Michael Frederick Horswill (born 6 March 1953 in

Annfield Plain Annfield Plain is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated on a plateau between the towns of Stanley, to the north-east, and Consett, to the west. According to the 2001 census, Annfield Plain has a population of 3,569. By the ti ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

) is a former English 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 for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

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 ...

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, ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

, Happy Valley of Hong Kong and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

where he finished his career.

Playing career

He started his footballing career at Sunderland at the age of just 12, until he signed as a youth player at 15 years old. In 1971, he signed his professional contract at the club, and made his debut on 4 April 1972 against

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 ...

in a 3–1 win. His first goal in a Sunderland shirt came against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on 17 February 1973, when Sunderland won 4–0. Horswill played a role in Sunderland's run in their

1972–73 FA Cup The 1972–73 FA Cup was the 92nd season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Second Division Sunderland won the competition for the second time, beating holders Leed ...

run, as he played in every game, including the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the tournament, where Sunderland, a Second Division side at the time, beat

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 S ...

1–0. In total, he played 69 league games for the club, scoring three goals, before he moved on to Manchester City. While at Manchester City, he played rarely, making just 14 league appearances in two seasons at the club, without scoring a goal. He was then offloaded to Plymouth Argyle in 1975, where he established himself as a regular in the team, going on to eventually make 102 appearances, with three goals. He then moved to Hull City in 1978, where he went on to score six goals, in 84 league appearances. This was followed by a brief spell in Hong Kong, with Happy Valley, before he finished his playing career with Carlisle United, making a solitary appearance.

Broadcasting career

After ending his footballing career, Horswill worked for Real Radio North East as a presenter of the station's Legends Football Phone-In, alongside

Malcolm Macdonald Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle U ...

and

Bernie Slaven Bernard Joseph Slaven (born 13 November 1960) is a former professional football striker. He scored 223 goals in 567 league and cup appearances over the course of an 18-year career and also earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland. He star ...

. The programme was axed after the 2011–12 season but was resurrected by Darlington-based station

Star Radio North East Rathergood Radio, formerly known as Star Radio (in County Durham), was an independent local radio station. It formerly broadcast in Darlington, County Durham, North Yorkshire and surrounding areas on FM. The County Durham licences were owned and ...

, with Macdonald and Slaven joining Horswill again.

Honours

Sunderland *

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 ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

References

External links

Official Sunderland A.F.C ProfileProfile at Real Radio North East
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horswill, Micky 1953 births Living people People from Annfield Plain Footballers from County Durham English footballers Association football midfielders Sunderland A.F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Happy Valley AA players Carlisle United F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong FA Cup Final players