Sid Wallace (born 30 May 1957) 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 most famously played for

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

. Wallace's first competitive match was a rugby league one, playing for Greenburg Street in the Wigan Amateur league, where he remained for four years before switching codes to the round ball. He signed for Everton Youths, where his teammates included Cliff Marshall, the Toffees' first ever black player, and

Dave Jones (footballer born 1956) David Ronald Jones (born 17 August 1956) is an English former footballer and manager who was most recently the manager of Hartlepool United. Jones played for Everton, Coventry and Preston North End as a defender. In 1995, he became the man ...

. He also recalled Bob Latchford as the star at the club, an England international who was a prolific goalscorer. Syd was himself not shy in front of goal, but in season 1973/74, after making 22 appearances and scoring 21 times, he had the misfortune to break his leg against Blackpool. Syd's bad luck was to work in Waterford's favour however, as he began his return from the injury. The Blues manager at the time, John McSeveney, happened to be a good friend of Everton manager

Billy Bingham William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, whom he played for between 1948 and 1950. Making the move ...

, and in fact was best man at his wedding, and he asked Bingham if he could help out by sending someone over who could get some goals. Syd decided to come to Waterford and see how it worked out, and what started out to be a twelve-month stint went on for five years. He made his

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

debut for the Blues against Bohemians on 9 November 1975 The following week he netted his first goal against Shelbourne at

Harold's Cross Stadium Harold's Cross Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium in Harold's Cross, Dublin, owned and operated by the Irish Greyhound Board. Facilities included a grandstand restaurant, carvery, a number of bars, totalisator betting and seating. Racin ...

. In January 1976 he briefly played with

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World ...

who had signed a short-term contract at Waterford. He was the top scorer in the 1976-77 League of Ireland season Wallace was Player of the Month in December 1977. He scored the winning goal in the 1979 FAI Cup semi final against Shamrock Rovers at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

. Despite losing the FAI Cup Final to Dundalk this guaranteed entry to the

1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1979–80 season was the 20th season of the European Cup Winners' Cup, a football tournament organised by UEFA for the cup winners from each of its member associations. The competition was won by Spanish club Valencia, who beat Arsenal of Engla ...

as the Lilywhites had won the

Double (association football) The Double, in association football, is the achievement of winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season. The lists in this article examine this definition of a double, while derivative sections examin ...

. Unfortunately for Wallace he missed both ties against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

through injury. In the summer of 1976, Wallace played for the Utah Golden Spikers of the American Soccer League. In the summer of 1977, he played in Canada in the National Soccer League with

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 his debut season with Windsor he recorded 25 goals in 24 matches. In the summer of 1978, he played for the Southern California Lazers.The Year in American Soccer - 1978
/ref> In the summer of 1979, he played for the

Cleveland Cobras The Cleveland Stars were an American soccer club based in Cleveland, Ohio and a member of the American Soccer League in 1972–73. Before the 1974 season, the name was changed to the Cleveland Cobras. Overview The Stars' colors were blue and ...

Honours

* FAI Cup: **

– 1980

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Sid English men's footballers 1957 births American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Utah Golden Spikers players Southern California Lazers players Cleveland Cobras players Living people Waterford F.C. players League of Ireland players Canadian National Soccer League players Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland English expatriate men's footballers League of Ireland XI players British expatriates in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football forwards Footballers from Wigan