Edward William Sydney Askin came into the world during hard times. He was born in Staincross, a village near Barnsley in Yorkshire, on 17th May, 1939, a few months before the outbreak of the Second World War.
The boy brought up in wartime Yorkshire was to become known to the wrestling world as Judo Syd Askin, and he was a hard man. When Wrestling Heritage interviewed Syd in 2012, by which time he was in his early seventies, he remained an imposing figure.
Stamina and strength weren’t the only qualities of a good wrestler that had resulted from years working deep beneath the ground at Goldthorpe and Highgate Colliery near Doncaster. The dangerous underground environment also demanded good communications and co-operative skills, which Syd reminded us were also essential qualities of successful wrestlers. They were also skills that Syd used to train young miners at Bentley Colliery Training Centre.
With a background in boxing and judo Syd was watching wrestling on television when he thought, “I could do that.” With a mixture of confidence and cheek he telephoned promoter George de Relwyskow and talked himself into a trial. Syd knew that George was understandably sceptical, after all he had seen many boastful youngsters
When Syd removed his shirt to uncover his mighty chest, the promoter made a quick re-assessment and knew that here was a big, powerful lad. The big, powerful lad then demonstrated that he had the potential to make a wrestler and was invited to learn the business, though was left in no doubt that it would take a lot of hard work. Hard work was something that didn’t worry Sid. He turned professional in 1972. It was a steep learning curve, and in those first few weeks he went down to Tibor Szakacs, Pete Roberts, Roy St Clair, Gwyn Davies, Ray Steel; there was no easy ride for this youngster.
The following year Syd appeared on television, opposing Roy St Clair, Steve Logan and Caswell Martin, not all at the same time obviously! He lost all three matches, but was gaining valuable experience. That would serve him well for the years to follow in a career that lasted until the early 1980s. Most of Syd’s matches were working for Relwyskow & Green Promotions, which took him throughout the midlands, northern England and Scotland.
Throughout all this time Syd’s love of judo had never dimmed. The Judo Syd tag was no colourful invention of a creative promoter. He took only twenty months to reach black belt first dan, and reached the standard of a level 3 judo coach. His friend Dave Etchell said, “We had many happy battles on the mat together and I knew him at his peak, a formidable judoka.” For twenty-five years he taught judo in Malta and during his wrestling career opened and trained youngsters in at least four judo clubs. In the 1980s, having moved to Scarborough Syd formed the Scarborough Judo Club, which he ran until the 1990s, later going on to run the ASA Judo Club at Scalby Parish Hall.
Syd Askin died on 30th November, 2017.
Page added 23/11/2022
Reviewed 07/02/2022
Wrestling Heritage 