departure.

That’s when Cliftonville boss Frankie Parkes made his move, bringing the American shot-stopper to Solitude on a season’s loan deal. It perhaps says everything about the Reds’ propensity for predictably disastrous Cup exits in the mid-90s that, despite only spending a year at the Club, Broujos suffered penalty shoot-out defeats in THREE separate competitions – and was part of the side that infamously conceded three injury-time goals to lose a Budweiser Cup semi-final 3-2 to Ards.

In spite of those setbacks, Nicky made a favourable impression and remains a popular figure among supporters of a certain age for a string of eye-catching performances and saves en route to helping Cliftonville finish eighth in the 16-team Irish League.

He kept a total of 15 clean sheets in his time at the the Club, earning December’s Player of the Month award (above), with his final appearance coming in a North Belfast Derby clash with Crusaders at Seaview on April 30, 1994 – although he actually made an impromptu return for a pre-season fixture on Ireland’s west coast in the summer of 1996 (below).

He spent the remainder of his senior career back at Sligo and was no stranger to reverting to his old centre forward’s role in the Sligo/ Leitrim and District League as well as indulging in some GAA coaching from time to time, but those who saw him play in Cliftonville colours – albeit his own specially-commissioned ones – will always remember his wonderful contribution throughout that 1993/94 campaign.