Arthur Styles (born 3 September 1949), known as Archie Styles, 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 le ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He made more than 150 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for several clubs. Styles was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and joined home-town club Everton on leaving school in 1965. He won representative honours for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at schoolboy and youth level. He was unable to make himself a regular part of Everton's first team, making only 23 league appearances in seven years at the club. In February 1974, together with

Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...

, he moved from Everton to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in part-exchange for

Bob Latchford Robert Dennis Latchford (born 18 January 1951) is an English former footballer who played as a centre forward. He made more than 500 appearances in the Football League, playing for Birmingham City, Everton, Swansea City and Coventry City in t ...

, the whole deal valuing Latchford at £350,000 which was at the time a British transfer record. At Birmingham, facing competition from

Garry Pendrey Garry James Sidney Pendrey (born 9 February 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, making 345 appearances in the Football League, including more than 300 for Birmingham City. After playing he went into coac ...

and others, he failed to establish himself as first choice at left back. In 1978, he moved to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

where he spent one season, followed by one season at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, after which he joined the coaching staff at the club.

References

General * Specific

External links

* Living people 1949 births English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Everton F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Liverpool {{England-footy-defender-1940s-stub