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John Sydenham (born 15 September 1939) is an English former footballer who played as a striker, spending most of his career with
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
.


Early career

Born in
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
, John was educated at St. Mary's College, Southampton and, at 13, he became their first pupil to play for the Southampton Schools XI. By playing his part in the side that reached the final of the 1954 English Schools trophy, only to lose out to
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, he came to the notice of Saints. In August 1955 he joined CPC Sports which doubled as a Saints' nursery side. In due course John became part of the successful 1956–57 Southampton Youth side which did so well in the
FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
. Saints lost out 7–5 to
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 ...
on aggregate but Sydenham's lasting memory of the cup adventure was of Manchester United manager
Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an E ...
going into the
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...
dressing room and congratulating them on their performance. The young Saints' side had just won 3–2, becoming the first side to beat United in the Youth Cup, but the damage had already been done in front of a 20,000 crowd at The Dell where the
Busby Babes The "Busby Babes" were the group of footballers, recruited and trained by Manchester United chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of the ...
had won the first leg 5–2.


Southampton

Having been selected for England Youth five times, Sydenham joined Southampton as a professional in April 1957. He made his debut for the Southampton first team on 4 May 1957 at home to Newport County. At this time Sydenham first joined forces with another young winger, Terry Paine, and before long both players were regulars in Saints' first team, tearing Third Division defences to pieces. He first received International honours in the 1959–60 season being twice selected for the England Under-23 team including against Scotland, which match ended 4–4. A young
Denis Law Denis Law (24 February 1940 – 17 January 2025) was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchest ...
netted all four goals for the Scots while
Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of England's best ever players, he is England's fifth- ...
converted a hat-trick for the English. Like most players at this time, his progress was interrupted by National Service in July 1960. On his return to the club, he soon regained his place on the left-wing and played an important part in helping Southampton reach the First Division in 1966. By the time of Saints' arrival in the top flight wingers were dropping out of favour, and Sydenham was often not selected for away games in preference for an extra defender. He remained loyal to the club and on 16 August 1969, he enjoyed a spectacular afternoon at Old Trafford, when he laid on all four of Ron Davies' goals to set up a memorable 4–1 victory against
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 ...
. To Saints fans from the 1960s, the words "Paine and Sydenham" roll off the tongue as effortlessly as "peaches and cream", and the two of them will always be remembered as the club's finest ever pair of wingers. Sydenham made 401 League and Cup appearances for the Saints, scoring 40 goals.


Later career

Eventually, he was slowed by age and lost much of his effectiveness and, after a testimonial match against Portsmouth, in March 1970 he moved to
Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
(under old team-mate Jimmy Melia), for whom he made 59 appearances before moving on to Bath City, managed by another ex-Saint David Burnside, for whom he played 77 games from July 1972. He first went to
Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
in 1974. He stayed just for the one year, but in that time faced Chelsea with the State side in May and won a Top-Four medal with Floreat Athena before jetting back to England. He was lured back to Western Australia in 1980 to take on a player-coaching role at the Greek-backed club Athena, where both Alan Ball and
Ted MacDougall Edward John MacDougall (born 8 January 1947) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. He was a prolific goalscorer who played for eight teams, scoring 256 goals in 535 League appearances and winning seven full international cap ...
played for him, and succeeded in returning the side back into the State League as Second Division champions. Then in the mid-eighties, he coached Wanneroo City Soccer Club. Today, with his wife Jean, he lives in Melbourne. Since the demise of their academy in Australia, Sydenham is Saints' representative there, keeping a close eye on any talent coming through.


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Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sydenham, John 1939 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from Southampton Men's association football forwards England men's under-23 international footballers English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Inglewood United FC players Floreat Athena FC players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia