Sydney Howarth (20 June 1923 – 1 November 2004) was an English professional footballer who played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

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 ...

for

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 ...

, Swansea Town and Walsall. He is probably best remembered for his two spells in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Merthyr Tyrdfil.

Club career

and occasional

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, Tucker began his career with Welsh lower league clubs

Barry Town Barry Town United Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Tref Y Barri) is a semi-professional association football team based in Barry, Wales. They are known for representing Wales in Europe as winners of the Cymru Premier and Welsh Cup during ...

and Aberaman Athletic. He came to prominence as part of

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

's 1947–48 Southern League-winning squad and transferred to First Division club

for a £6500 fee in June 1948. He appeared sparingly in League football for Aston Villa, Swansea Town and Walsall, before returning to Merthyr Tydfil in 1953, with whom he won a second Southern League championship. Tucker was posthumously inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2012.

International career

Howarth was picked to represent Wales, but was prevented from being capped by

his father His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

, as he had been born in Bristol, England.

Personal life

Tucker was the son of professional footballer Tommy Howarth and was born in Bristol, England. He moved to

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, Wales with his family 10 after his birth. He joined the Royal Air Force at age 17 served in South Africa, Malta and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

during the Second World War. He died in November 2004, after being admitted for treatment on a

leg ulcer Venous ulcer is defined by the American Venous Forum as "a full-thickness defect of skin, most frequently in the ankle region, that fails to heal spontaneously and is sustained by chronic venous disease, based on venous duplex ultrasound testing." ...

at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

Career statistics

Honours

Merthyr Tydfil * Southern League: 1947–48, 1953–54 Individual * Merthyr Town Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howarth, Syd Welsh men's footballers Northampton Town F.C. players English Football League players 1923 births 2004 deaths Footballers from Bristol Men's association football forwards Men's association football wing halves Barry Town United F.C. players Aberdare Town F.C. players Merthyr Town F.C. players Southern Football League players Aston Villa F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II