A year later he made his first-team debut as a midfielder and by 1982 was a regular player in Birmingham's First Division side.
By the turn of 1984, he had lost his place in the first team and was transferred to Walsall (in the Third Division) in hope of getting more first-team chances.
In the autumn of 1986, Handysides was loaned out to Wolverhampton Wanderers and scored twice in 11 Fourth Division fixtures.
On his return to Birmingham, he quickly re-established himself as a first-team regular and made 30 appearances in the 1987-88 Second Division campaign, scoring three goals, as he helped the club avoid relegation.
This biographical article related to association football in England, about a midfielder born in the 1960s, is a stub.