View source for Sid Cann

{{Short description|English footballer (1911–1996)}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Sid Cann
| image = 
| height = 5 ft 8 in<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-dispatch-football-preview-page-iv/134275291/ |title=Charlton Athletic. Old players get their chance |newspaper=Sunday Dispatch Football Guide |location=London |date=23 August 1936 |page=iv |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
| full_name = Sydney Thomas Cann
| birth_date = 30 October 1911
| birth_place = [[Babbacombe]], [[Torquay]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1996|11|1|1911|10|30}}
| death_place = [[New Malden]], England
| position = [[Full-back (association football)|Full-back]]
| youthyears1 = 
| youthclubs1 = 
| years1 = 1928–1930
| clubs1 = [[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]]
| caps1 = 44
| goals1 = 3
| years2 = 1930–1935
| clubs2 = [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]
| caps2 = 42
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 1935–1939
| clubs3 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
| caps3 = 15
| goals3 = 0
| nationalyears1 = 
| nationalteam1 = 
| nationalcaps1 = 
| nationalgoals1 = 
| manageryears1 = 1949–1951
| managerclubs1 = [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]]
| manageryears2 = 1952–1961
| managerclubs2 = [[Wycombe Wanderers F.C.|Wycombe Wanderers]]
| manageryears3 = 1962–1973
| managerclubs3 = [[Sutton United F.C.|Sutton United]]
}}
'''Sydney Thomas Cann''' (30 October 1911 – 1 November 1996) was an English professional football player and manager. A [[full-back (association football)|full-back]], he was capped twice by [[England national football team|England]] at Schools level.

==Playing career==
Born in [[Babbacombe]], [[Torquay]], Sid Cann joined [[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]] from Babbacombe school in November 1928, making his league debut away to [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]]. After battling for a first team place with [[Willie Brown (footballer born 1900)|Willie Brown]], he began the following season as a first choice, missing only a handful of games before moving to [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] in March 1930.

He played 42 league games for the Maine Road side, appearing on the losing side in the [[FA Cup Final 1933|1933 FA Cup final]], but was never a first team regular and moved to [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]] in June 1935 and qualified as an FA Coach, making only 15 appearances as Charlton rose through the divisions prior to the onset of World War Two. He guested for Torquay United, [[Aldershot F.C.|Aldershot]] and [[Bristol City F.C.|Bristol City]] during the war, serving in the Army Physical Training Corps. Later during the war he qualified as a masseur (at the Bristol College of Physiotherapy) and joined [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]] as a physio.

==Managerial career==

===Southampton===
In June 1946 he was appointed assistant manager of Southampton and in August 1949, after [[Bill Dodgin, Sr.|Bill Dodgin]] left for [[Fulham F.C.|Fulham]], he was appointed manager, almost taking them to promotion from [[Football League Second Division|Division Two]] in his first season in charge. He left the Dell in December 1951 after a fall-out with the board and took up a coaching role with [[the Football Association]].

===Wycombe Wanderers===
In August 1952, he was appointed manager of [[Isthmian League]] side [[Wycombe Wanderers F.C.|Wycombe Wanderers]] and took them to third place at the end of this first season, their highest finishing position for 23 years. In his nine years in charge, he kept Wycombe constantly challenging for the league title, which they won in 1955–56 and 1956–57. They were also runners-up in 1957–58 and 1959–60, and reached the [[FA Amateur Cup]] final in 1957.

He left Wycombe in July 1961 to take up a coaching position at [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]], which he held until March the following year.

===Sutton United===
In July 1962, Cann was appointed manager of [[Athenian League]] side [[Sutton United F.C.|Sutton United]] and made an immediate impact, leading Sutton to the final of the [[FA Amateur Cup]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]], where Sutton had never played before. The first two seasons of Cann's reign in Sutton saw good finishes in the [[Athenian League]], which led to an invitation for the club to join the [[Isthmian League]].<ref name="Hall of Fame">{{cite web |title=Sid Cann |url=https://www.suttonunited.net/about/hall-of-fame/ |website=Hall of Fame |publisher=Sutton United FC |access-date=13 June 2023}}</ref>

Sutton confounded expectations in their first season by finishing in 4th place and remained in the top ten for the next two seasons, before winning the title in 1966–67.<ref name="Hall of Fame"/> A second defeat at Wembley in the FA Amateur Cup Final followed in 1969, with Sutton once more finishing in the top three in the table. The following season again saw Sutton challenging for the title, but they gained national prominence with a run in the [[FA Cup]] which ended with a 6–0 defeat at home to the reigning league champions [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]].<ref name="Hall of Fame"/> He eventually left Sutton in the summer of 1973.

==Honours==
'''Manchester City'''
*[[FA Cup]] runner-up: [[1933 FA Cup Final|1933]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{soccerbase (manager)|1132|Sid Cann}}
 
{{Southampton F.C. managers}}
{{Wycombe Wanderers F.C. managers}}
{{Sutton United F.C. managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cann, Sid}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:Footballers from Torquay]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:Torquay United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Manchester City F.C. players]]
[[Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. players]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:Southampton F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Wycombe Wanderers F.C. managers]]
[[Category:English Football League managers]]
[[Category:Sutton United F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Men's association football fullbacks]]
[[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]