Nicholas Allen Jones (born 20 January 1969),known as Nicky Wire, is the lyricist, bassist and occasional vocalist with the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. 　　Born Nicholas Allen Jones in Blackwood,Wales, Wire is the younger brother of poet and author Patrick Jones.He attended Oakdale Comprehensive School with James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Richey Edwards. Wire excelled at football and was captain of the Welsh national schoolboys' team aged 14. Although he was offered a trial at both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal football clubs, back and knee problems brought his football career to an end. Wire took A-levels in politics and law. He later attended Portsmouth Polytechnic, and after several months transferred to the University of Wales Swansea, starting his course a year after Edwards. He graduated with a Lower Second-Class Honours degree in Politics, which has led him to comment that he may have pursued a career in the diplomatic service or the Foreign Office.