David Beresford (born 11 November 1976) 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 le ...

. A midfielder, he made 236 league appearances in a 12-year career 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 ...

. He also won 14 caps for the England under-16s and under-18s. He began his career at Oldham Athletic, making 64 league appearances between 1994 and 1997, also playing briefly for

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

on a loan spell in 1995. He transferred to Huddersfield Town for a £350,000 fee in March 1997, but never lived up to his price tag at the Galpharm Stadium. He enjoyed short loan spells at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

before joining Hull City on a free transfer in June 2001. He switched to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

in July 2002. Loaned out to

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

in October 2003, he was allowed to join Tranmere Rovers the following month. He signed with Macclesfield Town in July 2005 before retiring the following year.

Club career

Beresford began his career with Oldham Athletic, being named as a squad member at Boundary Park in 1993–94, just as the club suffered relegation out of the Premier League, in the last season in the reign of Joe Royle. They finished 14th in the First Division in 1994–95 under new boss Graeme Sharp, before finishing 18th in 1995–96. He was loaned out to

in 1995 and made six appearances for the struggling Second Division side. Beresford made 38 appearances in 1996–97, as the "Latics" suffered relegation. New

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 o ...

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

sold Beresford to Brian Horton's Huddersfield Town for a £350,000 fee in March 1997. He featured six times in the remainder of 1996–97, as the "Terriers" retained their First Division status by holding on to 20th place. He played just nine times in 1997–98, falling completely out of the first-team picture after new boss

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

arrived at the Galpharm Stadium in October. He scored twice in 23 games in 1998–99 but became frozen out of the first-team picture completely with the arrival of

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...

in 1999–2000. He was loaned out to

but only made two starts for the "Lambs", who went on to win the Second Division title under

David Moyes David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manches ...

. He still could not get a run in the Huddersfield team in 2000–01, despite the arrival of

Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenny ...

in October. He was loaned out to

for four weeks on 15 September, in a move that reunited him with former boss Brian Horton, but could only make four goalless Second Division appearances for the "Valiants". He joined

Brian Little Brian Little (born 25 November 1953) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, Little was a striker who spent his entire career for Aston Villa in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1980. He made 247 league appearances, ...

's Hull City on a free transfer in June 2001. He played 47 games for the "Tigers", who posted an 11th-place finish in the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. Beresford signed for

in July 2002. He made 16 appearances for Paul Sturrock's "Pilgrims" in 2002–03. His only contribution to the 2003–04 Second Division title-winning campaign was a late substitute appearance at the start of the season. He was loaned out to David Moss's

in October 2003. He played five Third Division games at Moss Rose, before he joined Tranmere Rovers permanently the following month, in a move that reunited him with former boss Brian Little. His signing was announced a day after Macclesfield announced that they had extended his loan deal for a further four weeks. He played 31 games for the "Superwhites" in 2003–04, as the club missed out on the Second Division play-offs by two places and six points. He made just 24 appearances in 2004–05, but scored past Hartlepool United in the play-off semi-final second leg at

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers, as well as Liverpool's women and reserves teams. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent o ...

, taking the game into

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

; he scored in the resulting penalty shoot-out, but Rovers were defeated 6–5 after

Ian Sharps Ian William Sharps (born 23 October 1980) is an English former footballer who is currently First-Team Coach at Walsall Football Club. During his playing career he was a defender most commonly deployed at centre-back. Career Born in Warrington ...

missed his sudden death penalty. This was to be his last appearance for the club, as Beresford was released at the end of the season. He joined Macclesfield Town in July 2005, signing for manager Brian Horton for a third time. He made just 12 starts for the

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club, and departed at the end of the season.

International career

Beresford won ten caps for the England under-16s between September 1992 and April 1993. He then went on to win five caps for the England under-18s between July 1994 and April 1995.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford, David 1976 births Sportspeople from Middleton, Greater Manchester Footballers from Greater Manchester Living people English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Schoolteachers from Yorkshire