There probably wasn't a Villa supporter born that didn't like "Nige". Great goalkeeper who helped Villa win the FA Cup in 1957 and the first ever League Cup in 1960-1 3-2 on aggregate over Rotheram United.
He won the first supporters award that I can recall and rightly so. He was burly and held his weight quite well iirc until he quit smoking and as a nipper I recall the Holte End kidding him about quitting smoking in his last few seasons whenever he let a goal in.
At the international level I think he was underrated and represented the Football League. I think he could have easily played for England. Having watched both Ron Springett and Nigel Sims I would say that Nige was more reliable but Springett made every ball that came his way look like a fancy save.
I think the fact that Sheffield Wednesday paid QPR 10K for Springett helped him get the caps, whereas Nigel simply, arrived at Villa after being understudy to Bert Williams at Wolves.
Nigel had an innate sense of positioning and in those days goalkeepers were prey to bullying centre forwards like John Charles. But not our Nige; Safe hands, came off his line when necessary and was strong on crosses from set pieces and gave forwards as good as they gave with change.
In fact most corner takers should have just kicked the ball to Nige because Nige was going to get it anyway.
Others may not agree but I think his weight gain in his last few seasons seemed to be an issue and ultimately he left Villa for Peterborough United. In his heyday Nigel was imho one of the greatest goalkeepers over the last 50 years which undoubtedly is why he is ranked in the Top 20. Top Bloke, great goalie.
