Alan Hinton
 Hinton announcing a Seattle Sounders FC match in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Thomas Hinton | ||
| Date of birth | 6 October 1942 | ||
| Place of birth | Wednesbury, England | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Left wing | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1959–1961 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1961–1964 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 75 | (29) |
| 1964–1967 | Nottingham Forest | 112 | (24) |
| 1967–1975 | Derby County | 253 | (63) |
| 1976 | Borrowash Victoria | ||
| 1977 | Dallas Tornado | 24 | (4) |
| 1978 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 29 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 1962–1964 | England | 3 | (1) |
| 1963–1964 |
England U23 | 7 | (6) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1979 | Tulsa Roughnecks | ||
| 1980–1982 |
Seattle Sounders | ||
| 1984 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | ||
| 1985–1990 |
Tacoma Stars | ||
| 1994 | Seattle Sounders | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alan Thomas Hinton (born 6 October 1942) is an English former footballer who played at the top level of English football from 1961 to 1975.[2] He famously wore white football boots.[3]
Playing career
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Hinton started his career in the youth ranks at Wolverhampton Wanderers in October 1959, before making his senior debut on 7 January 1961 in a 1–1 draw with Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup.[citation needed] He came into the Wolves team during the 1961–62 season when he managed 16 appearances, scoring 5 times. The following season, he was a first choice in the wide left position, from where he netted 19 times, making him their leading goalscorer. He also won a call-up to the England team during this season when he played against France on 3 October 1962 in a European Championship qualifier at Hillsborough.[4]
Nottingham Forest
His time with Forest also saw him earn two further England caps, in a 2–2 draw with Belgium – in which he scored – and a 2–1 win over Wales, both in 1964.
Derby County
He was then signed by Brian Clough for Derby County (local rivals of Forest) in September 1967 for £30,000. He spent eight seasons with the Rams, which coincided with the golden period in the club's history, winning promotion to the top flight as Second Division champions in 1968–69 and then winning the league championship in both 1971–72 and 1974–75. He departed in 1975 after 253 appearances and 63 goals for Derby. Whilst at Derby he was universally and affectionately known, amongst the fans by his nickname `Gladys` which stemmed from his aforementioned white boots and curly blonde perm, along with his elegant and non-aggressive playing style.[4]
Later playing career
After a brief stint as player-manager of non-league
Managerial career
Having settled in North America, Hinton managed only Canadian and American teams, his biggest successes were with the
Hinton also spent a number of years coaching youth soccer in the Puget Sound area of Washington state and became known as "Mr. Soccer" in the area.[3][6] He coached the U13-18 Crossfire Sounders boys team (now the Crossfire Premier Soccer Club, including boys and girls teams) from 1992 to 1997.[7]
Hinton was involved in efforts to bring the 1994 FIFA World Cup to the U.S.[citation needed], and when the Seattle Sounders name was revived for a new American Professional Soccer League club in 1994, Hinton became club President and appointed himself as coach.[8]
Personal life
After retiring from coaching, Hinton turned to a career in real estate, while remaining involved in youth soccer. He served as a local broadcast analyst for Seattle Sounders FC. His nephew, Craig, is also a professional footballer.
On 18 November 2014 Hinton tweeted that his bladder cancer had returned and that he would have major surgery on 7 January 2015. A few weeks later he tweeted that the pathology results showed him to be "clear".[5]
On 1 June 2020, Hinton tweeted controversial remarks about black soccer players that led to Sounders FC officially ending a 40-year relationship with him.[9]
References
- ^ "Alan Hinton". englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ Zielonka, John. "Goal.com Exclusive: Alan Hinton Talks Soccer". Yahoo! Sports.
- ^ a b Lewis, Michael (19 April 2016). "Alan Hinton: the stylist in white boots who became America's Mr Soccer". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ a b Lewis, Michael (19 April 2016). "Alan Hinton: the stylist in white boots who became America's Mr Soccer". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
- ^ Seattle Times. Archived from the originalon 15 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Mr. Soccer seeks new challenges". Seattle Pitch.
- ^ "The Inaugural Class of the Crossfire Premier Hall of Fame!". Crossfire Premier Soccer Club. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012.
- Seattle Times.
- ^ "Sounders part ways with broadcaster and former coach Alan Hinton over tweet". 3 June 2020.