Sidney Storey (25 December 1919 – 6 April 2010) was an English 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 ...

who played as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. Storey played for Ardsley Welfare and Grimethorpe Athletic in

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 ...

while working as a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

, before joining

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in 1943. After leaving them he played for Wombwell Athletic before moving to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

in 1947. He played for York 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 ...

semi-final in 1955 and left a year later after making 354 appearances to join hometown club

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. He later had periods with

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

and

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

before returning to York as trainer-coach for three years.

Career

Born in Darfield,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, Storey worked at a W. H. Smith in

, West Riding of Yorkshire at the age of 14 before becoming a

at Houghton Main Colliery. Meanwhile, he played

for local colliery sides Ardsley Welfare and Grimethorpe Athletic before signing for

in September 1943. He was released by the club soon after and returned to play non-League football for Wombwell Athletic, where his father worked as a trainer. He joined

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

team

for a fee of £100 in May 1947, combining mining with playing and training for the club. He was later rated as "perhaps the best bargain York City ever bought". He made his debut in a 2–2 home draw at

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City F.C., York City Football Club and York City Knights, York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it was near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway sta ...

with

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

on 27 May 1947 and finished the remainder of the 1946–47 season with three appearances. He missed one game for York during the 1947–48 season, making 42 appearances and scoring 12 goals in all competitions. An injury resulted in him missing the

semi-final A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

on 26 March 1955 and several league games, with many fans believing this cost the club

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 ...

, although he was able to play in the 2–0 defeat to Newcastle in the semi-final replay on 30 March at

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 ...

. He received a

benefit match A benefit is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question. Howeve ...

in 1955 and was granted a free transfer in 1956 after making 354 appearances and scoring 42 goals in all competitions for York, joining hometown club

in May to run their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

. He managed to play for Barnsley due to an injury to one of their

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 ...

players and he was able to "demonstrate that his old skills had not deserted him". He made 29 appearances and scored four goals in the league for Barnsley before joining

in October 1957, where he "once more belied his age with some top class displays". He made 30 appearances and scored two goals for Accrington in the league and joined

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

of the reserves in July 1959. He made two league appearances for Park Avenue and following his retirement as a player he rejoined the York coaching staff as a trainer-coach. He left after three years in 1963 and worked for Richmond Sausages as a van driver for two years. He was then employed as a bus driver for the

West Yorkshire Road Car Company The West Yorkshire Road Car Company was a major bus operator operating in North and West Yorkshire between 1906 and 1987. History West Yorkshire The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed in 1906, running at first steam buses in Harrogate, then ...

and after York won the 1983–84 Fourth Division

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

he drove the

open top bus An open top bus is a bus, usually but not exclusively a double-decker bus, which has been built or modified to operate without a roof. Early buses were constructed without roofs but in more recent times they have only been built for tourist and s ...

that paraded the team around

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. He resided in

Haxby Haxby is a town and civil parish in the City of York district of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 Census, the parish had a population of 8,754, which reduced to 8,428 at the 2011 Census. Open farmland extends to the north as fa ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

until his death in

, North Yorkshire on 6 April 2010 at the age of 90. His death was marked a day later by a minute's applause before York's game at home to

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

, which the team won 5–0.

Style of play

Storey played as a left-sided

and has been described as a "ball-player", a "little gem" and a "creative spark". He was held in "great esteem" by York fans due to his ball work and vision. Following his death, it was said that "it will be for his jinking skills and sweet left foot that he will always be remembered".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storey, Sid 1919 births Sportspeople from Darfield, South Yorkshire 2010 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Grimethorpe Miners Welfare F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Wombwell Town F.C. (1940s) players York City F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players English Football League players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. wartime guest players York City F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century English sportsmen