Roy Alexander Cheetham (21December 19398December 2019) was an English

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 ...

who played for Manchester City, Detroit Cougars,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

and Chester.

Career

As a boy Cheetham watched Manchester City and Manchester United on alternate Saturdays. His career began when he signed for Manchester City as an amateur in 1956. Later that year he turned professional. He made his debut in the 1957–58 season in a 2–1 win against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. In the following match he was given a torrid time by Arsenal's Jimmy Bloomfield, and returned to the reserves. The following season he began to play more regularly, and he progressed to make 137 first team appearances over the course of a decade. On 30 August 1965 he became the first Manchester City player to be used as a substitute, replacing

Mike Summerbee Michael George Summerbee (born 15 December 1942) is an English former footballer, who played in the successful Manchester City side of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Club career Summerbee was born in Preston, Lancashire, and raised in Ch ...

in a match against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. He played for the

Division One 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 ...

championship-winning side in 1967–68, although he had not played enough games to qualify for a medal. He moved to Detroit Cougars of the NASL in January 1968. During his season in Detroit he scored three penalties in a single match against Dallas. In total, Cheetham made 17 apps in the NASL. He then returned to England, signing for Charlton Athletic. He did not make any first team appearances for Charlton, and transferred to Chester in December 1968, where he became club penalty taker. He made 124 league appearances at Chester before leaving in 1972, with his final appearance being a goalless draw at home to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

on 22 April 1972. This marked the end of his Football League career. A second spell in North America followed in the form of a period at

Windsor Stars Windsor TFC is a Canadian soccer team based in Windsor, Ontario, that was founded in 2004. They have competed in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) and Canadian Soccer League (CSL). Throughout their tenure in the CPSL/CSL, Windsor ...

in Canada. In 1999 Cheetham made a trip to

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

to meet childhood hero Ferenc Puskás, and in 2006 represented Manchester City at Puskás' funeral. As of 2007, Cheetham was treasurer of Manchester City's Former Players' Association.

Managerial career

He later managed non-league club Great Harwood Town. In 1975, he became the

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for

in the National Soccer League, and secured the Second Division title for the club. He re-signed for the 1976 season as Windsor was promoted to the First Division, but was relieved from his duties on 5 August 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheetham, Ron 1939 births 2019 deaths English men's footballers English football managers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players English Football League players People from Eccles, Greater Manchester Detroit Cougars (soccer) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Canadian National Soccer League players Canadian National Soccer League coaches Men's association football wingers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers