Sheridan: John

1982-1989 (Player Details)(Player Details)(Manager Details)

Midfield

Born: Manchester: 01-10-1964

Debut v Middlesbrough (h): 20-11-1982

5’9” 10st 8lb (1986)

#26 in 100 Greatest LUFC Players Ever

After being discarded by Manchester City, Sheridan went on to become a major influence in the Leeds midfield as they strove to recapture their Division One status in the 1980s. He attended St Mary’s School in Manchester and joined City on schoolboy forms in August 1981, but when he was released Leeds signed him in March 1982. Within six months he had made his League debut, his vision and skill hall-marking him as a player for the future. He recovered well from a broken leg sustained at Barnsley in October 1983, to become United’s most valuable playing asset, being particularly lethal from free-kicks and penalties. He served under three former Leeds Greats, Allan Clarke, who discovered him, Eddie Gray, who gave him his debut and nurtured his early progress, and Billy Bremner, who built his side around him. He made his International debut at Under-Eighteen level, at Elland Road on 17th May 1983 in a 1-1 draw with France for his adopted country, the Republic of Ireland, due to parental qualification, with both of his parents having been born in Dublin. It was his only cap at that level. However, he did make two appearances for the Under-Twenty-one side, the first at Fratton Park, Portsmouth, on 25th March 1985 in a 2-3 defeat by England. It was almost two years later, on 17th February 1987, before he played the second, at Easter Road, Edinburgh, in a 1-4 loss to Scotland. By then he been directing the Leeds midfield for almost four seasons as Leeds finished eighth, tenth and seventh under Eddie Gray, before a slump had seen Gray sacked and Bremner take the reins with a disappointing fourteenth place. However, in his first full season the former Leeds skipper had Sheridan to thank for the inspiration in midfield and his fifteen goals in forty League appearances as Leeds finished fourth and made the play-offs. He was the ever-present inspiration as Leeds were beaten by Coventry City, after extra-time in the F.A. Cup Semi-Final at Hillsborough. The promotion goal was not achieved either, as after Sheridan had given Leeds the lead deep into extra-time in the Play-off Final Replay against Charlton Athletic at St Andrew's, Birmingham, Leeds were beaten 1-2. It was small consolation to Sheridan that he was voted the Leeds player of the year and was named in the Second Division team of the year. In 1987-88 Leeds once more flattered to deceive, finishing seventh, well outside the promotion spots, with Sheridan once more named in the Second Division team of the year. However, on 23rd March 1988 he received his first full cap for the Republic in a 2-0 win at Landsdowne Road in a 2-0 win over Romania and from then onwards he was a regular feature in Jack Charlton's squad. His second cap came on 27th April as Yugoslavia were also beaten 2-0 at Landsdowne Road. He scored his first international goal in his third appearance, again at Lansdowne Road, scoring in the fortieth minute to give the Republic a 3-0 lead in a 3-1 win over Poland on 22nd May 1988. His fourth cap soon arrived on 1st June 1988 in a 0-0 draw with Norway at the Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, when he came on as a seventy-fourth minute substitute for Tony Galvin. Soon after the start of the 1988-89 season Howard Wilkinson replaced Bremner as Leeds Manager, but Sheridan continued to be the Leeds lynch-pin and for the third consecutive year he was named in the Second Division team of the year. He made his fifth appearance for his country in the World Cup qualifying Group Six on 16th November 1988 in a 0-2 loss to Spain at the Benito Villamarin Stadium, Seville. It was to be his final full cap while at Leeds, however he did make one appearance for the Under-Twenty-Three side in a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland at Dalymount Park, Dublin, and he scored the third goal from the penalty spot. With Wilkinson being a strict disciplanarian and Sheridan an accident waiting to happen it was inevitable there would be a parting of the ways and Leeds banked £650,000 when Sheridan was sold to Nottingham Forest in August 1989. Despite the big fee, Brian Clough did not give Sheridan his League debut and four months later, on 3rd November 1989, after only one League Cup game for Forest, sold him to Sheffield Wednesday for £500,000. It was money well spent as Sheridan went on to become as big a favourite at Hillsborough as he had been at Elland Road. He was a member of the Republic of Ireland squads for the 1990 and 1994 World Cup. He scored the only goal of the 1991 League Cup Final when the Owls caused a major upset by beating Manchester United at Wembley. He also led Wednesday to third position in the League and to both Wembley Finals of the FA Cup and the League Cup in 1992-93, but they were beaten in both Finals by Arsenal. His