Alan Skirton

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Alan Frederick Graham Skirton (born January 23, 1939 in Bath) is an English former footballer.

Skirton first played for his local club, Bath City of the Southern League, and soon attracted the attention of several big clubs. Arsenal won the fight for his signature, signing him in January 1959 for £5,000. Soon after signing, however, Skirton contracted tuberculosis and was out of action for eighteen months.

Skirton finally made his debut for Arsenal against Burnley on August 20, 1960. Despite being only 21 he played 16 games that season, sharing the right wing position with Danny Clapton; he supplanted Clapton altogether the following season, and scored 19 goals in 40 matches, making him the club's top scorer.

After the signing of Johnny MacLeod in the summer of 1962, Skirton was switched to the left wing, where he played for the next four seasons, albeit irregularly, as Arsenal manager Billy Wright preferred to field only one out-and-out winger. The emergence of the young George Armstrong also meant Skirton's place was under threat. Nevertheless, Skirton still averaged twenty appearances a season, and made history by becoming the first Arsenal player to score a goal in a European match at Highbury (against Stævnet on October 22, 1963).

Wright's successor, Bertie Mee, was looking to youth as the means to success for the Gunners, and thus preferred to play the promising Armstrong instead; Skirton was transferred to Blackpool in September 1966 for £65,000. He had played 154 matches for Arsenal, scoring 54 goals.

Skirton scored on his debut for Blackpool on September 8 - at Highbury of all places - but his eight league goals in 1966-67 couldn't save the Seasiders from relegation to Division Two.

In 1967-68, Blackpool narrowly missed on promotion back to the top flight, finishing third on goal difference behind Ipswich Town and QPR. Skirton had put 17 league goals against his name.

In November 1968, when Blackpool manager Stan Mortensen saw the emergence of Ronnie Brown on the right wing, he allowed Skirton to return to the West Country and he joined Bristol City for £15,000. He went on to play for Torquay United, and South African side Durban City, before seeing out his career at Weymouth.

After retiring from playing, Skirton became assistant commercial manager at Weymouth, before rejoining his old club Bath City as commercial manager. In 1981 he moved to Yeovil Town to take up the same position, and remained there until his retirement in 2002.