John Beresford

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 4 September 1966) 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 ...

and sports television pundit. As a player, he was 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 ...

who notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. His time at

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Park ...

saw him win the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

title in 1992, as well as finishing runners-up in two Premier League seasons, as well as appearing in the 1998

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

final. Initially coming through the

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

academy. he also spent time 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 ...

with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

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 ...

and

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 Donegal, Republic of Ireland with

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

, and with non-league sides

Ossett Town Ossett Town Association Football Club was an English football club based in Ossett in West Yorkshire. History Ossett Town AFC were formed in 1936 when, during a public meeting, the Mayor of the Borough of Ossett charged John Carter, a former ...

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

and

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

. He was capped twice at England B team level. Since retiring, he has largely worked as a pundit for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. In 2017 he was awarded an MBE for his support for the "Show Racism the Red Card" campaign.

Playing career

Beresford was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, West Riding of Yorkshire. In his footballing career he played for clubs

, Finn Harps F.C.

and

. He is best known for his Newcastle United spell between 1992 and 1998, with his attacking tendencies being crucial to "the Entertainers". During this time Beresford formed a formidable partnership with the other full back, his doppelgänger Warren Barton. One of the highlights of his time at Newcastle was scoring twice in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Croatia Zagreb in 1997. In a Premier League match against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

on 14 April 1996, Beresford was substituted after 25 minutes by manager Kevin Keegan after an argument between them that took place during play. The player later apologized for his behavior, but did not play another game that season. By the following campaign, he had won his place back in the team. Beresford is also known for missing his spot kick in the 1992

semi-final penalty shootout against Liverpool while playing for Portsmouth. Liverpool agreed to sign him after the end of that

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, but he failed a medical evaluation and

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

signed him for Newcastle instead. Beresford won two England 'B' caps in 1994, against Northern Ireland 'B' and the Republic of Ireland 'B'. He was also called up as cover for the senior England squad in March 1993.

Personal life

In 2017 he was awarded an

for his educational work and supporting the "Show Racism the Red Card" campaign.

Honours

Newcastle United *

: 1992–93 *

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

: runner up: 1995–96, 1996–97 *

runner-up: 1997–98 Individual *Awarded the

in 2017 for 20 years service to

Show Racism the Red Card Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) is an anti-racism education charity, established in England in January 1996 to harness the high-profile nature of footballers as anti-racist role models to educate against racism throughout society in the United K ...

, the Anti-Racism Education Charity.

References

External links

The official website of John BeresfordTrue greats profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford, John 1966 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English footballers England youth international footballers England B international footballers Association football fullbacks Manchester City F.C. players Finn Harps F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Ossett Town F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players