International career flourished also as he gained twenty-nine more full caps while with Wednesday to bring his total to thirty-four. His first was one of three friendlies in preparation for the 1990 World Cup and he had a full game on 28th March 1990 in a 1-0 win over Wales at Landsdowne Road, then he came on as a half-time substitute for Andy Townsend in a 0-0 draw with Turkey at the Kemal Ataturk Stadium, Izmir on 27th May and six days later he had a full game in a 3-0 win over Malta at the National Stadium, Ta'Qali. While he was in the squad, the only playing time he had in the World Cup was in the Quarter-Final against host nation Italy as they were beaten 0-1 on 30th June 1990 at the Olympic Stadium, Rome, when he came on as a substitute for John Aldridge in the seventy-seventh minute. He was again a substitute on 12th September as Morocco were defeated 1-0 at Dalymount Park, Dublin, when he replaced Andy Townsend in the sixty-fifth minute of the friendly. On 17th October he gained his eleventh cap in a 5-0 Group Seven win over Turkey in the UEFA Championships at Landsdowne Road. There were three more friendlies in 1991. The first, at Landsdowne Park on 22nd May 1991, in a 1-1 draw with Chile in which he played a full game, while in the second he was a seventy-second minute substitute for Ray Houghton as there was a 1-1 draw with USA at Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts on 1st June 1991. The third was a 2-1 win over Hungary at the Raba ETO Stadium, Gyor on 11th September 1991, when he again played a full game. The Republic failed to qualify for the UEFA championships and it was two years before the build up for the World Cup saw Sheridan once more winning Irish caps under Jack Charlton. The Republic had been drawn in Group Three of the World Cup Qualifying games and, while he was not a regular, he did play twice as a substitute. On 9th June 1993 he was an eightieth minute replacement for John Aldridge in a 2-0 win over Latvia in Riga, and the came on for the injured Kevin Moran in the twenty-third minute of the 3-1 win defeat by Spain at Landsdowne Road on 13th October 1993. He scored the Irish goal in the seventy-second minute and it turned out to be a very important goal as it was the goal that made the vital one goal difference by which the Republic qualified for the next stage. He gained his next four caps that took his tally to twenty in the friendlies in the build up to the 1994 World Cup, which cemented his place in the team. The first was an upset 1-0 win over Netherlands on 20th April at the Willem II Stadium, Tilburg. Then he scored the only goal of the game in the eighty-fifth minute on 24th May 1994 as the Republic defeated Bolivia at Landsdowne Road. There was a further upset four days later when Germany were defeated 2-0 in front of a 50,000 crowd at the Niedersachsen stadium in Hannover. Their only blemish in the build-up came on 5th June 1994 with a 1-3 defeat by the Czech Republic at Landsdowne Road. He played each of the four World Cup games in the USA and played every minute. The Republic were off to a flying start defeating Italy 1-0 in their first Group E game at the Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey on 18th June 1994. Six days later at the Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida their hopes were dashed as Mexico beat them 1-2, but a 0-0 draw with Norway at the Giants Stadium was sufficient to take them through to the next stage four days later. Unfortunately they were drawn against the Netherlands and were eliminated when they lost 0-2 at the Citrus Bowl on 4th July 1994. The UEFA European Championships were the next challenge and Sheridan was heavily involved playing nine games and never being substituted in one. He got his fourth International goal in the first of the Group Six qualifiers scoring the second goal in the twenty-ninth minute of a 3-0 win over Latvia at the Daugava Stadium, Riga on 7th September 1994. The second of the Group matches took place on 12th October and the Irish ran out 4-0 winners against Liechtenstein at Landsdowne Road. They next travelled to Windsor Park, Belfast, and returned with a 4-0 win and Sheridan got his fifth International goal with Ireland's third in the thirty-eighth minute on 16th November 1994. On 13th December Sheridan was called up to the "B" team for the friendly with England "B" at Anfield. England beat them 0-2. On 15th February 1995 the game with England at Lansdowne Road was abandoned with Ireland 1-0 in front, after twenty-nine minutes, but it provided him with his twenty-ninth cap. two more games in Group Six at Landsdowne Road took him to thirty-one as Northern Ireland held them to a 1-1 draw on 29th March and Portugal were defeated 1-0 on 26th April. They were next held to a 0-0 draw at Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen by Liechtenstein on 3rd June before 1-3 defeats in both home and away ties with Austria completed the Group Six games.The home tie took