Alan Hodgkinson

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(16 August 1936 – 8 December 2015) was an English professional football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

and goalkeeping coach.

Playing career

Hodgkinson signed for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

from

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

on 1 August 1953, and made 675 first-team appearances (576 in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

) for the Blades between 1953 and 1971, his first being a friendly game against

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on 6 April 1954. Hodgkinson made his league début in

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

in a 2–1 away victory against Newcastle United on 28 August 1954 but, despite showing his undoubted potential, the presence of number one goalkeeper Ted Burgin until 1957 and

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

limited his opportunities for the first team. The arrival of

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...

as manager established Hodgkinson's place as first-choice goalkeeper in the side behind the defensive line of

Cec Coldwell George Cecil Coldwell (12 January 1929 – 9 November 2008) was a professional footballer who played for Sheffield United from 1951 to 1968. He played in the position of right-back. Playing career Coldwell signed for Sheffield United in Septe ...

, Graham Shaw, Brian Richardson, Joe Shaw and Gerry Summers. In 1966–67, he won the Sheffield United Supporters player of the year award. His brilliance and reliability made sure of his place until the signing of John Hope in 1971. His final appearance was, like his first, in a friendly, on 23 January 1971 against

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. Hodgkinson was also an

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

International at full and under-23 levels, making his debut for both during the 1956–57 season. His first full England cap came against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1957 and he also played against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

(twice in World Cup qualifying games). He was in England's squad for the

1958 World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

in Sweden but did not feature in any of their games. Two years after his final cap, he returned to the England squad for the

1962 World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place bet ...

in Chile as backup to Ron Springett, but once again was not selected for any of the matches.

Coaching career

Hodgkinson moved on to professional coaching and worked at numerous clubs, including Rangers, Everton, Manchester City, Aston Villa,

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

, Gillingham,

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

, and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

, and is credited with bringing

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

to Manchester United. Hodgkinson worked at United for seven years before becoming

goalkeeping coach, where he tutored players such as

Jim Leighton James Leighton (born 24 July 1958) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Leighton started his career with Aberdeen, where he won seven domestic trophies and the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup under the m ...

and

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for Ra ...

. He also had a spell as a youth goalkeeping coach at Rangers and

. After a spell with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

, Hodgkinson moved to

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ke ...

and worked with goalkeeper

Billy Turley William Lee Turley (born 15 July 1973) is an English retired football goalkeeper. Career At Oxford United he was the first-choice goalkeeper under Jim Smith in the 2006–07 football season, ahead of Chris Tardif and continued to be during ...

, who then later joined Hodgkinson when he moved to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

. Turley left Oxford in 2010 but Hodgkinson remained to coach first-team keeper

Ryan Clarke Ryan James Clarke (born 30 April 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for National League South club Bath City. He previously trained with the England under-18 squad in La Manga. Career Bristol Rovers Born in ...

and later also

Max Crocombe Maxime Teremoana Crocombe (born 12 August 1993) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL League Two side Grimsby Town and the New Zealand national team. Crocombe moved to England at an early age and began his ...

. Hodgkinson's retirement from football, at the age of 76, was announced in August 2012. He is credited as being the world's first full-time goalkeeping coach; goalkeepers were required to train with outfield players before Hodgkinson's arrival into coaching.

Managerial career

Hodgkinson spent six years as assistant manager of Gillingham between 1975 and 1981, working as assistant to Gerry Summers, with whom he played at

. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to football.

Personal life

After retiring, Hodgkinson wrote an autobiography entitled ''Alan Hodgkinson Between The Sticks'', which was released on 9 May 2013. He died on 8 December 2015 at the age of 79. His funeral service took place on 23 December 2015 in

Dunchurch Dunchurch is a large village and civil parish on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, approximately southwest of central Rugby. The civil parish which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, had a population of 4,12 ...

, Warwickshire, where he had lived for the previous 30 years.

External links

Alan Hodgkinson profile
at goalkeepersaredifferent.com

References