Born on this day in 1954 is former Sunderland player Barry Siddall, who was rather harshly known as "The Flying Pig". The goalkeeper played for 13 Football League clubs, as well as several non-league sides.
Siddall signed for Sunderland in 1976 from Bolton and was expected to replace the retiring Jimmy Montgomery in goal. The Lads suffered relegation from the First Division in 1977, and missed out on promotion twice in a row before finally coming back up in 1980 under new manager Ken Knighton. We finished second with Siddall between the sticks, just one point behind champions Leicester City. It was during his time on Wearside when Barry picked up his unfortunate nickname.
The journeyman keeper racked up over 160 appearances in goal for Sunderland, but was sent on loan to Darlington after our promotion back to the top flight. He played just eight games for the Quakers, who were managed by his former manager at Sunderland Billy Elliott. Upon returning from his loan spell, he was sent back out. This time he went a bit further afar, joining Vancouver Whitecaps on loan who played in the North American Soccer League.
In 1982, Siddall’s time was clearly up on Wearside. He left permanently for Port Vale, which began his journey across the Football League. Siddall went on to play for the likes of Stoke, Blackpool and Carlisle as well as many, many more!
Siddall was eventually signed by Barry Fry for Birmingham City in 1995, which ended up being his final club. He didn’t play a game for Birmingham and retired, becoming a freelance goalkeeper coach. After retirement, Siddall worked for his local post office in Kirkham, Lancashire. That’s something you wouldn’t see in modern football.
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