| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Stubbs | ||
| Date of birth | 6 October 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Kirkby, Merseyside, England | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1990–1996 | Bolton Wanderers | 202 | (9) |
| 1996–2001 | Celtic | 93 | (3) |
| 2001–2005 | Everton | 124 | (3) |
| 2005–2006 | Sunderland | 10 | (1) |
| 2006–2008 | Everton | 45 | (3) |
| 2008 | Derby County | 9 | (1) |
| Total | 483 | (19) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1994 | England B | 2 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:33, 12 March 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Alan Stubbs (born 6 October 1971 in Kirkby, Merseyside, England) is a retired English footballer who played as a centre back. He was forced to retire from professional football due to a troublesome knee injury on the 20 August 2008. The final match of his career was against Doncaster Rovers on 9 August 2008. Stubbs is now on the coaching staff at Everton.
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Stubbs started his career at Bolton Wanderers, turning professional in 1990 when they were members of the Football League Third Division. He played 23 league games that season but it was a disappointing first season at Burnden Park for Stubbs as his side missed out on automatic promotion on goal difference and were beaten by Tranmere Rovers in the playoff final. He remained a regular player in 1991-92 but this campaign brought further frustration as Bolton finished 13th in the Third Division and manager Phil Neal was dismissed to make way for Bruce Rioch.
Stubbs remained part of Rioch's plans as Bolton began 1992-93 in the new Division Two (following the creation of the FA Premier League and the renumbering of the three remaining Football League divisions) and scored twice in 42 league appearances as they sealed promotion as runners-up. He became club captain soon afterwards and in 1994-95 led them through their best season in years where they reached Wembley twice. The first visit to Wembley came in March, where they reached the Football League Cup final for the first time in their history, only to lose 2-1 to Liverpool. There was no shame in the result, however, as they lost to the first club to win the competition five times and one who finished fourth in the Premier League that season. The return to Wembley for the Division One playoff final two months later was a happier occasion for Stubbs and his colleagues, though for 75 minutes it looked as though it would be another disappointment as Bolton trailed 2-0 to Reading in the contest for a place in the Premier League. But a remarkable turnaround saw them drawing 2-2 after 90 minutes to force extra time, and they went on to win 4-3 and return to the top flight for the first time since 1980.
Before the start of the season, Bolton manage Bruce Rioch departed to Arsenal and attempted to bring Stubbs with him, but this was unsuccessful.[1]
However, during the summer and into the beginning of the next season he made no secret of his desire to leave the club, which did not go down well with fans who made their feelings clear for the rest of the season.[2] However, he remained with Bolton throughout their 1995-96 campaign, their first in the top flight for 16 years, which was mostly spent in the bottom two places of the table and ended with them being relegated in bottom place.
He joined Celtic on 10 July 1996 for £4,000,000, a record signing for Celtic and at the time the second biggest sale for Bolton.
Stubbs is probably best remembered for his injury time goal in a 1-1 draw with Rangers in the 1997-98 season. Many believe that this was the most important goal of the season for Celtic; they would later go on to win the SPL, their first league title since 1988, and prevent Rangers from securing a record breaking 10 league titles in a row. He did play 11 games in their 2000-01 SPL title, but missed most of the campaign as he underwent treatment to cure testicular cancer.
He joined Everton in July 2001 after winning his battle against cancer. On his arrival at Goodison Park, Stubbs stated it had always been his dream to play for the club. Stubbs confirmed at the time part of his motive for moving to Everton was that he wanted to return home to his native Merseyside with his wife Mandy.
Stubbs quickly became a regular member of the team and excelled during his first season, as Everton finished 15th and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Stubbs continued to be a consistent performer in the heart of the Toffees defence during the 2002–03 as he helped them finish seventh in the Premier League (their highest finish since 1996) under new manager David Moyes, and 2003–04, although they dipped to 17th and narrowly avoided relegation in this campaign.
The 2004–05 season was another successful campaign for Stubbs. Although a shoulder injury kept him out in April, he made 36 appearances and even rose from defence to score - in a 2–1 win against Portsmouth. He was set to continue as a vital part of the squad in 2005–06, but refused to sign a new contract as the club were willing to offer him only a one-year deal, and later revelations suggested a "cancer clause" in the contract that Stubbs was unhappy with. It was also a successful season for Everton as a team, as they bounced back from the previous season's dismal finish and the sale of Wayne Rooney and finished fourth to qualify for the UEFA Champions League - finishing ahead of Liverpool for the first time since their most recent title win in 1987.
Stubbs signed for Sunderland on the August 2, 2005, but it was not a successful move. Despite a promising start, his form soon dipped, and he often found himself out of the team. In the weeks leading up to the January transfer window, Stubbs was constantly linked with a move back to Everton, and was spotted by the Sky Sports cameras at Goodison Park when Sunderland weren't playing well.
This led to a fierce denial from Stubbs, claiming he was only at Goodison because his daughter was an Everton fan. However, Stubbs' final appearance at the Stadium of Light was to be the 3–0 victory over Northwich Victoria in the FA Cup, and Stubbs returned to Everton shortly after. He scored once for Sunderland, in a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal on 5 November 2005. This was one of the worst seasons in Sunderland's history, as they were relegated with a then record Premier League low of 3 wins and 15 points.[3]
Stubbs returned to Everton on a free transfer on 20 January 2006 and claimed his time spent at Sunderland was like "being injured for 6 months", and said the cancer clause incident was an "unfortunate mistake." He later went on to say his denial over the transfer was a lie, and that he had cheered when new team-mate Tim Cahill scored a last minute winner for Everton against Sunderland on New Year's Eve - whilst Stubbs was still a Sunderland player. This left him very unpopular with the Sunderland fans, who booed his every touch during the 2–2 draw with Everton on April 1, 2006.
Despite the arrival of Joleon Lescott that summer, Stubbs maintained his place in starting line up and proved to be a pivotal figure behind Everton's push for a UEFA Cup place.
In September 2007 after the murder of Rhys Jones, an 11-year-old Everton fan shot dead in Croxteth, Stubbs delivered a reading at his funeral to a packed Liverpool Cathedral including members of Everton and Liverpool.[4]
On January 31, 2008, Stubbs moved to Derby County in a 18 month deal on a free transfer.[5] Derby's relegation from the Premiership with eleven points meant that Stubbs had been involved in the campaigns of the teams with two lowest points totals attained since the league's inception. On 20 August 2008, just after the start of Derby's 2008-09 Football League Championship campaign, it was announced that a recurring knee injury had forced him to retire from playing football.
Stubbs won an England 'B' cap on May 10, 1994 in a match against Northern Ireland 'B' at Hillsborough. England won the match 4–2.
In September 2008, not long after retiring from playing, Alan found himself back at Everton, in the role of Coach.[6] More specifically, he's currently assisting Reserve Team Coach Andy Holden, as well as assisting with the Under 18 players.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Phil Brown |
Bolton Wanderers Captain 1994–1996 |
Succeeded by Guðni Bergsson |
| Preceded by Robbie Savage |
Derby County Captain 2008 |
Succeeded by Paul Connolly |
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