Alan Peacock (born 29 October 1937 in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He spent the majority of his career at

, also playing for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. He joined

in 1954 and became a regular in the side in 1958 alongside

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

. Clough scored the majority of the goals, partly due to Peacock's unselfish attitude in front of goal. Clough joined

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1961 and the following season Peacock scored 24 in 34 games. Peacock's high scoring rate earned him a place in 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 be ...

England squad. He made his international debut in the Group Four victory over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Since then only Allan Clarke in 1970 has made his debut in a World Cup finals match. In total, he earned 6 caps and scored 3 goals for

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 ...

, two of which came in a 4–0 victory over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in November 1962. In 1964 he moved to

for £55,000 to help

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

's team with promotion, which was achieved that season with Peacock scoring 8 goals in 14 games. He stayed at Leeds for a further three seasons scoring 30 goals in 65 games, yet more frequent injuries forced his sale to Plymouth Argyle for £10,000 in 1967 where he played only one season before being forced to retire due to injuries at only 30 years old in 1968. He returned to his home town after retirement. Peacock wore the number-9 shirt, and recently sold his newsagents shop in Ormesby, Middlesbrough, having owned it for forty years.

References

1937 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough English footballers England international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players Middlesbrough F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Association football forwards FA Cup Final players {{england-footy-forward-1930s-stub