Trevor Cherry – An Obituary
Trevor Cherry passed away this week at the age of 72. He passed away 12 days after form Leeds United team-mate Norman Hunter (an obituary for Hunter can be found here).
Cherry began his career at Huddersfield Town, starting in the youth team before moving up to the first team and making his debut when he was only 17 years old.
He was part of the Huddersfield team who won the Second Division title in the 1969/70 season and he played in their next two seasons in the top flight.
He moved to Yorkshire rivals Leeds United after Huddersfield were relegated to the Second Division in 1972. He had made a total of 188 appearances for Huddersfield in the seven years at Leeds Road. Don Revie paid £100,000 for his services and he would spend the next ten years at Elland Road.
In his first season at Leeds, Cherry was part of the Leeds side who lost in the FA Cup Final to Second Division Sunderland. Revie played Cherry in the left-back position for the first couple of seasons at the club. He would win his first piece of silverware the following season as Leeds stormed to the First Division title in the 1973/74 season.
A year later, Cherry was part of the Leeds side who would go all the way to the European Cup Final before losing to Bayern Munich in Paris. Leeds would lose 2-0 in a controversial match, where referee’s performance was more than suspect.
Cherry took the captain’s armband in 1976, replacing Billy Bremner. The team began to falter, a shadow of the side managed by Don Revie at the start of the decade.
1976 was also a good year for Cherry as he won his first England cap, in a 2-1 against Wales at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground. This would be the first of 27 caps that Cherry would win.
His most famous moment in an England shirt came in 1977 when he was sent off in a friendly in Argentina. He became only the third England player to be given his marching orders, after Alan Mullery and Alan Ball.
Cherry captained England on one occasion, captaining the England side who beat Australia 2-1 in a friendly shortly before the 1980 European Championships.
His last cap for England came in that tournament, coming on as a substitute in for Viv Anderson in the last four minutes against Spain.
Leeds United were relegated in 1982 and Cherry left Elland Road to become Player/Manager at Bradford City. He guided City to the Third Division title in 1984/85, gaining promotion back to the second tier of English football for the first time in 48 years. He played his final professional match on 6th May 1985 against Bolton Wanderers.
Tragedy was to strike on the final game of the season five days later. It was supposed to be a day of celebration as Bradford were given the Championship trophy. Just before half-time, a fire engulfed the main stand and 56 spectators lost their lives.
Bradford City’s formed dipped and in January 1987, Cherry was sacked by the City board. This prompted angry protests by the fans who felt that the board were wrong in letting Cherry go.
Cherry decided at this point that he would retire from the professional game.
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