Ian Helliwell (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Ian Helliwell is an English former footballer who played as a striker.
He played for Sheffield Wednesday
and Chesterfield
as a youth
, before joining Matlock Town
in non-League football
. After four seasons, he moved to the Football League
with York City
, where he was top scorer for three successive seasons. He moved on to Scunthorpe United
, where he was top scorer for one season, before having spells with Rotherham United
, Stockport County
and Burnley
. He was loaned out on three occasions while at Burnley and he finished his career with Ilkeston Town
.
, South Yorkshire
, Helliwell attended Old Hall Comprehensive School
and started his football career as a junior with Sheffield Wednesday
. He had trials at Stoke City
before joining the reserve team
at Chesterfield
in 1982, and during his time as a youth
player he worked for steel
producer British Steel
. He moved into non-League football
with Matlock Town
in 1983, where he scored 68 goals in just over four seasons before joining Third Division
team York City
for a fee
of £10,000 in October 1987. He made his debut in a 4–2 defeat to Sunderland
on 24 October and scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw with Bury
on 7 November. He finished his first season, 1987–88, with 32 appearances and scored eight goals, while York were relegated to the Fourth Division
. He finished the 1988–89 season as York's top scorer with 11 goals, as well as winning the Clubman of the Year award. His only hat-trick for the club came in a 7–1 victory over Hartlepool United
in the Football League Trophy
and he finished the 1989–90 season again as York's top scorer with 19 goals, featuring in all of York's 54 games. His final season with York, 1990–91, saw him finish as top scorer for a third successive season with 10 goals.
Helliwell joined Scunthorpe United
for a fee of £80,000 in August 1991 and he became the first player to miss a penalty kick
in a penalty shootout in the FA Cup
, which came against Rotherham United
. He featured for Scunthorpe in the 1992 Fourth Division play-off Final, which was lost on penalties to Blackpool
. He finished as top scorer for the 1992–93 season and before the start of the following season, he joined Rotherham for a fee of £60,000 in August 1993, after making 80 league appearances and scoring 22 goals for Scunthorpe. He played some games as a centre half at Rotherham, where he made 52 appearances and scored four goals in the league before joining Stockport County
in January 1995 as a replacement for Kevin Francis. He scored twice on his debut against Hull City
and made 39 appearances and scored 13 goals for Stockport before joining Burnley
for a fee of £25,000 in February 1996.
He was loaned out to Mansfield Town
for a month in September and made his debut in a 0–0 with Doncaster Rovers
, eventually scoring his first and only goal in his final game against Carlisle United
. Helliwell was soon loaned out again, joining Chester City
in October and making his debut in a 0–0 draw with Scarborough
, with his only goal coming in a 2–1 victory over Exeter City
. His only appearances of the 1997–98 season came during a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers
, where he made nine appearances and scored one goal, which came against former loan club Chester. He joined Ilkeston Town
in 1998 and featured for them in FA Cup games against Football League
sides Carlisle United
and Swindon Town
.
After returning to semi-professional
football, he worked part-time as an electrician
. He retired from football following the 2001–02 season, having spent four seasons with Ilkeston.
He played for Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
and Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
as a youth
Youth system
Youth system is a sporting terminology used to refer to a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise, and to fill up squads numbers in some teams...
, before joining Matlock Town
Matlock Town F.C.
Matlock Town F.C. is an English football club based at Causeway Lane in Matlock, Derbyshire.-History:The club was established in the late 1870s and have competed in the Central Alliance and the Midland Counties League before reaching the Northern Premier League.In the 1974–75 season the club won...
in non-League football
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
. After four seasons, he moved to the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
with York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
, where he was top scorer for three successive seasons. He moved on to Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....
, where he was top scorer for one season, before having spells with Rotherham United
Rotherham United F.C.
Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...
, Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
and Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
. He was loaned out on three occasions while at Burnley and he finished his career with Ilkeston Town
Ilkeston Town F.C.
