IN DEPTH WITH...Paul Rideout

Rideout may have seen his landmark as Swindon Town’s youngest-ever player trumped by the unheralded Lloyd Macklin in a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game back in 2007, but when you score on your debut at the age of 16 and 107 days, you get two for the price of one.

That is exactly what a young Rideout did way back in November 1980, putting last-minute gloss on a 3-1 win for Town at home to Hull City in the old Division Three.

That record-breaking debut came just months after Rideout had signed apprentice forms with Town on the back of a hat-trick for England Schoolboys.

Hopes were high at the County Ground that they had unearthed a gem for the future, so even Rideout himself did not expect to be thrust into the limelight so quickly.

“It doesn’t seem that long ago. I didn’t realise it was 35 years - that’s scary,” recalls the now 51-year-old, who remains Town’s youngest-ever league player.

“I can remember the game. I think I scored a goal earlier in the game that was disallowed, which was a really nice goal, but the one that counted was right at the end from a flick-on corner.

“We beat Hull 3-1, so it was great to help the team get a good result.

“There were obviously some nerves but there were some experienced players that looked after me and made sure I settled down and told me a little bit about it; Chris Kamara, people like that.

“David Peach was there at the time too, so we had a good experienced crew and Andy Rowland was a top guy and looked after me.

“They made it easy for me.

“I had some good times at Swindon but it was a club I wasn’t initially with. I was with Southampton but I felt Swindon was a great family club and would look after me, and they did all the way through.

“A lot of my friends when I was playing for England youth were signing for what were Premiership clubs but I felt I’d have a good chance to be seen at Swindon and was eager to try to play first-team soccer.

“I was treated very well by the senior players and learned a lot playing in the reserve team prior to getting my debut.

“At the time, I wasn’t expecting to get in the team that quickly but things worked out well.”

John Trollope was the man to hand Rideout his chance, backing a teenage striker to come up trumps just a few months into his managerial tenure.

Trollope’s reign was far from a golden period for Town and he could not save them from relegation to Division Four for the first time in 1982.

Although Rideout may be most famous for scoring an FA Cup-winning goal for Everton against Manchester United in 1995, he says his career would not have been the same without Trollope.

“John Trollope is one of the main factors in my career,” said Rideout, whose father David is on the board at Swindon Supermarine.

“I’m not saying he was the world’s best coach but he was like a father figure, alongside my own dad, who knew a lot about soccer.

“John nurtured me through. He put up with a lot crap from me because I had a bit of a mouth on me. He looked after me and matured me.

“He was a really good youth coach and all the kids loved him. He did a tremendous job for the club. I liked him a lot and he taught me a lot.”

Rideout in action for Town against Hull at the County Ground in 1983

Rideout stuck around for one season in Division Four and plundered 23 goals in all competitions to be named Town’s player of the year, but was unable to get them promoted.

Clearly too good for that level, a move higher was unavoidable and Division One outfit Aston Villa were the team to prise him away.

The deal worked well for both parties, with the £250,000 fee helping solve some of Town’s financial problems.

Rideout said: “I think they were in dire straits at the time and personally, it was time to move on. I was ready for the next step.

“I also went to Liverpool, who were the kings of Europe at the time, so between them and Villa, it was a pretty good choice but I chose Villa solely because it reminded me a bit of how I was treated at Swindon.

“Liverpool didn’t show me Anfield and I wanted to see a couple of players and train but they gave me a couple of hours. Villa showed me all around and I met some players too.

“I didn’t think I’d break through against the likes of Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish, so thinking about it, I probably made the right choice.”

After two seasons at Villa, Rideout joined Italian side Bari. He spent three years on the continent before beginning to hanker for a move back home.

Rumours of a return to a now Lou Macari-led Town were rife but they could not compete with top-flight side Southampton and Rideout headed for the Dell.

But Town fans did eventually get their reunion after all, with Rideout returning to the County Ground on a nine-match loan stint in 1991.

“I had always kept in touch with Lou Macari - he was a great guy. He was friends with my dad and I spoke to him several times while I was over in Italy,” said Rideout.

“I was seriously homesick and interested in coming back but Southampton were interested and came over to watch me a couple of times, and I don’t think Lou had the money to be able to buy me so it didn’t quite work out.

“I ended up coming back on loan anyway. I loved that club and they looked after me.

“When you come through the ranks at a club, you have an affiliation to them and you always stick to it.

“I have got my favourite club, which is Everton, but I always look for Southampton’s results and Swindon’s results and Rangers’ results. That will never change.”

Paul Rideout, pictured challenging for a header against Watford in April 1991, during his second spell with Town

Riedout has come a long way since his days at Town – literally. After humble beginnings as a youth player in Wiltshire, he is now coaching in the US.

After spending a season at the Kansas City Wizards in the late 90s before finishing his career back in England with Tranmere, Rideout rejoined the MLS side – now known as Sporting Kansas City – to coach the club’s youth squads.

Little over a year ago, he moved to sunnier climes in Phoenix, Arizona, to coach alongside former Rangers teammate David Robertson at Sereno soccer club.

Rideout explained: “It (football in America) has come a long way since I was playing here. It was such an amateurish system, with the way it was run and the coaching and the league itself, but if you look at it now, it has come miles.

“I coached at Sporting for about four years and I enjoyed what I was doing but you have got to live. I got an offer to come to Phoenix and we’d been at Kansas for 15 years so decided to go somewhere warm and enjoy it.

“At Sereno, we have boys’ sides and girls’ sides and have probably got 1,500 kids. I coach three teams and I also do some stuff in the office. It’s a full-time job.

“Most of the academies in the MLS are fully-funded, like they are in England, but the boys' clubs are where kids come and play.

“We have different levels of teams and they have to pay to play.

“It can be pretty expensive if you are in the top team and travelling, as we go to places like California, (Las) Vegas and Dallas.

“I used to say to a lot of these parents that in England we would never pay a coach to play. I used to play where a parent would take the team and wash the uniform and you’d pay a pound - it’s so different.

“It’s fun but it can get a little frustrating because sometimes you have got to deal with parents and trying to explain why one kid isn’t playing as much as another kid. With experience, you get to know how to handle these things.”

Rideout is now working as a football coach in the United States

The Rideout name is still going strong on the pitch too, with Paul’s son, Jordan, signing his first professional contract with Arizona United in the United Soccer League – America’s third tier – last year.

There had been talk of a possible trial back at Town, only for that to fall through, but Rideout senior still harbours hopes of one day seeing his son pull on the famous red jersey he wore where it all started.

“Some kids get it out here and some kids don’t. I kick myself sometimes because I have not enabled my own son to get enough chances to be a pro,” said Rideout.

“He has just signed a contract with a USL club here but there are so few teams with so many players wanting to play that it’s very difficult to get in.

“He was actually set for trials over in England but he couldn’t get released from his club.

“There was talk with Swindon, which we would have been really excited about, but he was going through the passport issue as well and he couldn’t be out of the country for too many days so in the end we couldn’t do it.

“We had a couple of things set up for him to come over, so he may end up doing that this year.

“I would love to come back full circle and watch my own son play for Swindon. That would be pretty exciting.

“It’s still a lovely little stadium and a nice town. I came back a couple of years ago and stayed at my parents’ house and went passed the ground a couple of times.

“It doesn’t change much and that’s a good thing sometimes.”