Binks Sid Image 2 Huddersfield Town 1922

Description

Bishop Auckland, County Durham born centre forward Sid Binks began his football career with Spennymoor United in 1919 and played for Bishop Auckland in 1920. While with Bishop Auckland he won an England amateur international cap, scoring in a 4-1 win over Ireland at Filbert Street in November 1921, before being signed by Second Division Sheffield Wednesday in the 1922 close season, making his Football League debut at Rotherham County that August, scoring in a 2-1 victory. Binks scored 16 goals in his debut season, top scoring for The Owls, including a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Stockport County in February 1923, and he once again top scored in 1923-24 with 17 goals, which included 4 goals in a 6-0 drubbing of Crystal Palace in December 1923 and a treble at Bristol City in a 3-2 win in April 1924, before being signed by Herbert Chapman’s Huddersfield Town at the end of September 1924. At Leeds Road he provided cover for Town’s incumbent forwards such as Alec Jackson, making a pair of appearances only in each of their successive League Championship winning seasons of 1924-25 and 1925-26.

At the end of September 1925 Binks joined Second Division Blackpool where he was a regular for two seasons, converting to a centre half early in 1926 and scoring 9 goals in 57 appearances for The Seasiders before a transfer back to the top flight with Portsmouth in the summer of 1927. However he failed to make a first team appearance for Pompey in 1927-28 and left Fratton Park the following summer to join Southend United. He made 14 appearances for The Shrimpers during the first half of 1928-29 but lost his place and joined Fulham in March 1929, where he made 27 appearances over the next year.

He moved to Chesterfield in the summer of 1930 and returned to playing at centre forward from December 1930, scoring 11 goals during the second half of the campaign in 31 appearances as The Spireites won the Third Division (North) Championship in 1930-31, but he scored only once more in 14 further appearances in 1931-32 before returning to Sheffield Wednesday in 1932, spending a season in the reserves without appearing for their first team. He returned to north east football in 1933, joining non league Ashington where he subsequently finished his career.

NB in the photograph taken at Craven Cottage on 14th October 1922, Binks is challenged by Fulham’s Jimmy Torrance, who scored the only goal in a 1-0 Fulham victory.