place on 11th June at Landsdowne Road and the away tie on 6th September at the Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna. He played his final game for the Republic in the Group play-off with the Netherlands at Anfield when the Republic was beaten 0-2 and eliminated. In February 1996 he went to Birmingham City on loan, playing against Leeds in both Legs of a League Cup Semi-Final but he returned to Hillsborough after just one start and one game off the bench in the League. It was with Sheffield Wednesday that Sheridan played arguably the best football of his career, scoring twenty-five League goals in two hundred appearances, of which ten were from the bench. He also scored three goals in the F.A. Cup in twenty appearances, one of which was as a substitute, three goals in twenty-four starts in the League Cup and two goals in four other games. He was the unsung hero of Sheffield Wednesday's revival, before joining Bolton Wanderers for £180,000, where he spent two seasons, helping them win promotion to the EPL in 1997. He initially went on loan on 12th November 1996, scoring three League goals in six League starts and one in the League Cup. He signed permanently on 19th December 1996 and carried on to make a further twenty-five starts in the League, together with eight more from the bench, as well as two starts in the F.A. Cup and one in the League Cup for the Trotters between 1996 and 31st May 1998, helping them to the Championship and promotion to the EPL in 1996-97. Sheridan looked to be on the verge of calling time on his career when he joined then Non-League Doncaster Rovers in August 1998, for whom he made eight appearances. However, Sheridan was given another shot at League football, when on 21st October 1998 the Irishman joined Oldham Athletic, where he played a further one hundred and forty-four League games, twelve of which were from the bench, scoring fourteen goals, mostly from set-pieces or the penalty spot. He also scored twice in the F.A. Cup from fifteen appearances, one as a substitute, and also made two starts and two games from the bench in the League Cup and one start in the Football League Trophy. He played his last game for Oldham on 21st February 2004 in a 1-1 draw at home to Tranmere Rovers when he was almost forty. There had been an emotional return to Hillsborough in August 2003, where he scored to secure a draw, and at games’ end Sheridan was applauded off the field by both sets of fans. Following the departure of Ian Dowie to Crystal Palace in late 2003, Sheridan took over the coaching of the Oldham first team, along with fellow-veteran David Eyres, before they were both replaced by Brian Talbot. On 1st June 2006, Talbot's successor, Ronnie Moore, was himself shown the door, and Sheridan stepped in to fill in the manager's position on a permanent basis. On 7th December 2006, Sheridan was named League One Manager of the Month. He guided Oldham to sixth place in League One in 2006-07, and their promotion challenge was ended in the Play-off Semi-Finals by eventual winners Blackpool. After finishing eighth in 2007-08 Oldham made a concerted bid for promotion during the 2008-09 season. On 9th March 2009, incidents were reported of fights including Sheridan at Belle Vue racetrack. Sheridan was still with the club when they were beaten 6-2 by rivals MK Dons in the the next game. The following day, after talks between Sheridan and the Oldham Managing Director Simon Corney, Sheridan agreed to leave the club. He was immediately replaced by former Oldham Manager Joe Royle. On 9th June 2009, Sheridan was named as Manager of Chesterfield in League Two. He signed a three-year contract with the club, and brought Tommy Wright as Assistant Manager and Mark Crossley as Coach with him. In his second season with the club, 2010-11, he led the Spireites to the League Two Championship and in the following season they won the Football League Trophy but were relegated back to League Two. After gaining just two points from the first three games he was relieved of his duties and he resigned effectively on 18th September 2012. He was appointed Manager of Plymouth Argyle on 6th January 2013 on a contract until the end of the season. He was able to revive the club's fortunes and save them from relegation from the Football League. He signed a three year contract in May 2013. In the 2013-14 season he led the club to tenth position in the League. It could have been better as at one point they had reached a play-off position, but one win in their last nine games saw them drop out of contention. This led to a clear out of players but at the turn of the year the team were vying for a play-off spot. Sheridan’s brother, Darren, had a brief spell on United’s books as a junior in 1984 and eventually became a Barnsley player after starring with Non-League Winsford United and also became Manager at Barrow in November 2007, where he stayed for five years and on 26th June 2013 he was appointed chief scout at Plymouth Argyle.