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 lea ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for several clubs. Styles was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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

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 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. The team compete in the ...

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 th ...

, 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 a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

where he spent one season, followed by one season at

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 ...

, 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