Nice. It’s a crap word. It doesn’t mean much. But it sums up our Chrissie very well. You know the routine? How would you describe Chris Powell? Oh, he’s one of the nicest people in football. (Which, in fairness is like saying "one of the tallest of Snow White’s friends" or "one of the most-pleasant members of the shadow cabinet", but you get the drift.)
Let’s get one thing straight early on. He played for the Glaziers. Which takes the sheen off a bit, doesn't it? But, in fairness, it was two decades ago and he's played for millions of other teams since then. And, back then, even Charlton were playing at Selhurst Park.
I first saw him at The Valley on day the East Stand was opened in 1994, when he was playing for Southend United, following a loan spell at Aldershot. He then moved to Derby County, from where Charlton snapped him up in 1998 for £825,000, making his England debut in Sven Goran Erickson’s first match in charge, in 2001. He left Charlton for West Ham in 2004, returning a year later, before making one final trip away from The Valley a further year later. Finally, Chris returned "home" to Charlton in the Summer of 2007 to complete his UEFA coaching badge and, possibly, to show the youngsters a thing or two on the left of defence.
Chris Powell was once described as "a player to be proud of – on and off the pitch". I don’t think there would be many people who would disagree with that.
Factoid: When Chris Powell made his England debut at the age of 31, there were no other Charlton players who had played for England during his lifetime. By the time he made his last appearance for England, he was Charlton’s most-capped England player ever.