Nick Tanner is the second of two defenders to spend time on loan at Norwich from Liverpool, the other being Mark Seagraves. He spent March 1990 on loan to Norwich as defensive cover for Ian Butterworth, Andy Linighan and Tim Sherwood who were all unavailable due to injury or suspension. Nick made six appearances for the Canaries and in these games, Norwich lost just once and kept four clean sheets. This performance impressed Dave Stringer who hoped to sign Tanner on a permanent basis but he instead sought to stay at Liverpool in the hope of making it big. To some extent, he achieved this replacing Mark Wright in the Liverpool back four in 1991.

Graeme Souness and injuries conspired against him the following season and a recurring back problem led Nick to retire from the game in March 1994. He totalled 40 league appearances for Liverpool scoring once. Prior to his £20,000 move to Merseyside, Nick was with Mangotsfield and Bristol Rovers for whom he made 107 league appearances. He has since returned to his native South-West with Bath City. In February 1997, Nick was appointed manager of Screwfix Direct Western League side Mangotsfield who now play in the Dr Martens League.

Nick left Mangotsfield in 2000 but after two years out of football, returned to manage Screwfix Direct Western League Premier Division side Welton Rovers in July 2002. He quit in January 2003 with Welton rooted to the bottom of the table.

In November 2003, Nick took control of Almondsbury Town in the Cherry Red Records Hellenic League. Besides being Almondsbury Town manager he was also manager of the Gloucestershire FA representative team who play matches against the other leagues and also the Army & RAF etc. He has since stepped down from that role and works in Insurance for Mark Richards a Broker in Bristol.

Nick quit as Almondsbury's manager in November 2005 saying that he had taken the club as far as he could. The following month, he took over as manager of Roman Glass Bristol St George who play in the Gloucestershire County League.

In the summer of 2006, Tanner joined Conference side Forest Green Rovers as Chief Scout. In November 2006, he took over the managerial role of Wotton Rovers in the Gloucestershire County League but quit in September 2007

In November 2009, Nick was appointed Manager of Hellenic League Club, Winterbourne United (which is in North Bristol)

Since retiring he has worked in the insurance industry in Wilmslow for QDOS Breakdown. He now runs a Liverpool Legends event company and also works as a football analyst for BBC Radio Merseyside for Liverpool games.