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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Alexander Cyril Stepney | ||
Date of birth | (1942-09-18) 18 September 1942 (age 81) | ||
Place of birth | Mitcham, Surrey, England | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Youth career | |||
Tooting & Mitcham United | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1961β1963 | Tooting & Mitcham United | 35 | (0) |
1963β1966 | Millwall | 137 | (0) |
1966 | Chelsea | 1 | (0) |
1966β1978 | Manchester United | 433 | (2) |
1979β1980 | Dallas Tornado | 54 | (0) |
1979β1980 | β Altrincham (loan) | 17 | (0) |
1981β1982 | 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 theββfirst English clubββto win the European Cup.
Early careerβ»
Born in Mitcham, Surrey, Stepney had unsuccessful trials with Fulham and joined Tooting & Mitcham United. From there, he was spotted by Millwall, who signed him as an amateur in 1963. But quickly realised his potential and "made him a professional within two months of his arrival." Stepney was ever-present for almost three seasons, "making 158 appearances," only missing the last game of the 1965β66 season. During this period, "he earned three England under-23 caps."
In May 1966, Stepney joined Chelsea for Β£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 Β£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 1β0 through a first-half goal from Denis Law.
League and European successβ»
With Stepney in goal, Manchester United won the First Division title in 1967, earning them entry into the European Cup the following season, a competition that no English club had yet won. Stepney featured throughout United's progress to the final at Wembley Stadium, during which he made a memorable close-range save from Benfica striker EusΓ©bio in the closing stages with the score at 1β1. EusΓ©bio was so astonished at Stepney's save that he stopped to applaud the keeper as Stepney threw the ball back into play. United eventually won 4β1 after extra time.
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 1β0, Jennings punted the ball upfield from the Stretford End; the ball bounced over the stranded Stepney into the net. The game ended 3β3 with United's goals coming from Bobby Charlton (2) and Denis Law.
International recognitionβ»
Although a highly talented keeper, Stepney was a distance down the pecking order when it came to the England team. Gordon Banks was the undisputed number one, with Peter Bonetti of Chelsea, Gordon West of Everton and the more experienced Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Ron Springett all in Stepney's way. When England qualified for the final stages of the 1968 European Championships, coach Alf Ramsey selected Stepney and West as the two back-up keepers to Banks and, in what turned into a momentous week for Stepney, he made his England debut in a friendly win over Sweden in May 1968, seven days before the European Cup final. England won 3β1.
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 β who had six caps to Stepney's one β to whom Ramsey turned, although Stepney did make it onto the substitutes' bench. England squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3β2 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 careerβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/AjaxManchesterUnited1976b.jpg/300px-AjaxManchesterUnited1976b.jpg)
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. 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 (1974β75). During this time, Stepney suffered a freak injury when he dislocated his jaw while barking instructions at his disorganised defence.
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 Paddy Roche for a regular starting position. Stepney was the only player with any Wembley experience at club level at all when United reached the 1976 FA Cup final and the nerves of the youngsters got the better of them as Southampton, a division below United but containing some experienced heads of Stepney's generation, won 1β0. Stepney had no chance with the goal from Bobby Stokes, a late, low, crossfield shot which United claimed fruitlessly was from an offside position.
United reached the cup final again in 1977, against Liverpool. And this time were successful. Stepney got a hand to a bullet shot on the turn from Jimmy Case but could not stop it entering the net and levelling the match after Stuart Pearson had scored for United. Jimmy Greenhoff quickly restored United's lead and Stepney made some good saves in the closing stages as Liverpool, chasing an unprecedented 'treble' of trophies (having already won the league title, and just days later going on to win the European Cup), piled on the pressure.
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 careerβ»
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 clean sheets, made a club record 92 consecutive appearances (later broken by Steve Coppell) and, with those two goals, remains United's top scoring goalkeeper. Aside from Peter Schmeichel (who scored in a 1995β96 UEFA Cup game), no other Manchester United goalkeeper has scored in a competitive game for the club after World War II.
Towards the end of his career, he turned out for non-league side Altrincham in the early 1980s, when they were competing in the Alliance Premier League. He helped them win the Alliance Premier League title in 1980β81 (they had won it the 1979β80 season as well), but they did not win promotion to the Football League as the re-election system was still in place and the majority of the league's members voted against them joining the Football League, ending Stepney's hopes of a professional comeback.
Stepney became a goalkeeping coach after he stopped playing, including spell at Manchester City in 2000β01. He also works as an after-dinner speaker and currently hosts The Legends Football Phone in on 105.4 Century Radio in Manchester, replacing Mickey Thomas β another former Manchester United player.
Style of playβ»
Stepney was never a flashy performer and perhaps his most impressive quality was his positioning, though he could also demonstrate agility when required.
Honoursβ»
Manchester United
- Football League First Division: 1966β67
- FA Cup: 1976β77; runner-up: 1975β76
- FA Charity Shield: 1967, 1977
- European Cup: 1967β68
Referencesβ»
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Alex Stepney (Player)". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ Bethel, Chris; Sullivan, David (2002). Millwall Football Club 1940β2001. Tempus Publishing. p. 56. 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.
- ^ "Alex Stepney". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- ^ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977β78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 491. ISBN 0354 09018 6.
- 1942 births
- Living people
- Footballers from the London Borough of Merton
- People from Mitcham
- English men's footballers
- Men's association football goalkeepers
- Millwall F.C. players
- Chelsea F.C. players
- Manchester United F.C. players
- Dallas Tornado players
- Altrincham F.C. players
- Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players
- English Football League players
- North American Soccer League (1968β1984) players
- England men's international footballers
- England men's under-23 international footballers
- UEFA Euro 1968 players
- 1970 FIFA World Cup players
- Rochdale A.F.C. non-playing staff
- Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff
- English Football League representative players
- English expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
- English expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- UEFA Champions League winning players