| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Stephenson | ||
| Date of birth | 26 September 1944 | ||
| Place of birth | Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1961–1968 | Crystal Palace | 170 | (13) |
| 1968–1972 | West Ham United | 108 | (0) |
| 1971–1972 | → Fulham (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 1972–1975 | Portsmouth | 98 | (0) |
| 1975 | Durban United | ||
| National team‡ | |||
| England U-23 | 7 | (0) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:00, 9 July 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Alan Stephenson (born 26 September 1944) is a former professional footballer, who is most often associated with Crystal Palace and West Ham United.
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Starting as an amateur footballer aged sixteen[1], Stephenson made his footballing debut for Crystal Palace as a seventeen year old in 1961. Dominating in the air and solid in defence he made a major contribution towards Palace's climb up and promotion from the Third Division. He was appointed as captain by manager Dick Graham and from 1964, rarely missed a game playing alongside Brian Wood.[2] Stephenson was sold to West Ham in 1968 for a club record fee of £80,000. He made his first appearance for West Ham on 16 March 1968 in a 0-0 away draw with Southampton. [3] Joining a team which contained World Cup winning heroes Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst and Bobby Moore, he made over 100 appearances for West Ham, most of them alongside Moore. Stephenson failed to solve the defensive problems which had existed since the departure of Ken Brown in 1965 and following a loan spell for Fulham in season 1971-72 he was transferred for £32,000 to Portsmouth for whom he made 98 appearances until 1975. In 1975 Stephenson moved to South Africa, playing for Durban United before returning in 1977 to coach at Orient. [4] [1] He coached their reserve team but after four years with Orient quit football to run a pub in Colchester[1] and to work as an education and welfare officer with Essex County Council.[5]
Stephenson made seven appearances for the England U-23 team.[4]