The nomadic Scottish international became Alan Curbishley's second signing, when he completed a £1.5m move from West Bromwich Albion in January 2007.

That transfer signalled a welcome return to his London roots for Surrey-born Nigel, who had made his Queens Park Rangers debut, as a 17-year-old, against Manchester United at Old Trafford in December 1995, before going on to score five goals in 63 outings for the Loftus Road club.

During that time, Quashie also won four England U-21 caps but with the subsequently relegated Rangers now languishing in the second-tier, he headed to Nottingham Forest in a £2.5m transfer in August 1998.

After making his debut in a 2-0 defeat by Everton on the opening day, his first season at the City Ground disastrously ended in relegation from the Premiership and, after failing to win promotion back to the top flight the following year, Quashie - who had scored three times in 52 league and cup appearances for Forest - joined Portsmouth for £600,000 in August 2000.

Making his debut in a curtain-raising, two-goal loss at Sheffield United, the combative midfielder soon established himself at Fratton Park, where he played a key role both in Pompey's first division Championship triumph in 2003 and the club's subsequent success in retaining their newly-acquired Premiership status, scoring 14 goals in 163 league and cup outings

While he was on the south coast, Quashie also took swift advantage of a new FIFA ruling that allowed him to play at full international level for Scotland, notwithstanding the fact that he had previously pulled on the shirt of England's Young Lions.

Qualifying thanks to a Glasgow-born grandfather, Quashie strode out in Tallinn in the navy blue jersey to make his full debut in the Scots' 1-0 friendly victory over Estonia in May 2004, before following up with his first international goal in a 4-1 win against Trinidad and Tobago just three days later.

In January 2005, he was snapped up by his former Pompey manager Harry Redknapp - who was, by now, at south coast rivals Southampton - for a fee of £2.1m and after making his debut in a 2-2 draw against Everton, he was soon handed the captain's armband.

But the Saints slid helplessly to relegation and after striking six times in 38 matches, he then made a £1.2m deadline day move to struggling West Bromwich Albion, just as the January 2006 transfer window was all set to slam shut.

Quashie enjoyed a fine debut helping his new side to a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers but it was a shortlived revival and the Midlanders also found themselves duly relegated just a few months later.

After scoring once for the Baggies in 30 league and cup outings at The Hawthorns, Quashie remarkably then found himself pitched into yet another survival battle in January 2007, when Curbishley paid Albion a £1.5m fee in a bid to bolster his midfield.

Quashie made his debut in the 3-3 draw with Fulham on 13 January 2007, however, after playing just eight games he was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. That was also to cost him his involvement in the 2007/08 season.

But having experienced relegation with four of his five previous clubs, there was at least a happy ending, when West Ham United avoided the dreaded drop with a nail-biting final-day win at Manchester United on the final day of the 2006/07 term.

Although he missed the start of the season, Quashie - who went into the 2007/08 campaign with 14 Scotland caps - was on schedule for a return to first-team action.