written by Chris Wood
Rainhill-born Alan gave the club outstanding service from the day he made his debut against Middlesbrough as an 18 year old on 7th February 1953 until the last of his 355 League appearances in the final fixture of the 1962-63 season.
Peter Thompson was signed from Preston North End to fill the left-wing role that Alan had made his own for so long and he moved on to Tranmere Rovers in October 1964.
He made his farewell appearance for Liverpool in the club's historic opening European tie against Reykjavik in September 1964, despite not having played in a single League match during the whole of the previous season!
Alan had passed his 30th birthday by a few days when he moved to Tranmere and he was perhaps unlucky to just miss out on the glory days which were around the corner, having to settle for a Second Division championship medal as his only major honour with the club.
He had just begun to establish himself as a first-team regular when the club was relegated in 1954 but missed only a handful of games over the next 8 seasons before promotion was finally achieved back into the top division. Alan scored 61 League goals for Liverpool, with another 2 coming in the F.A. Cup.
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