Alan A'Court	Liverpool FC 5 caps, 1 goal P 5 W 0 D 3 L 2 F 6:A 8 30% successful 1957-58 disciplined: none captaincies: none minutes played: 450
Profile
Full name	Alan A'Court
Born	30 September 1934 at Rainhill, Lancashire
Died	15 December 2009
Height/Weight	5' 8¼", 10st 7lbs, [1958]
Source	Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].
Club Career
Club(s)	Began with Prescot Cables and Prescot Celtic, before signing with Liverpool FC in September 1952.  After 355 games and 61 goals, A'Court joined Tranmere Rovers FC in October 1964 for £4,500, where he played a further 50 games, scoring 11.
Club honours	Football League Division Two winners 1961-62;
Individual honours	Football League (2 appearances).
Distinctions	A' Court is the youngest Liverpool player to make 200 league appearances for the club, aged 24 years and 89 days.
Source	Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & LFChistory.net
Management Career
Club(s)	After leaving Tranmere, A'Court became player-coach at Norwich City FC in July 1966.  He became the assistant manager at Chester FC in early 1969 and then became assistant manager at Crewe Alexandra FC until September 1969. Stoke City FC coach from 1970, becoming its caretaker manager in January 1978 for a month. He also had various coaching roles abroad, including Ndola United (Zambia) and New Zealand.
Club honours	None.
Individual honours	None.
Distinctions	None.
Source	The World Cup Who's Who 1950-2002.
England Career
Player number	764th player to appear for England.
Position(s)	Outside-left
First match	No. 316, 6 November 1957, England 2 Northern Ireland 3, a British Championship match at Empire Stadium, Wembley, aged 23 years 37 days.
Last match	No. 328, 26 November 1958, England 2 Wales 2, a British Championship match at Villa Park, Birmingham, aged 24 years 57 days.
Major tournaments	World Cup Finals 1958; British Championships 1957-58, 1958-59;
Team honours	British Championships 1957-58 (shared), 1958-59 (shared);
Individual honours	England U23 (7 appearances, 1 goal).
Distinctions	A'Court achieved his distinctions with England, replacing the injured Tom Finney, whilst still a second division player.
Beyond England
Joined the sporting staff at North Staffordshire Polytechnic before running a newsagents in Birkenhead. - RedandWhiteKop.com

 

Alan A'Court - Match History
Club:  Liverpool F.C. - 5 full caps Coach: Walter Winterbottom - 5 full capsx
Age 22
-	u23	17 October 1956 - England U23 0 France U23 0, Ashton Gate, Bristol	Fr	HW	Start	11
-	u23	19 May 1957 - Bulgaria U23 2 England U23 1, Sofiya	Fr	AL	Start	11
-	u23	26 May 1957 - Romania U23 0 England U23 1, Stadional 23 August, Bucureşti	Fr	AW	squad member
-	u23	30 May 1957 - Czechoslovakia U23 0 England U23 2, Bratislava	Fr	AW	Start	11
-	u23	25 September 1957 - England U23 6 Bulgaria U23 0, Stamford Bridge, London	Fr	HW	Start	11
Age 23
-	u23	16 October 1957 - England U23 3 Romania U23 2, Empire Stadium, Wembley	Fr	HW	Start	10
1	316	6 November 1957, England 2 Northern Ireland 3, Empire Stadium, Wembley	HL	BC	Start	11
-	u23	15 January 1958 - England U23 3 Scotland U23 1, Goodison Park, Liverpool	Fr	HW	Start	11
-	u23	23 April 1958 - Wales U23 2 England U23 1, Y Cae Ras, Wrecsam	Fr	AL	Start	11
2	323	11 June 1958, Brazil 0 England 0, Nya Ullevi Stadion, Göteborg	ND	WCF	Start	21
3	324	15 June 1958, England 2 Austria 2, Ryavallen Stadion, Borås	ND		Start	21
4	325	17 June 1958, USSR 1 England 0, Nya Ullevi Stadion, Göteborg	NL		Start	21
Age 24
5	328	26 November 1958, England 2 Wales 2, Villa Park, Birmingham	HD	BC	Start	11

Notes

Born in Rainhill, St Helens, Merseyside, England, A'Court was a winger who started out at Prescot Celtic as an amateur before he was signed by Reds manager Don Welsh, Alan made his debut in a league match at Ayresome Park on the 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 the 14 March, again, in a league match, this time at Anfield in a 2-0 victory over Sunderland.

A'Court, who followed Rugby League, signed from Prescot as an 18-year-old in September 1952, spurning the advances of Everton and Bolton 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 but Liverpool were relegated to the Second Division.

During the Anfield clubs first season in the second tier of English football A'Court established himself as a first team regular making 33 league and cup appearances. Alan remained consistent even though Liverpool failed to regain their top flight status. By the age of 24 years and 89 days Alan 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 First Division, his loyalty to Liverpool was rewarded in 1962 when, as an ever-present, he and the Reds celebrated promotion back to the First Division under the guidance of the great Bill Shankly a full 8 points, in the days of 2 points for a win, clear of 2nd placed Leyton Orient. Alan was selected 23 times during the Liverpool's first season back amongst football's elite teams; he helped Liverpool to a more than healthy 8th place.

Whilst still in Division 2 A'Court's skill alerted 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 5 caps on the 6 November 1957 in a British Championship match against Northern Ireland at 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 Alan's career has to be representing England at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, he played in all 3 matches against Brazil (0-0), Austria (2-2) and the USSR (0-1), remember he did this despite playing, at the time, in the Second Division.

Unfortunately for Alan injuries began to take their toll, he missed the whole of the 1963/64 championship winning season, so Shankly signed Peter Thompson from Preston and after spending most of his career at Liverpool, playing 382 times and scoring 63 goals, he was allowed to leave. He joined Tranmere Rovers for a fee of £4,500 in October 1964. A'Court's final outing in a Red shirt was in a historic match, it was Liverpool's first ever European match at Anfield, the game was a European Cup preliminary round 2nd leg which took place on the 14 September 1964. Liverpool had won the first encounter with Icelandic side 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.

He later became player coach at Norwich City before taking on various coaching jobs, including posts in Zambia and New Zealand, he also became assistant manager at Stoke City when George Eastham called upon his services in 1969, he eventually took over the reins in January 1978 for a month as caretaker when Eastham departed. From Stoke he moved to Crewe Alexandra, again, as an assistant. He then went to join the sport staff at North Staffordshire Polytechnic which became Staffordshire University. After finally retiring from football Alan ran a tobacconist/newsagent shop on the borders of Birkenhead and Bebington, Merseyside. - Liverpool Heroes of the Past. (RedandWhiteKop.com)

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