Cliff Sear (22 September 1936 – 8 July 2000) was a Welsh football left back who played for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

between 1956 and 1967. During this time he made 250 appearances for the team and scored 1 goal. He was captain of the Welsh under 23 team for which he made 2 appearances and also won one cap for Wales in a game against England in November 1962. Sear had joined City as a youngster from

Oswestry Town Oswestry Town Football Club was a football club from Shropshire, playing at Victoria Road. They joined the Birmingham League in 1924 and switched to the Cheshire County League in 1959. In 1975 they made the move to the Southern League before ...

Chester City

In 1968, Sear joined Chester, initially as a player. He scored on his debut against York City in August 1968, doubling his tally of Football League goals in his 14-year career. However, the vast majority of his 19-year service to the club would be in coaching capacities. Between March 1982 and November 1982 he was manager of the club (initially as caretaker), but he did not enjoy this role and happily returned to working with the youth team and helping his successors in the manager's chair. He did though have another tenure as caretaker manager the helm in January 1984, after previous caretaker manager

Trevor Storton Trevor Storton (26 November 1949 – 23 March 2011) was an English footballer who played as a central defender. The early years He began his career at Tranmere Rovers, playing alongside his older brother Stan, he played over 100 games for the ...

stepped down as the club awaited the appointment of John McGrath. Sear is largely credited for helping discover Ian Rush, having helped guide him through Chester's youth set-up in the late 1970s. During much of his time at the club, Sear was the trusted right-hand man to Alan Oakes, who had coincidentally been a teammate at

. Other players to emerge from Sear's youth system and enjoy successful league careers include

Brian Croft Brian Graham Alexander Croft (born 27 September 1967) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a winger. The majority of his Football League appearances were made for his hometown club Chester City in the 1980s and early 19 ...

, twins Paul and

Ron Futcher Ronald Futcher (born 25 September 1956) is an English former footballer who played as a centre-forward. He was the fourth highest career scorer of the North American Soccer League, and made over 400 appearances in total for nine different Engli ...

Chris Lightfoot Chris Lightfoot (4 August 1978 – 11 February 2007) was an English scientist and political activist. He was the first developer, with Tom Steinberg, at e-democracy charity mySociety. Family and early life Lightfoot was born in Dulwich, England ...

Robbie Painter Robbie Painter (born 26 January 1971) is an English former professional footballer. He played in the Football League for six clubs between 1987 and 2001, usually as a striker. Playing career Painter was just 16 when he made his Football League ...

, Mike Williams and

Colin Woodthorpe Colin Woodthorpe (born 13 January 1969 in Liverpool) is an English former footballer who played for Chester City, Norwich City, Aberdeen, Stockport County and Bury before moving into management roles. Playing career Chester City Woodthorpe ma ...

Crossing the Border

After leaving Chester in acrimonious circumstances in 1987, Sear joined arch-rivals Wrexham and helped revamp the club's youth policy. Many of the players he helped bring through the ranks with Wrexham went on to play in the club's numerous giantkilling acts in the 1990s. Sear enjoyed a testimonial between Wrexham and Manchester City in 1996. Sear died from a heart attack in 2000.

Notes

External links

List of Chester City managers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sear, Cliff 1936 births 2000 deaths Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Wales under-23 international footballers Manchester City F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Oswestry Town F.C. players Chester City F.C. managers English Football League players Welsh football managers Association football fullbacks