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Alan A'Court

{{Short description|English footballer (1934–2009)}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Alan A'Court

| image =

| full_name = Alan A'Court{{cite book |editor-first=Barry J. |editor-last=Hugman |title=The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2015 |year=2015 |publisher=G2 Entertainment Ltd |isbn=9781782811671}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1934|9|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Rainhill, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|12|14|1934|9|30|df=y}}

| death_place = Nantwich, England

| position = Winger

| youthyears1 = {{0|0000}}–1952

| youthclubs1 = Prescot Cables

| years1 = 1952–1964 | clubs1 = Liverpool |caps1 = 354 |goals1 = 61

| years2 = 1964–1966 | clubs2 = Tranmere Rovers |caps2 = 50 |goals2 = 11

| years3 = 1966–1967 | clubs3 = Norwich City |caps3 = 0 |goals3 = 0

| totalcaps = 404

| totalgoals = 72

| nationalyears1 = 1957–1958

| nationalteam1 = England

| nationalcaps1 = 5

| nationalgoals1 = 1

| manageryears1 = 1978

| managerclubs1 = Stoke City (caretaker)

| manageryears2 = 1983–1984

| managerclubs2 = Nantwich Town

}}

Alan A'Court (30 September 1934 – 14 December 2009) was an English professional footballer who mostly played for Liverpool. He gained five caps for England and represented the nation at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Playing career

Born in Rainhill, Lancashire, England, A'Court was a winger who started out at Prescot Cables as an amateur before he was signed by Reds manager Don Welsh. A'Court made his debut in a league match at Ayresome Park on 7 February 1953, a game that saw Liverpool take both the points from a 3–2 win. His first goal came a month later on 14 March, again in a league match, this time at Anfield in a 2–0 victory over Sunderland.

A'Court, who followed Rugby league, signed from Prescot as an 18-year-old in September 1952, spurning the advances of Everton and Bolton Wanderers to become an Anfield apprentice, a decision that paid off as just six months after joining he made his first team debut. The following season A'Court played 16 times, as Liverpool were relegated to the Second Division.

During the Anfield club's first season in the second tier of English football A'Court established himself as a first team regular making 33 league and cup appearances. A'Court remained consistent as Liverpool failed to regain their top flight status. By the age of 24 years and 89 days he had played 200 league games for the Reds becoming the youngest player to do so, a record that still stands.

Although the strong and talented A'Court could have left to play for teams in the First Division, his loyalty to Liverpool was rewarded in 1961–62 when, as an ever-present, he and the Reds celebrated promotion back to the First Division under the guidance of Bill Shankly, finishing a full eight points (in the days of two points for a win) clear of second placed Leyton Orient. A'Court was selected 23 times during Liverpool's first season back amongst football's elite teams; he helped Liverpool to an eighth-place finish in the First Division.

Whilst still in Division 2 A'Court's skill alerted England manager Walter Winterbottom, who was looking for a player to replace an injured Tom Finney; Winterbottom handed the left winger the first of his five caps on 6 November 1957 in a British Championship match against Northern Ireland at Wembley. A'Court's only goal for his country and a goal for Duncan Edwards were not enough to prevent England losing the game 3–2. The highlight of his career was representing England at the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, where he played in England's last three matches against Brazil (0–0), Austria (2–2), and the group stage play-off game against the USSR (0–1). He did this despite playing for a club in the Second Division.

Unfortunately for A'Court, injuries began to take their toll. He missed the whole of the 1963–64 championship winning season, so Shankly signed Peter Thompson from Preston North End. After spending most of his career at Liverpool, playing 382 times and scoring 63 goals, A'Court was allowed to leave. He joined Tranmere Rovers for a fee of £4,500 in October 1964. A'Court's final outing in a Red shirt was in a historic match: Liverpool's first ever European match at Anfield, the game was a European Cup preliminary round 2nd leg match on 14 September 1964. Liverpool had won the first encounter with Icelandic side KR 5–0 but rather than treat the return leg as a mere formality, the Reds finished off the job with a comprehensive 6–1 victory.

Coaching career

A'Court later became player-coach at Norwich City before taking on various coaching jobs, including posts in Zambia and New Zealand, he also became assistant manager at Stoke City when Tony Waddington called upon his services in 1969. In January 1978 George Eastham was sacked and A'Court was put in caretaker charge. His only match in charge of Stoke came in the FA Cup at home to non-league Blyth Spartans in 1977–78, Stoke lost the match 3–2.{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0-9524151-0-0}}

Once new manager Alan Durban was appointed A'Court moved to Crewe Alexandra as an assistant manager. He then went to join the sport staff at North Staffordshire Polytechnic. He managed Nantwich Town from September 1983 to April 1984.

