Arnold Sidebottom (born 1 April 1954) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, who played cricket for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and played one Test match for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Football

Sidebottom was born in

Shawlands Shawlands () is a Southside suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, located two miles south of the River Clyde. The area, considered the "Heart of the Southside", is known for its independent restaurants and cafés, art scene, public parks, period terrace ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

, and started off as a professional footballer, playing as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He joined

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

as an amateur in January 1971, and turned professional in 1972. He replaced the injured

Jim Holton James Allan Holton (11 April 1951 – 4 October 1993) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre-back. Holton played for Shrewsbury Town, Manchester United, Miami Toros, Sunderland, Coventry City and Detroit Express. He played in 15 inter ...

during the 1974–75 season in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He helped United win the Second Division Championship in that season, but was transferred in January 1976 to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, after making 20 appearances for United. He later played for Halifax Town.

Cricket

Sidebottom also had a cricketing career, and first played for Yorkshire in 1973, but did not win his

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

until 1980. The county's fortunes on the field were adversely affected during his career by in-fighting and by its own regulations, which prevented the fielding of players born from outside of the county; the county only signed its first overseas-born player (

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

) as Sidebottom's career was coming to an end. A rare highlight came in 1987 when the county won the limited-over

Benson and Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

, Sidebottom being at the wicket in the final as the win was secured. Test match cricket seemed to have passed him by when he went to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

as part of the

rebel tour The South African rebel tours were a series of seven cricket tours staged between 1982 and 1990. They were known as the rebel tours because the international cricketing bodies banned South Africa from competitive international cricket througho ...

led by

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning 1973 until 1997, he was ...

in 1982, which also earned him a three-year Test ban. He also played for

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

. After the ban ended, he was a surprise call up for the

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

Test in 1985 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where he took 1 for 65 before limping off injured. His only wicket was that of

Bob Holland Robert George Holland (19 October 1946 – 17 September 2017) was a New South Wales and Australian cricketer. He was, because of his surname, nicknamed "Dutchy". Holland, who spent the majority of his cricketing life in Newcastle, was a late ...

. Sidebottom himself admitted that his Test selection came when he was past his prime.

Coaching career

Sidebottom continued playing for Yorkshire until 1991, and then went into

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

. He finally left Yorkshire in 2003. He now coaches pupils at

Woodhouse Grove School Woodhouse Grove School ('The Grove') is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational, Boarding school, day and boarding school and sixth form. it is located to the north of Apperley Bridge, West Yorkshire, England (Apperle ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, in football and cricket, as well as coaching young cricketers at Thongsbridge Cricket Club and the Ryan Sidebottom Cricket Academy.

Personal life

Sidebottom's son, Ryan, is also a former professional cricketer. A left-arm fast bowler, he has played cricket for both Yorkshire and

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, and has also represented England in both Tests and

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s. He retired from international cricket in September 2010 and domestic cricket in 2017.

References

External links