IT was always going to be a life in a suit for Peter Nicholas, it just depended what kind, writes Peter Shuttleworth.

As a fresh-faced teenager the current Newport County manager was at Thornton Heath College in London reading business studies, but he soon swapped his work suit for a tracksuit when Crystal Palace came calling in the mid 70s.

Newport-born Nicholas was forced to retire from playing in 1992 due to a long-standing knee injury. In a career spanning three decades, Nicholas was one of the best combative midfielders of his generation during spells at Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Chelsea, Luton Town and Aberdeen.

Now tonight he'll celebrate his distinguished international career with a gold cap awarded by the Football Association of Wales to players who played more than 50 times for Wales. The 44-year-old will join Brian Flynn, Joey Jones, Neville Southall, Terry Yorath and 1958 World Cup hero Cliff Jones on the pitch at half-time in tonight's Euro 2004 play-off second-leg against Russia.

Nicholas won 73 caps during his Welsh sphere, coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 Home International victory against Scotland in Cardiff in May 1979. His first start was less than a month later in a Euro 1980 qualifier in Malta, as Nicholas helped Wales to a 2-0 win.

The hardman narrowly missed out of qualifying for major tournaments with Wales, most notably the 1982 World Cup in Spain when Mike England's men slipped away after a four-match winning start.

The last of his 73 caps, was in a 1-0 success against little Luxembourg at The Arms Park in November 13.

"It is great to look back on my career," said Nicholas. "It was a great honour to represent my country just once, let alone 73 times.

"One of the biggest disappointments for me, though, was never to play in the finals of a major tournament so I hope the current squad can achieve that on the field against the Russians tonight.

"I hope a Wales win will top off a great night for me."