Michael Sydney Trusson (born 26 May 1959) is an English former professional

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 ...

. He made over 400 appearances in a fifteen-year professional career, and later worked in sports marketing and as a

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 ...

Football career

Born in

Northolt Northolt is a town in North West London, England, spread across both sides of the A40 trunk road. It is west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing and a smaller part in th ...

London, Trusson had trials with Chelsea as a schoolboy but was not signed by the club. After relocating to

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, he was spotted playing local amateur football by

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

, then of the

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 ...

, and began his professional career for the club in the 1976–77 season. In his first season with the club, Argyle were relegated to the Third Division, but he remained with the club until 1980, making over 80 appearances in total. In 1980, he was transferred to another Third Division club,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, but again saw his team relegated in his first season, as the "Blades" dropped into the Fourth Division. In the 1981–82 season Trusson missed only two of United's 46 league games and scored 11 goals to help the club gain promotion back to the Third Division at the first attempt. He was also the Sheffield United player of the year in seasons 1981–82 and 1982–83. In December 1983 he joined near-neighbours

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

, where he spent four years and made nearly 150 appearances. In 1987, he moved to yet another Third Division club,

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, and once again helped the team gain promotion. In 1989, he stepped down to the Fourth Division to join Gillingham, and rounded off his league career with three injury-blighted seasons at the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

-based club before moving to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to play for Sing Tao. On his return to England he signed for

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

, where former Gillingham teammate

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh former professional football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 2 ...

was manager, but never played a match for the club. He did, however, spend two years serving as the club's

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

coach, and later had a brief spell as

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

coach. After leaving

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England, and is the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity of 11,307. History I ...

, he finished his football career playing

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

firstly as a player for Stamco in the Sussex League and then as player coach as Stamco got promoted through the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

to the Southern League.

Post-football career

After retiring as a player, Trusson worked as marketing manager for Football Football, a football-themed restaurant in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He also worked for the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...

in a marketing role, and was described as a prominent figure in the marketing of the sport. He also worked as sponsorship manager for the World Snooker Association. In 2000, he was appointed as chief

for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. On 20 November 2020, he was appointed the assistant manager at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

to assist new manager

. His spell would last just over a month, he left the club when Pulis was dismissed on 28 December 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trusson, Mike 1959 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Ealing English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Sing Tao SC players AFC Bournemouth players St. Leonards F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong English expatriate men's footballers English Football League players