Nicholas Bignall

Nicholas Colin Bignall (born 11 July 1990) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays for Uxbridge as a forward. A product of the Reading academy, he played on loan for a number of Football League clubs before recurring injuries forced him to drop into non-league football.

Nicholas Bignall
Personal information
Full name Nicholas Colin Bignall[1]
Date of birth (1990-07-11) 11 July 1990
Place of birth Reading, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward, left winger
Club information
Current team
Uxbridge
Youth career
0000–2008 Reading
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2014 Reading 1 (0)
2008Northampton Town (loan) 5 (1)
2009Cheltenham Town (loan) 13 (3)
2009Stockport County (loan) 11 (3)
2010Southampton (loan) 3 (0)
2010–2011Bournemouth (loan) 5 (1)
2011Brentford (loan) 6 (1)
2011Exeter City (loan) 3 (0)
2011Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 1 (0)
2014 Basingstoke Town 11 (3)
2014–2015 Sutton United 7 (1)
2015 Hayes & Yeading United 4 (0)
2015 Basingstoke Town 5 (1)
2015 Lincoln City 0 (0)
2015–2016 Gainsborough Trinity 12 (5)
2016–2018 Hungerford Town 50 (12)
2017Biggleswade Town (loan) (1)
2017Gosport Borough (loan) 2 (0)
2019–2020 Bracknell Town 7 (1)
2020– Uxbridge 4 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:54, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

Playing career

Reading

A forward or left winger, Bignall began his career in the academy at Reading and scored 20 goals for the U18 during the course of his two-year scholarship.[3] He signed a two-year professional contract ahead of the 2008–09 season and spent much of the campaign away on loan,[4][5] impressing enough to sign a new two-year contract in April 2009.[6] Bignall made his debut for the Royals with a start in a League Cup first round match versus Burton Albion on 11 August 2009 and scored two goals in the 5–1 victory.[7] He also started in the following round versus Barnsley, before leaving the club on loan and returning early through injury on 21 December 2009.[8] He returned to fitness in January 2010 and made one further appearance during the 2009–10 season, as a substitute for Simon Church after 74 minutes of a 1–0 victory over Barnsley on 30 January.[7]

Bignall made what would be his final Reading appearance early in the 2010–11 season, with a start in a 1–0 League Cup first round extra time victory over Torquay United on 11 August 2010.[9] He signed a new contract in October 2010, which would keep him at the club until the end of the 2011–12 season.[10] He subsequently spent much of the remainder of the 2010–11 season away on loan.[11][12] Bignall failed to receive a call into the first team squad during the early months of the 2011–12 season and suffered a season-ending injury while away on loan in October 2011.[13][14] Bignall's contract expired in June 2012, but remained with the club on a non-contract basis in a bid to return to fitness and he finally departed in 2014.[3][15][16]

Loan spells

Between 2008 and 2011, Bignall spent much of his Reading career away on loan from the Madejski Stadium and made 53 appearances and scored five goals for League One clubs Northampton Town, Cheltenham Town, Stockport County, Southampton, Bournemouth, Brentford, Exeter City and Wycombe Wanderers.[11]

Non-league football

In March 2014, Bignall dropped into non-league football to join Conference South club Basingstoke Town and he was a part of the squad which won the 2013–14 Hampshire Senior Cup.[17][18] He departed the club early in the 2014–15 season and had short spells with National League South clubs Sutton United and Hayes & Yeading United, before returning to The Camrose late in the campaign.[19] He departed for the final time in the summer of 2015 and had short spells with Lincoln City and Gainsborough Trinity,[19] before joining National League South club Hungerford Town in 2016.[20] He remained at Bulpit Lane until his departure at the end of the 2017–18 season.[21] After a year out of football,[22] Bignall played for Isthmian League South Central Division clubs Bracknell Town and Uxbridge during the 2019–20 season.[19][23]

Coaching career

In September 2018, it was reported that Bignall had returned to Reading to coach in the club's academy, as part of a coaching degree course at Oxford Brookes University.[24]

Personal life

Bignall is colour blind.[24]

