Alex Stepney
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Alexander Cyril Stepney | ||
Date of birth | 18 September 1942 | ||
Place of birth | Mitcham, Surrey, England | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Youth career | |||
Tooting & Mitcham United | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1961–1963 | Tooting & Mitcham United | 35 | (0) |
1963–1966 | Millwall | 137 | (0) |
1966 | Chelsea | 1 | (0) |
1966–1978 | Manchester United | 433 | (2) |
1979–1980 | Dallas Tornado | 54 | (0) |
1979–1980 | → Altrincham (loan) | 17 | (0) |
1981–1982 | Altrincham | 1 | (0) |
Total | 678 | (2) | |
International career | |||
England U23 | |||
1968 | England | 1 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Alexander Cyril Stepney (born 18 September 1942) is an English former footballer who was Manchester United's goalkeeper when they became the first English club to win the European Cup.
Early career
Born in
In May 1966, Stepney joined Chelsea for £50,000. Manager Tommy Docherty initially intended to play Stepney and fellow goalkeeper Peter Bonetti in alternate weeks, but just three months later Stepney was sold to Manchester United for a record fee of £55,000, having made just one appearance for the club. With Harry Gregg's career virtually ended by injury, the Manchester United manager, Matt Busby, opted for Stepney after deciding that neither Pat Dunne nor the injury-prone David Gaskell was up to the job. Stepney made his debut for United later the same year against Manchester City at Old Trafford, and he kept a clean sheet as United won 1–0 through a first-half goal from Denis Law.
League and European success
With Stepney in goal, Manchester United won the
At the start of that season, Stepney had conceded a goal to his opposite number at Tottenham Hotspur, Pat Jennings, in the 1967 FA Charity Shield at Old Trafford. With Tottenham leading 1–0, Jennings punted the ball upfield from the Stretford End; the ball bounced over the stranded Stepney into the net. The game ended 3–3 with United's goals coming from Bobby Charlton (2) and Denis Law.
International recognition
Although a highly talented keeper, Stepney was a distance down the pecking order when it came to the
Ramsey kept Stepney in his thoughts in his preparations for England's defence of the FIFA World Cup in 1970, for which England did not have to qualify having won the previous tournament, but did not give him another cap as the likes of Bonetti and West added to their meagre tallies of appearances. However, when the preliminary squad of 27 was announced, Stepney was in, along with Banks, Bonetti and uncapped rookie Peter Shilton, with no sign of West. When the final 22 who would travel to Mexico was confirmed, Shilton was the goalkeeper sent home.
Nevertheless, Stepney was clearly the third-choice goalkeeper in the squad and the chances of his appearing on the pitch in Mexico were small. When Banks went down with food poisoning prior to the quarter-final with West Germany, it was the slightly more experienced Bonetti – who had six caps to Stepney's one – to whom Ramsey turned, although Stepney did make it onto the substitutes' bench. England squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3–2 and it was Stepney who told the groggy, ill Banks the scoreline in his hotel room by holding up three fingers on one hand and two on the other.
Later Manchester United career
Stepney was occasionally recalled by Ramsey but would ultimately not add to his solitary England cap, with Shilton emerging as the new deputy and ultimate long-term replacement. He continued to play in goal for Manchester United in a period of significant underachievement for the club, which culminated in their relegation to the Second Division in 1974, a season which saw Stepney, unusually for a goalkeeper, score two goals from penalties thus making him the (joint) leading scorer at Christmas.[3] For half a season he was replaced by Jimmy Rimmer. By now, with Stepney's former Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty in charge, they bounced back as Division Two champions the following season (1974–75). During this time, Stepney suffered a freak injury when he dislocated his jaw while barking instructions at his disorganised defence.[4]
The next two seasons saw Stepney as the wise head behind a new, youthful team collated by Docherty courtesy of some astute purchases and a prolific youth set-up. During this period, Stepney had to compete with
United reached the Cup Final again in
Stepney was the only player in the 1977 FA Cup winning team remaining from the European Cup winning side of nine years earlier. Stepney was also the last remaining player to play for the club under manager Matt Busby.
Later career
The following year, Stepney was again not an automatic choice, playing 23 of United's 42 games in the League. He played the last of his 546 games for Manchester United in April 1978, prior to leaving for Dallas Tornado in the North American Soccer League in the United States, where he remained until he retired from professional football in 1980.
He kept 175
Towards the end of his career, he turned out for non-league side
Stepney became a coach specialising in goalkeeping after he stopped playing, including a spell at Manchester City in 2000–01. He also works as an
Style of play
Stepney was never a flashy performer and perhaps his most impressive quality was his positioning, though he could also demonstrate agility when required.[5]
Honours
Manchester United
- First Division: 1966–67[6]
- 1976–77[6]
- 1967–68[6]
References
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Alex Stepney (Player)". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ISBN 0-7524-2187-5.
- ^ "Alex Stepney Season by Season United Career Record". stretfordend.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ "Bizarre football injuries". 10 June 2014.
- ^ "Archived item". Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Alex Stepney". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 31 August 2017.