Michael Douglas Tiddy (4 April 1929 – 25 November 2009) was an 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 ...

and manager.

Career

Born in

Cadgwith Cadgwith ( kw, Porthkajwydh, meaning ''cove of the thicket'') is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the Lizard Peninsula between The Lizard and Coverack. It is in the civil parish of Grade Ruan. History ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, Tiddy, the older of two footballing brothers joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

but was forced to wait two years to play for the club while he finished his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

. He left Torquay in November 1950 to sign for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

and he became a virtual ever-present in the Cardiff line-up for the next five years, and was one of the club's most popular players during the 1950s before moving to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in 1955 along with

Gordon Nutt Gordon Nutt (8 November 1932 – 25 February 2014) was an English professional footballer who played as a winger. Nutt played in the Football League for Coventry City, Cardiff City, Arsenal and Southend United, in the Netherlands for PSV Ei ...

in exchange for Brian Walsh. Tiddy made his debut against

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 ...

on 24 September 1955 but most of his time in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

was spent in the treatment room as he suffered from numerous injuries, which forced him to undergo a

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...

operation. By the time he was fully fit, in 1957-58, he had to share the left wing position with

Joe Haverty Joseph Haverty (17 February 1936 – 7 February 2009) was an Irish association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. He was cap (sport), capped 32 times for the Republic of Ireland national football team, Republic of ...

and Gordon Nutt, only playing 12 matches. Having played fifty-two games and scoring eight goals for Arsenal in three seasons, he was allowed to join

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

in October 1958. He was appointed player-manager of

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

at the age of 33, later becoming player/manager of Helston Athletic and a player for

Falmouth Town Falmouth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. They are currently members of the and play at Bickland Park. The club were the first Cornish team to reach the first round proper of the F ...

. Well into his fifties, Tiddy finished his career at his home village club Lizard Argyle.

After football

Following his retirement, Tiddy returned to live in Cornwall with his wife Christine, becoming a sub-postmaster and later a local preacher on

The Lizard The Lizard ( kw, An Lysardh) is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as The Lizard, is the most southerl ...

peninsula. He also previously served as chairman of the

Landewednack Landewednack ( kw, Lanndewynnek) is a civil parish and a hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated approximately ten miles (16 km) south of Helston.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Landewed ...

parish council. Tiddy died on 25 November 2009 at the age of 80 at the

Royal Cornwall Hospital The Royal Cornwall Hospital, formerly and still commonly known as the Treliske Hospital, is a medium-sized teaching hospital in Treliske, on the outskirts of Truro, Cornwall, England. The hospital provides training services for the University of ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiddy, Mike 1929 births 2009 deaths People from Helston Footballers from Cornwall English footballers Association football wingers Torquay United F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Penzance A.F.C. players Helston Athletic F.C. players Falmouth Town A.F.C. players Porthleven F.C. players English Football League players English football managers