Eric Young (footballer)
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Eric Young (born 25 March 1960 in Singapore) is a retired footballer, who was a strong, commanding centre half nicknamed "Ninja" due to his ever-present brown headband.
Young started his career at non-league Southall before being signed by Brighton & Hove Albion in 1982. He made his league debut in the first match of the 1982/83 season and went on to make 126 appearances for the club, scoring 10 goals and appearing in the FA Cup final before transferring to Wimbledon for £70,000 on the eve of the 1987/88 season.
He became a firm favourite at Wimbledon and had a formidable central defensive partnership with Andy Thorn. After 99 appearances and 9 goals for the club he was sold to Crystal Palace for £850,000 (at the time a huge fee for a 30 year old). At Palace he played some of the best football of his career, and resumed the Thorn/Young defensive partnership that had been so successful with Wimbledon. Eric was a mainstay in the team that finished 3rd in the old first division (now the Premiership) and kept his place in the side until a public fall out with manager Alan Smith at the beginning of the ill fated 1994/1995 season saw him dropped until the final five matches of that campaign.
After 161 appearances and 15 goals for Palace he then joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on a free transfer, where he played 4 league games scoring 2 goals before retiring, and is now working as an Accountant in Slough. Eric won 31 caps for Wales, for whom he qualified due to being born in Singapore but holding a British passport!
