Sydney Elliott

 

Sydney (Syd) came to North Down in 1967 and served the club with distinction on and off the field for 40 years. As a batsman he was technically sound and built his innings purposefully. A memorable ‘knock’ at Stormont against Civil Service left him agonisingly short of a century and a great 50 at Ballygomartin Road helped cause a Senior Challenge Cup surprise. In the club’s time of annual ups and downs Sydney captained the Section 2 League winning team in 1979, led them into a Senior Challenge Cup Final in 1980 and left them in good shape for the introduction of Michael Reith to take over leadership in 1981. He had already experienced success with the 2nd XI in 1973 when they won their league and a year later was the winning captain of his ‘sixes’ team when they won the inaugural festive event, a success he repeated in 1978. He played in Jack McMillan’s Junior Cup winning side in 1981 and 5 years later led the 2nds to another Junior Cup success were he scored a 50 in the first innings and led the side with great skill. In tandem with his prowess on the field Syd helped steer the club through these optimistic times as club Secretary from 1972 until 1982. He continued playing down the club and won a 3rd XI bowling award in 2000. His son Darren continued the family tradition as a player and at present is an active member of the Executive Committee.