Barry Alfred Siddall (born 12 September 1954) is an English former professional football goalkeeper. When he retired from the game he had 614 appearances over a 21-year career in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, playing for numerous clubs. He played for 13 different Football League clubs:

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

, Port Vale,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

, Chester City and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. He won

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the Second Division, Third Division, and Fourth Division, and also played in the First Division.

Career

Siddall was educated at Ellesmere Port Grammar school; where he was spotted by a Bolton

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

, together with Paul Jones and

Neil Whatmore Neil Whatmore (born 17 May 1955) is an English former association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He made 449 appearances in the Football League and scored 150 goals, playing for Bolton Wanderers F.C ...

. He played seven games for England Youth in 1973. He began his career with

, turning professional in January 1972 after a two-year apprenticeship. In four years with the

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

club he made 137 league appearances.

Jimmy Armfield James Christopher Armfield (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional association football, football player and manager. He played the whole of his Football League career at Blackpool F.C., Blackpool, usually at right b ...

's "Trotters" won the Third Division title in the 1972–73 season, and finished mid-table in the Second Division in 1973–74 and 1974–75. Under the stewardship of Ian Greaves, they went on to finish fourth in 1975–76, one point behind promoted

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. In September 1976, he moved north-east to join

for a £80,000 fee, intending to replace retiring club legend

Jimmy Montgomery Jimmy Montgomery BEM (born 9 October 1943) is an English retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made a record 627 appearances for his hometown club Sunderland with 537 of these appearances being in the league, after joining the club ...

. He made 167 league appearances for Jimmy Adamson's "Black Cats". The

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; it h ...

club were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

out of the First Division in 1976–77, and came close to winning promotion in 1977–78 and 1978–79 before they regained their top-flight status with a second-place finish under the stewardship of Ken Knighton in 1979–80; they finished just one point behind champions

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He was

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

ed out to

during the 1980–81 season, who were managed by his former Sunderland boss Billy Elliott; Siddall played eight Fourth Division games at Feethams. Now managed by Alan Durban, Sunderland avoided relegation by one place and two points in 1981–82. In August 1982, Siddall signed for John McGrath's Fourth Division Port Vale and went on to make 81 league appearances for the "Valiants" in a two spell. The first choice keeper in the 1982–83 promotion campaign, he was sidelined for three months after sustaining a knee injury in a 3–1 win over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

at Ashton Gate on 27 December 1982;

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh Manager (association football), football manager and former international association football, footballer. He has been described as one of the best Goalkeeper (association football), goalk ...

was signed on loan to take his place. Teammate and club legend Phil Sproson named Siddall as the club's best goalkeeper of the 1980s. However, he handed in his notice at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

in October 1983 following a

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

dispute, and was loaned to Sam Ellis's

. Despite only spending one month at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

, during his seven league games for the "Seasiders", Blackpool were the victor in six of them, which assisted in their finishing sixth in the Fourth Division. He ended the 1983–84 season with 45 appearances for Port Vale, though he could not prevent the club from suffering relegation out of the Third Division. He was in goal for Vale against Blackpool in a 1–1 draw on 18 September 1984. Still, his return to Bloomfield Road was unhappy as he injured his ankle. He featured just 12 times in the 1984–85 season, as new boss John Rudge preferred Chris Pearce. Siddall was loaned out to Vale's

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

in January 1985, and the move was made permanent two months later. He played 15 First Division games at the end of the 1984–85 season, though he could not prevent Bill Asprey's "Potters" from being relegated in last place. He featured in just five Second Division games at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

in the 1985–86 campaign, as new boss Mick Mills preferred Peter Fox. He was also loaned out to Frank Worthington's

and

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...

during the season, keeping goal in 12 Fourth Division games at

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Prenton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers F.C., Tranmere Rovers Football Club since opening in 1912, and formerly the home ground ...

and playing six First Division games during his time at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

. In 1986, Siddall returned to Blackpool, this time permanently. Sam Ellis was still in charge of the Bloomfield Road club, now a division higher, and Siddall went on to make 37 appearances during the 1986–87 season, as the club finished ninth in the Third Division. He was also first-choice during 1987–88, making 38 appearances, but in 1988–89 he was dropped a couple of times in favour of his deputies, Gary Kelly and Vince O'Keefe. He still made 35 starts in the league but was sold at the end of the season to

. Siddall went on the books of six clubs in four years:

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, south-east of Oldham and east of Manchester. The town grew ...

(where he played four

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division games),

, Chester City,

and Lincoln City. Leaving the

in 1993, he later played for

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

, Horwich R.M.I. and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. He was signed by

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Barry Fry Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. An inside forward, Fry scored a goal for England Schoolboys in front of nearly 100,000 supporters at Wembley and was seen as the best player in the team. H ...

on the mid-season

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

-deadline day in March 1995. He played a total of 614 Football League and two

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

games throughout his career, before becoming a freelance goalkeeping

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Style of play

Former Port Vale teammate

Robbie Earle Robert Fitzgerald Earle MBE (born 27 January 1965) is a former football player and current television commentator. Born in England, he represented Jamaica in international football. An attacking midfielder, he played 578 league games in senio ...

praised Siddall's assurance and stated that he was "a confident guy who didn't suffer fools gladly".

Post-retirement

Upon retiring, Siddall worked for the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

Kirkham, Lancashire Kirkham aka Kirkam-in-Amounderness Hundred, Amounderness is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England, midway between Blackpool and Preston, Lancashire, Preston and adjacent to the ...

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Anglo-Scottish Cup The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format ...

and

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

Honours

Bolton Wanderers *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

: 1972–73 Sunderland *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

second-place promotion: 1979–80 Port Vale *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

third-place promotion: 1982–83

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddall, Barry 1954 births Living people Footballers from Ellesmere Port English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Port Vale F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Leigh Genesis F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Association football goalkeeping coaches