Honours

Basingstoke Town

Career statistics

As of match played 26 September 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Reading 2009–10[7] Championship 1022 32
2010–11[9] 00001000 10
Total 10003200 42
Northampton Town (loan) 2008–09[25] League One 5120 71
Cheltenham Town (loan) 2008–09[25] League One 131 131
Stockport County (loan) 2009–10[7] League One 112101[lower-alpha 1]1 133
Southampton (loan) 2010–11[9] League One 3000 30
Bournemouth (loan) 2010–11[9] League One 5000 50
Brentford (loan) 2010–11[9] League One 601[lower-alpha 1]0 70
Exeter City (loan) 2011–12[26] League One 301000 40
Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 2011–12[26] League One 1000 10
Basingstoke Town 2013–14[19] Conference South 931[lower-alpha 2]0 103
2014–15[19] 2 0 2 0
Total 11 3 1 0 12 3
Sutton United 2014–15[19] Conference South 7 1 2 0 9 1
Hayes & Yeading United 2014–15[19] Conference South 4 0 1[lower-alpha 3] 0 5 0
Basingstoke Town 2014–15[19] Conference South 5 1 1[lower-alpha 4] 0 6 1
Basingstoke Town total 16 4 2 0 18 4
Lincoln City 2015–16[19] National League 0 0 1[lower-alpha 5] 0 1 0
Gainsborough Trinity 2015–16[27] National League North 1251000 135
Hungerford Town 2016–17[19] National League South 17 3 2 0 2[lower-alpha 6] 1 21 4
2017–18[19] 33 9 3 1 1[lower-alpha 7] 0 37 10
Total 50 12 5 1 3 1 58 14
Gosport Borough (loan) 2016–17[27] National League South 2 0 2 0
Bracknell Town 2019–20[23] Isthmian League South Central Division 7 1 2 0 0 0 9 1
Uxbridge 2019–20[19] Isthmian League South Central Division 3 1 3 1
2020–21[28] 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Total 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
Career total 150281214292 17733
  1. Appearance in the Football League Trophy
  2. Appearance in Hampshire Senior Cup
  3. Appearance in Middlesex Senior Cup
  4. Appearance in Conference South play-offs
  5. Appearance in Lincolnshire Senior Cup
  6. Appearances in Berks & Bucks Senior Cup
  7. Appearance in FA Trophy

References

  1. "Nicholas Bignall". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  2. "Reading Squad | ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. "Nicholas Bignall". Reading FC. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  4. "Striker Nicholas Bignall signs Reading extension". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  5. "Bignall back at Reading". ntfc.co.uk. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  6. "New contract for Bignall". readingfc.co.uk. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  7. "Games played by Nicholas Bignall in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  8. "Nick returns to Reading". stockportcounty.com. 22 December 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  9. "Games played by Nicholas Bignall in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  10. "Bignall signs new contract". readingfc.co.uk. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  11. Nicholas Bignall at Soccerbase
  12. "Loans update". brentfordfc.co.uk. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  13. "Nicholas Bignall Player Profile – ESPN FC". www.espnfc.com. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  14. "Bignall returns to Reading". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  15. "Squad Submitted". Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  16. "Bignall's two-year steps". Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  17. Boyman, John (21 March 2014). "Basingstoke Town sign former Reading striker Nicholas Bignall". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  18. Boyman, John. "Report – Basingstoke Town 3–2 Havant and Waterlooville". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  19. "Nicholas Bignall Profile | Aylesbury United FC". www.aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  20. "Pre season reveals successful new signing Nicholas Bignall". www.hungerfordtown.com. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  21. "Nicholas Bignall signs FA Contract with the Crusaders". www.hungerfordtown.com. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  22. "Nicholas Bignall a striking signing for Bracknell Town". Football in Berkshire. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  23. "Bracknell Town | Appearances | Nicholas Bignall | 2019–2020 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  24. "The Colourful Game | Bignall on colour blindness". Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  25. "Games played by Nicholas Bignall in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  26. "Games played by Nicholas Bignall in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  27. Nicholas Bignall at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  28. "Uxbridge | Appearances | Nicholas Bignall | 2020–2021 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
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