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Fred Laidman

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Fred Laidman
Personal information
Full name Frederick Laidman[1][2]
Date of birth (1913-06-20)20 June 1913[2]
Place of birth Durham, England
Date of death 20 June 1987(1987-06-20) (aged 74)
Place of death Durham, England
Position(s) Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1934 Crook Town
1934–1935 Burnley 0 (0)
193?–1936 Wigan Athletic
1936–1938 Everton 0 (0)
1938–1942 Bristol City 10 (1)
1942–1945 Sunderland 0 (0)
1945–1949 Stockton
1949–1950 Darlington 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Frederick Laidman (20 June 1913 – 20 June 1987), known as Fred or Freddie Laidman, was an English footballer who played as an inside forward in the Football League for Bristol City and Darlington.[2] He was on the books of Burnley and Everton without representing them in the League, was registered with Sunderland during the Second World War, and played non-league football for Crook Town, Wigan Athletic and Stockton.

Life and career

Laidman was born in Durham in 1913.[2] He played football in the North-Eastern League for Crook Town, then, after a two-match trial, turned professional with Burnley, then a Second Division club, in December 1934. He played for the club's 'A' team,[3] and for the reserves in the Central League,[4] but was released on a free transfer at the end of the season without having appeared in the first team.[5] He played for Cheshire League club Wigan Athletic, and signed for Everton of the First Division in December 1936 for a £500 fee.[6] Laidman was retained for the 1937–38 season,[7] but by December, he was available for transfer. Amid interest from Stockport County and Chester, Everton's secretary was instructed to accept offers of £500 or better,[8] but none were forthcoming. At the end of the season, he was transfer-listed at £350.[9] He submitted a written request to be allowed a free transfer,[10] but in June 1938, joined Third Division South club Bristol City for a £250 fee.[11] He never played first-team football for Everton.

Laidman made his debut in the Football League on the opening day of the 1938–39 season in a 2–2 draw away to Watford. The Western Daily Press reported that he "showed up well towards the end".[12] By mid-September, we read that his "passing lacked precision and accuracy",[13] and an unnamed Bristolian in the Cheltenham Chronicle expressed his disappointment with the lack of understanding between the left-wing pairing of Laidman and George Willshaw, suggesting that Laidman needed to play higher up the field and nearer to his partner.[14] He scored in a 2–2 draw at Northampton Town,[15] but lost his place, finished the season with ten League appearances and that one goal,[2] and was listed as available for transfer.[16]

During the Second World War, Laidman served in the Durham Light Infantry. He played for their football team alongside such players as England internationals Walter Boyes and Bill Nicholson.[17] By October 1942, he had been promoted from private to corporal, was playing at right half rather than inside forward,[18] and had signed professional forms with Sunderland.[19] In December, the Sunderland Echo's "Argus" wrote "what a grand little right half he is – full of grit and enthusiasm, capable of running for the proverbial week, and capable of using the ball to the advantage of those in front of him",[20] but sometimes his enthusiasm was to get the better of him. A year of so into his Sunderland career, the same correspondent described him as "sometimes in a hurry to use the ball before he had it under control",[21] and feeding Johnny Spuhler with passes that were well-conceived but so overhit that "some of them Spuhler could not reach if he had a flying start on a Spitfire".[22]

Laidman scored 16 goals from 67 games in three seasons of wartime football for Sunderland,[23] and made one guest appearance for Queens Park Rangers in November 1944,[24] before signing professionally for North Eastern League club Stockton in 1945. He also played as a guest for Leeds United in the Football League North in 1945–46,[25] but the Football Association's ruling that clubs could only field their own registered players in the first postwar FA Cup made him ineligible to guest for Sunderland in that competition.[26] Laidman was a member of the Stockton team that reached the second round proper of the 1947–48 FA Cup, losing only after a replay to Notts County, who fielded Tommy Lawton in both matches.[27] He continued with Stockton until the summer of 1948, when he made a brief return to League football with Darlington.[25] He played just twice in the Third Division North before retiring from the game.[28]

Laidman went on to work on the railways, and died in Durham in 1987, on his 74th birthday.[25]

References

  1. ^ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData (Tony Brown). p. 150. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. ^ a b c d e Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1998). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–1998. Queen Anne Press. p. 312. ISBN 978-1-85291-585-8.
  3. ^ 'Sportsman' (22 December 1934). "Wing experiment justified". Burnley Express. p. 16 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Tomorrow's football prospects". Lancashire Daily Post. 8 February 1935. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ 'Sportsman' (4 May 1935). "Leaving Burnley?". Burnley Express. p. 19 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Sports Items". The Daily Mail. Hull. 8 December 1936. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Minutes of meeting held Saty. December 5, 1936". Minute Book No. 18. The Everton Football Club Co. Ltd. 1935–1937. p. 207. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Annual General Meeting of Shareholders Thursday, 3rd June, 1937". Minute Book No. 18. The Everton Football Club Co. Ltd. 1935–1937. p. 253. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Meeting of Directors Tuesday, 14th Decr., 1937". Minute Book No. 19. The Everton Football Club Co. Ltd. 1937–1943. p. 48. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
    "Meeting Tuesday, 28th December, 1937". Minute Book No. 18. The Everton Football Club Co. Ltd. 1937–1943. p. 55. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Meeting Tuesday, 5th April, 1938". Minute Book No. 18. The Everton Football Club Co. Ltd. 1937–1943. p. 98. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Meeting of the Company 20th June, 1938". Minute Book No. 18. The Everton Football Club Co. Ltd. 1937–1943. pp. 113–14. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Soccer Moves". The Evening News. Portsmouth. 3 June 1938. p. 10 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Meeting Tuesday, 4th October, 1938". Minute Book No. 18. The Everton Football Club Co. Ltd. 1937–1943. p. 149. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "City save point with last kick of match". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 29 August 1938. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Early goal seals City's fate at Swindon". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 12 September 1938. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ 'Corinthian' (17 September 1938). "Sports gossip". Cheltenham Chronicle. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^ "Unlucky not to have won". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 10 October 1938. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ "Rovers retain 13 players". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 18 April 1939. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ 'Argus' (22 May 1941). "Under the searchlight". The Sunderland Echo. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ^ 'Argus' (5 October 1942). "Billy Robinson puts punch in attack". The Sunderland Echo. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. ^ 'Argus' (19 October 1942). "Sunderland sign forward and half-back". The Sunderland Echo. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. ^ 'Argus' (28 December 1942). "Sunderland much too good for Gateshead". The Sunderland Echo. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. ^ 'Argus' (13 September 1943). "Sunderland too good for Hartlepools". The Sunderland Echo. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. ^ 'Argus' (13 September 1943). "Wear–Tyne duel attracts biggest war-time crowd". The Sunderland Echo. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. ^ Rollin, Jack (2005). Soccer at War 1939–45. London: Headline. pp. 420–21. ISBN 978-0-7553-1431-7.
  24. ^ Westerberg, Kenneth. "1944/45" (XLS). QPRNet. Ron Norris. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  25. ^ a b c "Laidman: Frederick (Fred)". Leeds United F.C. History. Tony Hill. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  26. ^ 'Argus' (6 August 1945). "In world of sport". The Sunderland Echo. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  27. ^ "Teams for to-morrow". Nottingham Evening Post. 12 December 1947. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Notts. two up in quick time". Nottingham Evening Post. 20 December 1947. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  28. ^ "Darlington: 1946/47–1988/89 & 1990/91–2009/10". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
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