Ilkeston Football Club is an English football club based at the New Manor Ground in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.-History:The club was established in 1894 as Ilkeston Town F.C.....
.
Career
Born in RotherhamRotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, Helliwell attended Old Hall Comprehensive School
Old Hall Comprehensive School
Old Hall Comprehensive School was located in Kimberworth, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Originally built in the 1960s, it grew quickly and at the time of its closure it had around 130 staff members and around 1500 pupils from between the ages of 11 and 16...
and started his football career as a junior with Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
. He had trials at Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
before joining the reserve team
Reserve team
Large professional sports clubs often have far more players under contract than could possibly play in a match. As a result, many of these clubs create second teams composed of players who need playing time, but have little hope of playing on the first team. The players on this second team are...
at Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
in 1982, and during his time as a youth
Youth system
Youth system is a sporting terminology used to refer to a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise, and to fill up squads numbers in some teams...
player he worked for steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
producer British Steel
British Steel
British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
. He moved into non-League football
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
with Matlock Town
Matlock Town F.C.
Matlock Town F.C. is an English football club based at Causeway Lane in Matlock, Derbyshire.-History:The club was established in the late 1870s and have competed in the Central Alliance and the Midland Counties League before reaching the Northern Premier League.In the 1974–75 season the club won...
in 1983, where he scored 68 goals in just over four seasons before joining Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
team York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
for a fee
Fee
A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup.Traditionally, professionals in Great Britain received a fee in contradistinction to a payment, salary, or wage, and would often use guineas rather than pounds as units of account...
of £10,000 in October 1987. He made his debut in a 4–2 defeat to Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
on 24 October and scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw with Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...
on 7 November. He finished his first season, 1987–88, with 32 appearances and scored eight goals, while York were relegated to the Fourth Division
Football League Fourth Division
The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...
. He finished the 1988–89 season as York's top scorer with 11 goals, as well as winning the Clubman of the Year award. His only hat-trick for the club came in a 7–1 victory over Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
in the Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
and he finished the 1989–90 season again as York's top scorer with 19 goals, featuring in all of York's 54 games. His final season with York, 1990–91, saw him finish as top scorer for a third successive season with 10 goals.
Helliwell joined Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....
for a fee of £80,000 in August 1991 and he became the first player to miss a penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...
in a penalty shootout in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
, which came against Rotherham United
Rotherham United F.C.
Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...
. He featured for Scunthorpe in the 1992 Fourth Division play-off Final, which was lost on penalties to Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
. He finished as top scorer for the 1992–93 season and before the start of the following season, he joined Rotherham for a fee of £60,000 in August 1993, after making 80 league appearances and scoring 22 goals for Scunthorpe. He played some games as a centre half at Rotherham, where he made 52 appearances and scored four goals in the league before joining Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
in January 1995 as a replacement for Kevin Francis. He scored twice on his debut against Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...
and made 39 appearances and scored 13 goals for Stockport before joining Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
for a fee of £25,000 in February 1996.
He was loaned out to Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
for a month in September and made his debut in a 0–0 with Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
, eventually scoring his first and only goal in his final game against Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....
. Helliwell was soon loaned out again, joining Chester City
Chester City F.C.
Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...
in October and making his debut in a 0–0 draw with Scarborough
Scarborough F.C.
Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...
, with his only goal coming in a 2–1 victory over Exeter City
Exeter City F.C.
Exeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003...
. His only appearances of the 1997–98 season came during a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
, where he made nine appearances and scored one goal, which came against former loan club Chester. He joined Ilkeston Town
Ilkeston Town F.C.
Ilkeston Football Club is an English football club based at the New Manor Ground in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.-History:The club was established in 1894 as Ilkeston Town F.C.....
in 1998 and featured for them in FA Cup games against Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
sides Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....
and Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
.
After returning to semi-professional
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
football, he worked part-time as an electrician
Electrician
An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...
. He retired from football following the 2001–02 season, having spent four seasons with Ilkeston.