Merseyside For Sport - John Gidman

 

John Gidman was born on the 10th of January 1954 in Garston, Liverpool and attended Springwood Primary School. He joined Liverpool as an apprentice but says he was just one of those kids whose face was not liked by Tony Waiters who told him he felt that he did not have the ability to make a footballer professionally and to the standard that Liverpool wanted. John says, "I’ve got a letter that was posted to my late mother and father signed by the famous Bill Shankly, who said I wasn't adequate to do this or that. To be told that at 15-years-old destroys your mind." He played with Liverpool youth and, before he left, played with Liverpool Reserves making his debut with Ian St. John and Tommy Smith against Blackpool, and that was it. As a winger in the youth team at Liverpool, he had gone in one day to play in the 'A' team. Ronnie Moran said he had a problem. The right-back was struggling and he asked John to play full-back but to keep going forward. He never played right-wing in the old fashioned term again, a day that changed his life. In the summer of 1970 Aston Villa gave him a month long trial, he played in four friendlies followed by a chance to sign a one-year professional contract. "It changed my life. From being thrown out of Liverpool to becoming a professional footballer elsewhere, I was so fortunate and then I started to believe in myself." John joined Villa in 1971, playing in his first season in their youth side that won the 1972 FA Youth Cup, beating Liverpool in the final. In the 1974/75 season he suffered a bad injury on the 5th of November when a firework hit him in the eye. Six weeks later he was diagnosed as being blind in one eye but was able to keep on playing. He won a League Cup Winners medal in 1977 after Villa beat Everton at the third attempt at Old Trafford and the same year he was capped by England.

 

In August 1979, having seen the contracts some of the other players were on, he demanded better terms, despite two years remaining on his existing contract. The Villa board stated that nobody was bigger than the club and Ron Saunders agreed that he could leave the club. Gordon Lee was soon on the phone offering double his Villa salary and a substantial signing-on fee and he was subsequently signed by Everton for £650,000 in a deal which saw midfielder Pat Heard move the other way at a valuation of £100,000. However his time at Everton wasn't great, as he says, "I played the worst football of my career there due to inconsistency. The football Everton played didn't suit my style being an attack-minded right back. I was told they were looking for an 'attacking full-back' but when I went to Everton it was the opposite. It was very defensive, therefore, never fulfilled my needs as a footballer." On tour of Japan with Everton, he was sat in reception when a lady answered the phone and said, " Is Mr. Gidman available? I’ve got a Mr. Ron Atkinson on the phone from England." Ron came on the phone and said to John, "Don't be greedy, will you come to Man United as my first signing?" He couldn’t refuse Ron Atkinson's first signing as the new Manchester United manager in 1981 as part of a £450,000 swap deal, with Mickey Thomas moving to Everton. After scoring 4 goals in 120 appearances for United, which  included 4 substitute appearances, and helping them win the FA Cup against Everton in 1985, he left the club for rivals Manchester City in 1986 where his first game was against United. During his two seasons at City, the attacking left-back would stay at Maine Road from 1986 to 1988, playing 71 matches and scoring one goal (a late, late equaliser against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup). Although he was towards the end of his career, he was a more than decent signing at the time. The club was relegated to the Second Division and he moved to Stoke City in 1988, making 10 appearances before joining Darlington in 1989. He only appeared there 13 times, scoring 1 goal, before retiring after seeing his final club relegated to the Football Conference in 1989.

John played for the England Youth side 5 times in 1972, the England U23 side 4 times between 1974 and 1976 and made his solitary appearance for England in March 1977 against Luxembourg and played for the England 'B' side twice in 1978.

see also :- https://www.thefootballvoice.com/2026/10/merseyside-for-sport-jimmy-case.html