Trevor John Cherry (23 February 1948 – 29 April 2020) 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 notably captained both
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
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 ...
. A
defender, Cherry also played for
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
and
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
...
, and managed the latter club.
Born in
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
, he started his career at his hometown team before he made his name at Leeds United during the 1970s, making 486 appearances and winning the
Championship title in
1973–74. He won a total of 27 international
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
and captained the
England team on one occasion.
Playing career
Huddersfield Town
Born in
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
on 23 January 1948, Cherry joined his hometown club
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
as part of the groundstaff in July 1963 as a 15-year-old from the
Huddersfield YMCA, before signing a full-time professional contract in 1965.
He made his debut in 1965, aged 17, establishing himself as a classy defender who could play anywhere across the back line,
and helped Huddersfield win the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
title in the
1969–70 season.
They were relegated after two seasons in the top flight and in 1972 Cherry left for local rivals
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 ...
after making a total of 188 appearances;
he had impressed Leeds manager
Don Revie
Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...
enough for him to consider him a potential replacement for
Jack Charlton
John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...
.
Leeds United
Cherry – along with teammate
Roy Ellam – moved along the
M62 in 1972 when Leeds paid £100,000 to Huddersfield for his services.
He ended up playing both alongside and instead of Charlton in his first season but predominantly at left back, replacing broken leg victim
Terry Cooper.
By the end of the season Cherry had amassed 38 League appearances and was selected by Revie for the
1973 FA Cup final
The 1973 FA Cup Final was the 92nd final of the FA Cup. It took place on 5 May 1973 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Leeds United, the previous season's winners and one of the dominant teams in English football at the time, and Sund ...
, which Leeds lost to
Sunderland.
He did, however, win the
League championship with Leeds in
1973–74, as the team went on a record 29-match unbeaten run at the start of the season to make sure the title would be theirs; Cherry spent much of the season at left back, playing 38 times in total.
The following season,
1974–75, was a mixed year for Cherry. Injury curtailed half of his season, but he recovered in time to help Leeds in their
European Cup campaign as it progressed towards the semi-finals and a game against
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
.
Cherry marked Dutch legend
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...
out of each leg as Leeds reached the final,
but after missing subsequent League matches through suspension, manager
Jimmy Armfield
James Christopher Armfield, (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional football player and manager who latterly worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at B ...
placed him on the substitute's bench for
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 ...
against
Bayern Munich, and he did not play.
In 1976, Cherry became Leeds captain after
Billy Bremner left, and won his first
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
cap.
He continued to play for Leeds until 1982, the year that the club were relegated to the Second Division, and won the club's Player of The Season award in 1981.
In 2000, Cherry was voted the 30th best Leeds United player by its fans.
Bradford City and management
Cherry played three months of Second Division football for Leeds before leaving for another neighbouring club,
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
...
, where he became player-manager.
He played for three years until he retired to concentrate on management.
His final game in football was City's 2–0 win against
Bolton Wanderers on 6 May 1985 which captured the
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...
title. Cherry also won the Third Division manager of the season award. However, Cherry's own personal success paled into insignificance when the
Valley Parade
Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they ...
ground was devastated by the
Bradford City stadium fire during the final game of the season on 11 May 1985, killing 56 people. The subsequent appeal to raise money for the
bereaved families and injured supporters raised more than four million pounds, and Cherry was among the mourners at many funerals.
He steered Bradford to 13th place the following season despite the club having to play home games at three other grounds;
Odsal Stadium, Bradford and his former home grounds of
Elland Road and
Leeds Road
Leeds Road was a football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 season. It was the home of Huddersfield Town A.F.C. from 1908 to 1994 and was ...
.
Cherry was manager when City returned to Valley Parade in December 1986 but was sacked the following month when the club was struggling – a surprise decision that provoked angry demonstrations against the board.
International career
Cherry won his first
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
cap on 24 March 1976 against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
.
He became the first England player to be sent off in an international friendly, when he was sent off against
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in 1977. Cherry lost two teeth after being punched in the mouth by
Daniel Bertoni
Ricardo Daniel Bertoni (born 14 March 1955) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a right or left winger. In Argentina, he had a successful career at Club Atlético Independiente, where he won three Copa Libertadores, one Intercontine ...
, whom Cherry had felled with a nasty tackle from behind; Bertoni also received a red card.
England did not qualify for the
1978 World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by t ...
, but did so for the
1980 European Championships, and Cherry was included in the squad of 22 to travel there.
In a warm-up game just before the tournament, Cherry captained his country for the only time in a 2–1 win against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
His tournament was limited, however, to a single substitute appearance against
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. It was to be his 27th and final cap.
Post-football
After he was sacked by Bradford City, Cherry gave up football in general for a number of years. He ran a promotions and hospitality company in Huddersfield, a waste paper company and a five-a-side football centre. In 2004, he also made a bid to buy into Leeds United. He was also given an honorary degree by the
University of Huddersfield
, mottoeng = Thus not for you alone
, established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status
, type = Public
, endowment = £2.47 million (2015)
, chancellor = George W. Buckley
, vice_chancell ...
in November 2005.
Cherry died suddenly on 29 April 2020, aged 72. He was survived by his wife Sue, with whom he had two sons and a daughter, and five grandchildren.
References
External links
England career profile*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Trevor
1948 births
Footballers from Huddersfield
2020 deaths
English footballers
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players
Leeds United F.C. players
Bradford City A.F.C. players
England international footballers
UEFA Euro 1980 players
English football managers
Bradford City A.F.C. managers
English Football League players
English Football League representative players
English Football League managers
Association football defenders
England under-21 international footballers
FA Cup Final players