Nigel Cassidy (7 December 1945 – 19 May 2008) 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 ...

Career

Cassidy was born in

Sudbury, Suffolk Sudbury (, ) is a market town in the south west of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour near the Essex border, north-east of London. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 13,063. It is the largest town in the Babergh local government d ...

; his father Francis Arthur Michael Cassidy had played for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

before

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 opposing ...

. Cassidy joined Norwich as a 15-year old, but was released two years later. He joined non-league side Lowestoft Town in the

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

, also working at local firm

Birds Eye Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Birdseye Seafood, Inc." had b ...

. He initially played in Lowestoft's reserve team before moving up to the first team during the 1964–65 season and going on to score 103 goals in 91 games prior to rejoining Norwich in July 1967.Lowestoft great Nigel Cassidy dies
The Lowestoft Journal, 21 May 2008 He managed to make three league appearances for the team before making a move to Fourth Division side Scunthorpe United in December 1968. He made 88 appearances and scored 35 goals in the league for Scunthorpe before leaving for

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

in November 1970, making a return to the Second Division. His stay at Oxford saw him make 116 league appearances, in which he scored 33 goals, until he joined

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

in March 1974, who were relegated to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1973–74 season. He spent the summer of 1975 with

Denver Dynamos The Denver Dynamos were a soccer team based in Denver that played in the NASL from 1974 to 1975. Their home field was Mile High Stadium. After the 1975 season, they moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Kicks. History Between the 1973 and ...

in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, where he made 20 appearances and scored one goal. He returned to Cambridge for the 1975–76 season after finishing his spell in America and finished his Cambridge career with 54 league appearances and 13 goals. He was forced to retire after an

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

injury suffered in a match in 1975. He subsequently spent four years as player-manager at Bicester Town and then two years as manager of

Banbury United Banbury United Football Club is a football club based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Spencer Stadium. History The club was established in 1931 as Spencer Sports Club, a works team of the Sp ...

, as well as running the Black Bull pub in Launton and the Shakespeare pub in

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an eco town at North-East Bicester and self-build village aGraven Hill Its loca ...

, before moving to

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; kw, Ponswad) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel upstream from Padstow.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The permanent popul ...

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 ...

where he ran the Molesworth Arms for almost 20 years.Match to honour United hero
Oxford Times, 16 September 2008
West Briton, 6 May 2009 He died on 19 May 2008 after suffering from a short illness.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassidy, Nigel 1945 births People from Sudbury, Suffolk 2008 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Lowestoft Town F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Denver Dynamos players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Bicester Town F.C. players Bicester Town F.C. managers Banbury United F.C. managers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers English football managers