View source for Alan A'Court

{{Short description|English footballer (1934–2009)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Alan A'Court
| image          = 
| full_name      = Alan A'Court<ref name="Hugman 2015">{{cite book |editor-first=Barry J. |editor-last=Hugman |title=The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2015 |year=2015 |publisher=G2 Entertainment Ltd |isbn=9781782811671}}</ref>
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1934|9|30|df=y}}<ref name="Hugman 2015"/>
| birth_place    = [[Rainhill]], England
| death_date     = {{death date and age|2009|12|14|1934|9|30|df=y}}<ref name="Hugman 2015"/>
| death_place    = [[Nantwich]], England
| position       = [[Winger (association football)|Winger]]
| youthyears1    = {{0|0000}}–1952
| youthclubs1    = [[Prescot Cables F.C.|Prescot Cables]]
| years1         = 1952–1964 | clubs1 = [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]             |caps1 = 354 |goals1 = 61
| years2         = 1964–1966 | clubs2 = [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]] |caps2 = 50  |goals2 = 11
| years3         = 1966–1967 | clubs3 = [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]]       |caps3 = 0   |goals3 = 0
| totalcaps      = 404
| totalgoals     = 72
| nationalyears1 = 1957–1958
| nationalteam1  = [[England national football team|England]]
| nationalcaps1  = 5
| nationalgoals1 = 1
| manageryears1  = 1978
| managerclubs1  = [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] (caretaker)
| manageryears2  = 1983–1984
| managerclubs2  = [[Nantwich Town F.C.|Nantwich Town]]
}}

'''Alan A'Court''' (30 September 1934 – 14 December 2009) was an English professional [[association football|footballer]] who mostly played for [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]. He gained five caps for England and represented the nation at the [[1958 FIFA World Cup]].

==Playing career==
Born in [[Rainhill]], [[Lancashire]], England, A'Court was a [[winger (association football)|winger]] who started out at [[Prescot Cables F.C.|Prescot Cables]] as an amateur before he was signed by Reds manager [[Don Welsh]]. A'Court made his debut in a league match at [[Ayresome Park]] on 7 February 1953, a game that saw Liverpool take both the points from a 3–2 win. His first goal came a month later on 14 March, again in a league match, this time at [[Anfield]] in a 2–0 victory over [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]].

A'Court, who followed [[Rugby league]], signed from Prescot as an 18-year-old in September 1952, spurning the advances of [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] and [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] to become an Anfield apprentice, a decision that paid off as just six months after joining he made his first team debut. The following season A'Court played 16 times, as Liverpool were relegated to the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]].

During the Anfield club's first season in the second tier of English football A'Court established himself as a first team regular making 33 league and cup appearances. A'Court remained consistent as Liverpool failed to regain their top flight status. By the age of 24 years and 89 days he had played 200 league games for the Reds becoming the youngest player to do so, a record that still stands.

Although the strong and talented A'Court could have left to play for teams in the [[Football League First Division|First Division]], his loyalty to Liverpool was rewarded in [[1961–62 in English football|1961–62]] when, as an ever-present, he and the Reds celebrated promotion back to the First Division under the guidance of [[Bill Shankly]], finishing a full eight points (in the days of two points for a win) clear of second placed [[Leyton Orient F.C.|Leyton Orient]]. A'Court was selected 23 times during Liverpool's first season back amongst football's elite teams; he helped Liverpool to an eighth-place finish in the First Division.

Whilst still in Division 2 A'Court's skill alerted [[England national football team|England]] manager [[Walter Winterbottom]], who was looking for a player to replace an injured [[Tom Finney]]; Winterbottom handed the left winger the first of his five [[Cap (sport)|caps]] on 6 November 1957 in a [[British Home Championship|British Championship]] match against [[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]]. A'Court's only goal for his country and a goal for [[Duncan Edwards]] were not enough to prevent England losing the game 3–2. The highlight of his career was representing England at the [[1958 FIFA World Cup]] in Sweden, where he played in England's last three matches against [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]] (0–0), [[Austria national football team|Austria]] (2–2), and the group stage play-off game against the [[Soviet Union national football team|USSR]] (0–1). He did this despite playing for a club in the Second Division.

Unfortunately for A'Court, injuries began to take their toll. He missed the whole of the [[1963–64 in English football|1963–64]] championship winning season, so Shankly signed [[Peter Thompson (footballer, born 1942)|Peter Thompson]] from [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]]. After spending most of his career at Liverpool, playing 382 times and scoring 63 goals, A'Court was allowed to leave. He joined [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]] for a fee of [[Pound sterling|£]]4,500 in October 1964. A'Court's final outing in a Red shirt was in a historic match: Liverpool's first ever European match at [[Anfield]], the game was a [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] preliminary round 2nd leg match on 14 September 1964. Liverpool had won the first encounter with [[Iceland]]ic side [[KR Reykjavik|KR]] 5–0 but rather than treat the return leg as a mere formality, the Reds finished off the job with a comprehensive 6–1 victory.

==Coaching career==
A'Court later became player-coach at [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] before taking on various coaching jobs, including posts in Zambia and New Zealand, he also became assistant manager at [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] when [[Tony Waddington]] called upon his services in 1969. In January 1978 [[George Eastham]] was sacked and A'Court was put in caretaker charge. His only match in charge of Stoke came in the [[FA Cup]] at home to non-league [[Blyth Spartans F.C.|Blyth Spartans]] in [[1977–78 Stoke City F.C. season|1977–78]], Stoke lost the match 3–2.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City">{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0-9524151-0-0}}</ref>

Once new manager [[Alan Durban]] was appointed A'Court moved to [[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]] as an assistant manager. He then went to join the sport staff at [[Staffordshire University|North Staffordshire Polytechnic]]. He managed [[Nantwich Town F.C.|Nantwich Town]] from September 1983 to April 1984.

