John Sydenham

John Sydenham (born 15 September 1939) is an English former footballer who played as a striker, spending most of his career with Southampton. Early career Born in Southampton, John was educated at St. Mary's College, Southampton and, at 13, he became their first pupil to play for the Southampton Schools XI. By playing his part in the side that reached the final of the 1954 English Schools trophy, only to lose out to Liverpool, he came to the notice of Saints. In August 1955 he joined CPC Sports which doubled as a Saints' nursery side. In due course John became part of the successful 1956–57 Southampton Youth side which did so well in the FA Youth Cup. Saints lost out 7–5 to Manchester United on aggregate but Sydenham's lasting memory of the cup adventure was of Manchester United manager Matt Busby going into the Old Trafford dressing room and congratulating them on their performance. The young Saints' side had just won 3–2, becoming the first side to beat United in the Youth Cup, but the damage had already been done in front of a 20,000 crowd at The Dell where the Busby Babes had won the first leg 5–2. Southampton Having been selected for England Youth five times, Sydenham joined Southampton as a professional in April 1957. He made his debut for the Southampton first team on 4 May 1957 at home to Newport County. At this time Sydenham first joined forces with another young winger, Terry Paine, and before long both players were regulars in Saints' first team, tearing Third Division defences to pieces.