Nicky Hogarth, a wee lad born on the 4th of July back in 2001 (age 24 if your arithmetic is as lamentable as Falkirk's league performance), hails from the land of haggis and bagpipes, Scotland that is. He earns his bread chucking himself around the goal for Falkirk, standing at a respectable but not particularly terrifying 1.82 metres (or 5ft 11in for those who refuse the metric system). Tipping the scales at 73 kilograms (or 11st 6lb if you'd prefer), he's the proud wearer of the number 1 shirt, a number he probably hopes accurately reflects his position in their pecking order.
His current market value is a staggering... wait for it… about £85k, according to Transfermarkt. Not really the kind of number that would have Barcelona or Real Madrid up at night, but it's probably instead providing Hogarth's agent with sweet dreams of a healthy agent's fee. As for his stay with Falkirk, his contract has a mere 10 months left, set to run its course by the 31st of May, 2026. Quite a cliff hanger if you ask me!
In an upsetting disregard of the universally accepted Cinderella story, our protégé did not ascend the ranks straight into Celtic, or even step foot on the hallowed ground of Celtic Park. No, instead our young hero began his story at the dreadfully predictable Rangers, joining them as a trainee back in July 2017.
Fast forward a few short years of apprenticeship, Hogarth promptly left the Premiership for the idyllic pastures of Scotland’s League Two, transferring on loan to Stirling Albion in January 2020. It seems, not satisfied with the lower tier of Scottish football, he swiftly hopped over to Cowdenbeath in the Lowland League in December the same year, presumably to taste what real grass-roots football tasted like.
In an ambitious call of the wild, he left the comfort of Rangers, and indeed Scotland, to take a punt at Nottingham Forest in England’s Premier League in July 2021. Sadly for Hogarth, the great Forest proved too big a wood to chop down and in August 2022 off he went to Falkirk, once again on loan. After what must have been a whirlwind season riddled with 15 electrifying first team appearances, he was sent packing back to the Forest.
In July 2023, in what only can be described as a groundhog day, Hogarth returned from Nottingham Forest back to Falkirk, only this time round he was not on loan. In his first season upon his triumphant return, he graced the pitch 15 times for Falkirk and even bettered that the following season with an impressive 36 displays. The current season however, he appears to be as present on the pitch as Brigadoon, with nary an appearance to his name. One wonders if he has taken up gardening instead.
In a heartrending twist, he managed a miserable two starts in League Cup 2025-2026 for Falkirk, and a lone start in Scottish Cup 2024-2025. Falkirk's trust in our hapless hero appears to be as fleeting as the Scotland summer.
Love him or hate him, you've got to admit, Nicky's journey has all the predictability of a mid-morning soap, and his career, thus far, has been anything but Hogarthian.