==Post retirement==
After finally retiring from football, A'Court ran a tobacconist/newsagent shop on the borders of [[Birkenhead]] and [[Bebington]]. A'Court died of cancer on 14 December 2009.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120912085105/http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/stokecity/Stoke-boss-Court-dies-aged-75/article-1610732-detail/article.html Former Stoke boss A'Court dies, aged 75], Retrieved on 15 December 2009</ref>

==Career statistics==
===Club===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>{{ENFA}}</ref>
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|FA Cup
!colspan="2"|League Cup
!colspan="2"|Europe
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="14"|[[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
|[[1952–53 in English football|1952–53]]
|[[Football League First Division|First Division]]
|12||2||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||12||0
|-
|[[1953–54 in English football|1953–54]]
|First Division
|16||3||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||16||3
|-
|[[1954–55 in English football|1954–55]]
|[[Football League Second Division|Second Division]]
|30||2||3||1||0||0||colspan="2"|–||33||3
|-
|[[1955–56 in English football|1955–56]]
|Second Division
|40||6||5||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||45||6
|-
|[[1956–57 in English football|1956–57]]
|Second Division
|38||10||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||39||10
|-
|[[1957–58 in English football|1957–58]]
|Second Division
|39||6||5||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||44||6
|-
|[[1958–59 in English football|1958–59]]
|Second Division
|39||7||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||40||7
|-
|[[1959–60 in English football|1959–60]]
|Second Division
|42||8||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||44||8
|-
|[[1960–61 in English football|1960–61]]
|Second Division
|33||7||2||0||2||0||colspan="2"|–||37||7
|-
|[[1961–62 in English football|1961–62]]
|Second Division
|42||8||5||1||0||0||colspan="2"|–||47||9
|-
|[[1962–63 in English football|1962–63]]
|First Division
|23||2||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||23||2
|-
|[[1963–64 in English football|1963–64]]
|First Division
|0||0||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||0||0
|-
|[[1964–65 in English football|1964–65]]
|First Division
|0||0||0||0||0||0||1||0||1||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!354!!61!!6!!2!!2!!0!!1!!0!!363!!63
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]]
|[[1964–65 in English football|1964–65]]
|Fourth Division
|24||4||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||26||4
|-
|[[1965–66 in English football|1965–66]]
|Fourth Division
|26||7||1||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||28||7
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!50!!11!!3!!0!!1!!0!!0!!0!!54!!11
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!404!!72!!27!!2!!3!!0!!1!!0!!435!!74
|}

===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref>{{NFT player|4907}}</ref>
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[England national football team|England]]
|1957||1||1
|-
|1958||4||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!5!!1
|}

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first.''
:''Score and result list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after A'Court's goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ International goal scored by Alan A'Court
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1 || 6 November 1957 || [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], London || {{flagicon|NIR}}[[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]] || style="text-align:center"|1–1 || style="text-align:center"|2–3 || [[1958 British Home Championship]]
|}

==Managerial statistics==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Managerial record by club and tenure
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|From
!rowspan="2"|To
!colspan="5"|Record
|-
!{{abbr|P|Matches played}}!!{{abbr|W|Matches won}}!!{{abbr|D|Matches drawn}}!!{{abbr|L|Matches lost}}!!{{abbr|Win %|Win percentage}}
|-
|align=left|[[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]]<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>
|align=left|9 January 1978
|align=left|13 February 1978
{{WDL|1|0|0|1|decimals=1}}
|-
!colspan="3"|Total
{{WDLtot|1|0|0|1|decimals=1}}
|}

==References==
; Specific
{{reflist}}
; General
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite news |first=Ivan |last=Ponting |title=Alan A'Court: Footballer who played a crucial role in Liverpool's rise to join the elite in the early Shankly years |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-acourt-footballer-who-played-a-crucial-role-in-liverpools-rise-to-join-the-elite-in-the-early-shankly-years-1845129.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103101243/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-acourt-footballer-who-played-a-crucial-role-in-liverpools-rise-to-join-the-elite-in-the-early-shankly-years-1845129.html |archive-date=3 January 2010 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |work=The Independent |date=19 December 2009 |access-date=19 December 2009}}
* {{cite news |first=Paul |last=Snowdon |title=Liverpool FC mourn the death of legend Alan A'Court at the age of 75 |url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/12/16/liverpool-fc-mourn-the-death-of-legend-alan-a-court-at-the-age-of-75-92534-25400872/ |work=Liverpool Daily Post |date=16 December 2009 |access-date=19 December 2009}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.liverpoolfc.com/info/alan-acourt Profile] at the Liverpool F.C. website
* [http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=251 Player profile at LFChistory.net]
* [http://www.lfchistory.net/Articles/Article/3013 Exclusive interview at LFChistory.net]
* {{Englandstats}}
* {{FIFA player}}

{{England Squad 1958 World Cup}}
{{Stoke City F.C. managers}}
{{Liverpool F.C. Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acourt, Alan}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:1958 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:England men's international footballers]]
[[Category:England men's under-23 international footballers]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football wingers]]
[[Category:Liverpool F.C. players]]
[[Category:Norwich City F.C. players]]
[[Category:People associated with Staffordshire University]]
[[Category:People from Rainhill]]
[[Category:Footballers from Merseyside]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens]]
[[Category:Stoke City F.C. managers]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Tranmere Rovers F.C. players]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:English Football League managers]]
[[Category:Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:English Football League representative players]]
[[Category:People educated at Prescot Grammar School]]
[[Category:Nantwich Town F.C. managers]]
[[Category:English football coaches]]
[[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]