Nicky Low is a left footed, double league cup winning midfielder aged 26 when announced as agreed to sign for Gary Naysmith on 27 December 2018 once the transfer window subsequently opens on 1st January. Low and Naysmith are ex-team mates from being on the playing staff together at Aberdeen for season 2012/13. He was four times capped for Scotland at U17 level (at home v Georgia and Germany and also home and away v Malta). Low is a product of the youth set up at Aberdeen, the club with whom he began his senior career. He spent most of season 2011/12 on loan at Forfar at the end of which he collected club player of the year accolades.
Low had a short loan period in the first half of 2012/13 at Paul Hartley managed Alloa Athletic. Alloa ended the season runners-up to Allan Johnston managed QoS in Scotland's third tier. Alloa featuring Michael Doyle secured their second straight promotion (that particular season via the play-offs). Low contributed 10 appearances for Alloa's promotion campaign. He played in Alloa's best result of the season while there. On Tuesday 11 December 2012 Ryan McCord's penalty was the only goal to give Alloa a 1-0 home win against that season's runaway juggernaut divisional champions, QoS. Doyle and Callum Tapping also played for Alloa that evening. This was the only league game Queen's lost that season prior to clinching the league title in late March (Queen's lost a second league game that season when defeated 2-1 at Stenhousemuir. That second league defeat was three weeks after the title clinching 6-0 away win v Brechin re-scheduled due to snow to the artificial pitch at Station Park in Forfar).
Low played 39 Aberdeen first team games including 28 in the Scottish top division. He was named as a sub in all six of Aberdeen's 2014-15 Europa League run. Low had game time in five of those Europa League matches; away at Daugava Riga in Latvia, home and away eliminating Dutch opponents, Groningen, and home and away losing out to Real Sociedad of Spain. He was also a sub for Aberdeen in March 2014 in the Scottish League Cup Final v Inverness CT. The game went to penalties after a 0-0 draw. Aberdeen scored with all four spot kicks they took with Low striking their second penalty in that shootout as Derek McInnes' team won 4-2 on penalties. The season after Low and Aberdeen improved one position in the league to finish top division runners-up to Celtic.
He next joined Dundee where in two seasons he made 23 top flight appearances and 25 first team appearances in total. From there he was signed by Kenny Shiels at Derry City initially on loan from Dundee. His debut in Ireland was a 4-1 Premier Division away win on 25 February 2017 v Bohemians in the Phibsborough area of Dublin. Post-match he said, “First and foremost I like to try and play but I don’t mind a tackle. I’m known in Scotland to put myself about. We can’t obviously expect to play nice football all the time and we have to expect tackles to be flying in at times.”
In his first season in the League of Ireland, Low picked up accollades as Derry's player of the year. He played the full 90 minutes in both 2017-18 Europa League games when Derry were eliminated by Denmark's Midtjylland. Low's second season at the Brandywell was injury impacted. He recovered sufficiently though from his hernia operation to come on as a substitute in Derry's September 2018, League Cup final 3-1 win v Cobh Ramblers. He was a 64th minute final substitute for Spanish born, Newton Stewart raised, ex-QoS youth team player, Aaron Splaine. In two seasons at The Brandywell Nicky Low played just under 60 first team games in league & cup. In a young squad in Derry, Low was treated as a senior player despite only being mid 20s there himself. Low has over 160 competitve first team appearances from previous clubs at the time of joining QoS.
After joining QoS Low said, "I spoke to a few teams and had a few offers, but obviously I know the gaffer, playing with him at Aberdeen. It was maybe what he had to say, more than anybody, I thought 'I fancy that'. He said, 'Come in and have a look about the place, train for a week, see what you think of us, see what we think of you'. And I spoke to the lads, I like the lads, I like the gaffer, [Assistant Manager] Doogie [Anderson], it felt right. I went back to my missus and said, 'Of the offers I've had I feel this is probably the one for me where I can go and play, and perform well'. There's right good players there, I'm a football man so even when I was away, even League 1, League 2, I know all the players, not personally but I just like my football. So I know some of the players but I don't know what they were like as players, and there's right good players in that changing room. There's not a big squad as the gaffer said when I was coming here, but its a close knit group, and that helps. I had injury last year at Derry, I got a hernia so I missed 14 games all in. In Derry I had a good run so hopefully that'll be me back to full fitness so I want play every game I can and help the team and hopefully we're successful."
Welcome to Palmerston, Nicky.