Roy Little: Tough, tenacious left-back who played in successive FA Cup finals for Manchester City in the late 1950s
According to his goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, Little "liked to get his fangs into an opponent"
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Your support makes all the difference.Roy Little was a tough and tenacious left-back who played in successive FA Cup finals for Manchester City, making up for defeat by Newcastle United in 1955 by helping to beat Birmingham City a year later. According to his goalkeeper, Bert Trautmann, who entered football folklore by remaining in the action despite breaking his neck at Wembley in 1956, Little "liked to get his fangs into an opponent."
It was an affectionate tribute to the Mancunian defender who, for all his abrasive work in the City rearguard, was a fair competitor and an accomplished all-round performer, in particular a precise passer. Signed from amateurs Greenwood Victoria in 1949, Little made his senior entrance in the 7-0 FA Cup drubbing of Swindon Town at Maine Road in January 1953. During the next season he claimed the No 3 shirt on a regular basis and kept it for six seasons until supplanted by Cliff Sear in 1957.
Little's part in the 1955 final began traumatically when he stood rooted to the goal-line as a Jackie Milburn header flashed past him after only 45 seconds. City lost 3-1, the same score by which they beat Birmingham in 1956, climaxing an uplifting League campaign in which they had finished fourth in the First Division, with the consistent left-back an ever-present.
In October 1958, having lost his place to the younger Sear after 187 outings for the Maine Road side, he was sold for £4,850 to Brighton, newly promoted to the Second Division. There followed three seasons at the Goldstone, then two with third-flight Crystal Palace before a mid-1960s stint as player-manager of Southern League Dover. Later Little returned to Manchester, where he looked after the university's sports grounds.
IVAN PONTING
Roy Little, footballer: born Manchester 1 June 1931; died Manchester 2 February 2015.
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