Chris Balderstone

John Christopher "Chris" Balderstone (16 November 1940 – 6 March 2000) was an English professional in cricket and football, and one of the last sportsmen to combine both sports over a prolonged period. He played football as a midfielder for Huddersfield Town, Carlisle United, Doncaster Rovers and Queen of the South. He played and umpired first class cricket making it to international level – he played in two Tests in 1976 and umpired two ODIs from 1994 to 1998. In a long club career he was a key part of the five trophy winning Leicestershire side of the early and mid-1970s.

Balderstone's football career started with Huddersfield Town where he was signed by Bill Shankly in May 1958. He made 117 Football League appearances for Huddersfield, and played a total of 131 senior games for them (scoring 25 goals).

In June 1965 he moved for £7,000 to Carlisle United who had just been promoted to the second tier of English football for the first time in their history. As Balderstone later said, "They gave me a bit of stick at first because I wasn't the quickest player or the hardest tackler. I used to think I made up for it with speed of thought and control of the ball. I always had confidence in my ability and I knew there'd be somebody in the crowd who appreciated a bit of skill. I won them over and they were very good to me after that."

He scored on his debut, a 4–1 home win over Norwich City, which gave him the distinction of scoring the club's first ever goal in the second level of English football. He stayed with Carlisle for the next 11 years, the club's most successful period where not only was he a key player but also became club captain.