Sydney Thomas Cann (30 October 1911 – 1 November 1996) was an English professional football player and manager. A full-back, he was capped twice by

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 ...

at Schools level.

Playing career

Born in

Babbacombe Babbacombe is a district of Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for Babbacombe Model Village, the Babbacombe Theatre and its clifftop green, Babbacombe Downs, from which Oddicombe Beach is accessed via Babbacombe Cliff Railway. Frequent ...

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

, Sid Cann joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

from Babbacombe school in November 1928, making his league debut away to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. After battling for a first team place with Willie Brown, he began the following season as a first choice, missing only a handful of games before moving to

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 ...

in March 1930. He played 42 league games for the Maine Road side, appearing on the losing side in the 1933 FA Cup final, but was never a first team regular and moved to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in June 1935 and qualified as an FA Coach, making only 15 appearances as Charlton rose through the divisions prior to the onset of World War Two. He guested for Torquay United,

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 ...

and

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 ...

during the war, serving in the Army Physical Training Corps. Later during the war he qualified as a masseur (at the Bristol College of Physiotherapy) and joined

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, ...

as a physio.

Managerial career

Southampton

In June 1946 he was appointed assistant manager of Southampton and in August 1949, after Bill Dodgin left for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, he was appointed manager, almost taking them to promotion from Division Two in his first season in charge. He left the Dell in December 1951 after a fall-out with the board and took up a coaching role with

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

Wycombe Wanderers

In August 1952, he was appointed manager of

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

side

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

and took them to third place at the end of this first season, their highest finishing position for 23 years. In his nine years in charge, he kept Wycombe constantly challenging for the league title, which they won in 1955–56 and 1956–57. They were also runners-up in 1957–58 and 1959–60, and reached the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

final in 1957. He left Wycombe in July 1961 to take up a coaching position at

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, which he held until March the following year.

Sutton United

In July 1962, Cann was appointed manager of

Athenian League The Athenian League was an England, English amateur association football, football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football ...

side

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

and made an immediate impact, leading Sutton to the final of the

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

, where Sutton had never played before. The first two seasons of Cann's reign in Sutton saw good finishes in the

, which led to an invitation for the club to join the

. Sutton confounded expectations in their first season by finishing in 4th place and remained in the top ten for the next two seasons, before winning the title in 1966–67. A second defeat at Wembley in the FA Amateur Cup Final followed in 1969, with Sutton once more finishing in the top three in the table. The following season again saw Sutton challenging for the title, but they gained national prominence with a run in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

which ended with a 6–0 defeat at home to the reigning league champions

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. He eventually left Sutton in the summer of 1973.

Honours

Manchester City *

runner-up:

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cann, Sid 1911 births Footballers from Torquay 1996 deaths English men's footballers Torquay United F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players English football managers Southampton F.C. managers Wycombe Wanderers F.C. managers English Football League managers Sutton United F.C. managers Men's association football fullbacks 20th-century English sportsmen