The Best Yorkshire Born 5-a-Side Team

When it comes to Yorkshire born footballers, there are a few players in the current England side who have commanded high transfer fees and are considered world-class: Harry Maguire… John Stones… Kyle Walker…

Yorkshire has always produced great footballing talent, but what about some under-appreciated legends who were born in God’s own country? Ones who might not have been household names across the world, but certainly did the region proud? Whose talent shone in the days before laptops, the internet and sites like bitcoin code were even dreamt about.

Here’s the task: You’re the manager. You have to pick a 5-a-side team, with three subs. All the players have to have been born in Yorkshire but are no longer playing the game.

It’s not as easy as you might think. Here’s our team – and we reckon it’d be a match for most.

GK: Paddy Kenny.

Despite representing the Republic of Ireland at international level seven times, Kenny takes his spot between the sticks for the Yorkshire Five due to being born in Halifax. He excelled at Boothtown juniors back in the 80s and early 90s, and found himself playing top-level football only a few years later. Not only did he play 313 matches for Sheffield United, but he also had a good stint a Leeds United too – clocking up 81 games for the whites.

DF: Peter Jackson.

Born in Bradford, played for Bradford (twice), and captained Bradford. Oh, and he managed Bradford too. Jackson was Bradford through and through, and collected the Division Three championship with them in 1985, on the same day tragedy struck as fire tore through the Valley Parade main stand, claiming 56 lives. He also captained Huddersfield Town, managing them twice, and played for Halifax Town too.

MF: Stuart McCall.

Born in Leeds, and played for Scotland. McCall was famous for two stints with Bradford City as a player and three stints as manager. In-between his playing years with the Bantams, he played for Everton, before gaining them a decent amount of profit when he signed for Glasgow Rangers for £1.2m in 1991. He was a regular with Scotland, representing them at the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy, and at the European Championships in Sweden in 1992. He finished his playing career in 2005 with Sheffield United.

FW: Frank Worthington.

Another Halifax-born star, Frank Worthington captured the imagination of anyone who watched him when he was on the pitch. Coming through the ranks at Huddersfield Town, the skilful Worthington played for the Terriers 171 times, scoring 41 goals. Later he was at Leeds United, weighing in with 14 goals in 32 games. Later on in his career, he played for Guiseley 20 times, and it was a travesty that he only played 8 times for England. Always linked with big clubs, he was an animal on the pitch and a party animal off it. What would Frank Worthington’s value be worth in today’s game, we wonder?

ST: Chris Chilton.

The Sproatley born Chris Chilton was a Hull City and Boothferry Park legend, scoring a fantastic 222 in 11 years at the club. His loyalty to the Tigers when Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United came sniffing around for him might have been the reason why he never gained international honours. After a short spell with Coventry where he had to retire from the professional game, he had a couple of years at Bridlington Trinity before returning to Hull City in various coaching roles.

Subs: David Seaman, Nick Barmby, Tommy Taylor.