Post retirement

After finally retiring from football, A'Court ran a tobacconist/newsagent shop on the borders of Birkenhead and Bebington. A'Court died of cancer on 14 December 2009.[https://archive.today/20120912085105/http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/stokecity/Stoke-boss-Court-dies-aged-75/article-1610732-detail/article.html Former Stoke boss A'Court dies, aged 75], Retrieved on 15 December 2009

Career statistics

=Club=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition{{ENFA}}

rowspan="2"|Club

!rowspan="2"|Season

!colspan="3"|League

!colspan="2"|FA Cup

!colspan="2"|League Cup

!colspan="2"|Europe

!colspan="2"|Total

DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
rowspan="14"|Liverpool

|1952–53

|First Division

|12

20000colspan="2"|–120
1953–54

|First Division

|16

30000colspan="2"|–163
1954–55

|Second Division

|30

23100colspan="2"|–333
1955–56

|Second Division

|40

65000colspan="2"|–456
1956–57

|Second Division

|38

101000colspan="2"|–3910
1957–58

|Second Division

|39

65000colspan="2"|–446
1958–59

|Second Division

|39

71000colspan="2"|–407
1959–60

|Second Division

|42

82000colspan="2"|–448
1960–61

|Second Division

|33

72020colspan="2"|–377
1961–62

|Second Division

|42

85100colspan="2"|–479
1962–63

|First Division

|23

20000colspan="2"|–232
1963–64

|First Division

|0

00000colspan="2"|–00
1964–65

|First Division

|0

000001010
colspan="2"|Total

!354

6162201036363
rowspan="3"|Tranmere Rovers

|1964–65

|Fourth Division

|24

42000colspan="2"|–264
1965–66

|Fourth Division

|26

71010colspan="2"|–287
colspan="2"|Total

!50

113010005411
colspan="3"|Career total

!404

72272301043574

=International=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year{{NFT player|4907}}

National teamYearAppsGoals
rowspan="2"|England

|1957

11
195840
colspan="2"|Total51

:Scores and results list England's goal tally first.

:Score and result list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after A'Court's goal.

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ International goal scored by Alan A'Court

scope="col"|No.

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Opponent

!scope="col"|Score

!scope="col"|Result

!scope="col"|Competition

style="text-align:center"|16 November 1957Wembley Stadium, London{{flagicon|NIR}}Northern Irelandstyle="text-align:center"|1–1style="text-align:center"|2–31958 British Home Championship

Managerial statistics

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Managerial record by club and tenure

rowspan="2"|Team

!rowspan="2"|From

!rowspan="2"|To

!colspan="5"|Record

{{abbr|P|Matches played}}{{abbr|W|Matches won}}{{abbr|D|Matches drawn}}{{abbr|L|Matches lost}}{{abbr|Win %|Win percentage}}
align=left|Stoke City

|align=left|9 January 1978

|align=left|13 February 1978

{{WDL|1|0|0|1|decimals=1}}

colspan="3"|Total

{{WDLtot|1|0|0|1|decimals=1}}

References

; Specific

{{reflist}}

; General

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite news |first=Ivan |last=Ponting |title=Alan A'Court: Footballer who played a crucial role in Liverpool's rise to join the elite in the early Shankly years |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-acourt-footballer-who-played-a-crucial-role-in-liverpools-rise-to-join-the-elite-in-the-early-shankly-years-1845129.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103101243/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-acourt-footballer-who-played-a-crucial-role-in-liverpools-rise-to-join-the-elite-in-the-early-shankly-years-1845129.html |archive-date=3 January 2010 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |work=The Independent |date=19 December 2009 |access-date=19 December 2009}}
  • {{cite news |first=Paul |last=Snowdon |title=Liverpool FC mourn the death of legend Alan A'Court at the age of 75 |url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/12/16/liverpool-fc-mourn-the-death-of-legend-alan-a-court-at-the-age-of-75-92534-25400872/ |work=Liverpool Daily Post |date=16 December 2009 |access-date=19 December 2009}}

{{refend}}

External links

  • [https://www.liverpoolfc.com/info/alan-acourt Profile] at the Liverpool F.C. website
  • [http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=251 Player profile at LFChistory.net]
  • [http://www.lfchistory.net/Articles/Article/3013 Exclusive interview at LFChistory.net]
  • {{Englandstats}}
  • {{FIFA player}}

{{England Squad 1958 World Cup}}

{{Stoke City F.C. managers}}

{{Liverpool F.C. Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acourt, Alan}}

Category:1934 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:1958 FIFA World Cup players

Category:England men's international footballers

Category:England men's under-23 international footballers

Category:English football managers

Category:English men's footballers

Category:Men's association football wingers

Category:Liverpool F.C. players

Category:Norwich City F.C. players

Category:People associated with Staffordshire University

Category:People from Rainhill

Category:Footballers from Merseyside

Category:Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens

Category:Stoke City F.C. managers

Category:English Football League players

Category:Tranmere Rovers F.C. players

Category:Deaths from cancer in England

Category:English Football League managers

Category:Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff

Category:English Football League representative players

Category:People educated at Prescot Grammar School

Category:Nantwich Town F.C. managers

Category:English football coaches

Category:20th-century English sportsmen