Robert Louis Sibbald (born 25 January 1948) is an English former

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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

who played for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

and

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

Career

Born in

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the sout ...

, County Durham, Sibbald progressed through the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

. He helped the youth team win the Jr European Cup before turning professional in January 1965. He was unable to affirm a regular place in the first team due to

Paul Reaney Paul Reaney (born 22 October 1944) is an English former international footballer. He played primarily as a right-sided full-back. He made 745 first-team appearances at Leeds United from 1962 to 1978, winning six major trophies under Don Revi ...

being the first choice right back, and after making two league appearances, he joined

in February 1969. He was captain for the 1969–70 season, but after losing his place in the team, joined

in July 1971 following an initial two-month trial. He made 45 appearances for Southport as they won the Fourth Division title in the 1972–73 season. He joined the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tourn ...

of the North American Soccer League in 1975, making 22 appearances and scoring three goals for them before rejoining Southport in the same year. After another two seasons at Southport, he rejoined the Aztecs in 1977 and made 116 appearances and scored four goals during his second spell with the team. He retired from playing in 1980 and became assistant coach at the Aztecs, before becoming

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

Los Angeles Heat Los Angeles Heat joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League, then folded in 1990. The club played in Torrance, California at West H ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibbald, Bobby 1948 births Living people Sportspeople from Hebburn Footballers from Tyne and Wear English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders Leeds United F.C. players York City F.C. players Southport F.C. players Los Angeles Aztecs players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English football managers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States