Alan Peacock (29 October 1937 – 29 June 2025) was an English

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 lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Peacock spent the majority of his career at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, also playing for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. 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 status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in 1961 and the following season Peacock scored 24 in 34 games. In 1964, he moved to

for £55,000 to help

Don Revie Donald George Revie (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an English footballer and manager. He is best known for managing Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, winning the Football League First Division twice and the FA Cup once, before being the Eng ...

'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 in 1968.

International career

Peacock's high scoring rate earned him a place in the

1962 World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th 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 between ...

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

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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

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

in November 1962.

Personal life, illness and death

Peacock returned to his hometown after retirement. Peacock wore the number 9 shirt and sold his newsagents shop in Ormesby, Middlesbrough, having owned it for forty years. Peacock was diagnosed with dementia in 2018. He died on 29 June 2025, aged 87.

Honours

Leeds United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 1964–65

References

1937 births 2025 deaths Footballers from Middlesbrough English men's footballers England men's international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players Middlesbrough F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Men's association football forwards English Football League players Deaths from dementia in England {{england-footy-forward-1930s-stub