minutes, but Nicholas equalised seven minutes later after a goal mouth scramble. In the second half, he appeared to be fouled in the penalty box by Gary Gillespie, but the referee ignored Arsenal's claims for a penalty. With seven minutes left, Nicholas received a cross from Perry Groves and shot at goal. The ball took a deflection off Ronnie Whelan, and went into the goal having deceived Bruce Grobbelaar. Arsenal held on to win 2–1. With this Wembley brace Nicholas thus became a club hero. In the summer of 1987, Celtic attempted to persuade Nicholas to return to Parkhead. However, he rejected his old club's offer, and decided to stay at Arsenal in the expectation he would remain part of their side. It proved to be a poor decision; Nicholas was dropped four games into the start of the 1987–88 season, in favour of Perry Groves as the strike-partner for new signing Alan Smith. He spent the rest of his time at Highbury playing for the reserves. Nicholas was ranked at number 28 in the club's list of the '50 Greatest Gunners of all time'. Altogether he scored 54 goals in 184 matches for Arsenal. Aberdeen Nicholas joined Aberdeen in January 1988 for a transfer of £400,000, stating his desire to get his career back on track. After a slow start at Pittodrie (three goals in 16 league games in the 1987–88 season), he rediscovered his form and scored 16 league goals in the 1988–89 season, finishing joint top-scorer in the league alongside Celtic's Mark McGhee. He maintained his form into what transpired to be his final season, 1989–90, and in October 1989 picked up his first silverware since returning to Scotland, as Aberdeen defeated Rangers 2–1 in the Scottish League Cup Final. The arrival of Dutch forward Hans Gilhaus in November 1989 saw the pair immediately form a good partnership up front. The two helped Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup, both scoring their penalty kicks in Aberdeen's penalty-shoot win over Celtic in May 1990. In all, Nicholas played 104 games for The Dons in two and a half years, scoring 36 goals. Looking back on his time in an interview for Aberdeen’s Red Matchday magazine, Nicholas stated "Looking back with hindsight, I know I should never have left Aberdeen when I did". Return to Celtic In summer 1990, Nicholas returned to Celtic. His comeback season at Parkhead saw him