Snodin: Ian

1985-1987 (Player Details)

Midfield

Born: Thryburgh Nr Rotherham: 15-08-1963

Debut v Fulham (a): 17-08-1985

5’7” 8st 11 1/2lb (1987)

#50 in 100 Greatest LUFC Players Ever

Like his brother Glynn, he joined Doncaster Rovers, in August 1980 as a teenager and was capped for England Youth in 1981 and 1982. Although he was with an unfashionable club Snodin’s displays won him four Under-Twenty-three caps in 1985. He soon caught the interest of the Leeds Manager Eddie Gray and was transferred to the club in the summer of 1985 for £200,000. He had scored twenty-seven goals and made one hundred and eighty-one starts in League games and another seven as substitute before he joined Leeds United and succeeded Peter Lorimer as Captain. Snodin added class and bite to United’s midfield and became the key player in the side. It wasn’t long before Division One’s bigger clubs approached Leeds for his services. Everton and Liverpool both offered £840,000 in 1987, and cash-strapped Leeds accepted. Ian chose Everton as his next team, even though he had agreed terms with Liverpool, and moved there in January 1987. His boss at Doncaster had been Billy Bremner and when he joined Leeds as Manager, he again sold him and United received a club record fee when he went to Everton. He added impetus to Everton’s midfield and just qualified to win a League Championship medal in 1986-87. He later switched to right-back and only injury prevented him from being capped by England in Albania in 1989. Unfortunately, however, Snodin was forced to withdraw because of injury and his problems became worse only a few weeks later when he was carried off during a game against Sheffield Wednesday with a serious hamstring problem. Despite lengthy periods of rest and several operations, Snodin struggled to regain his fitness and spent the whole of the 1991-92 season on the sidelines. He did play for England ‘B’ but injuries continued to blight him and after going to Sunderland on loan in October 1994, where he played six League games, he went to Oldham Athletic, where he was sent-off on his debut in January 1995. He had started one hundred and forty-six League games for Everton and made another six appearances from the bench while scoring three goals. At Boundary Park he made fifty-five League starts and another two from the bench. He later played at Scarborough, playing thirty-five times in the League, of which two were from the bench, before returning to Doncaster Rovers in 1998 to manage his home town club, making thirteen appearances in the League and two in the Cup. He managed the club for eighteen months and then moved in to radio commentary at first with Doncaster but later at Everton.