Alan Wooler (17 August 1953 – 29 March 2022) 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 le ...

who played as a defender in England for Weymouth, Reading, West Ham United, Aldershot, Leatherhead and Farnborough Town. He also played in Finland for Malmin Palloseura,

Finnairin Palloilijat Finnairin Palloilijat, or FinnPa as the club is more commonly known as, was a Finnish association football club established in 1965. The club was based in Helsinki and it operated from 1965 to 1998. FinnPa was founded by staff of the Finnish natio ...

and HJK Helsinki and in the US in the NASL for the Boston Minutemen. He was manager for the Millwall affiliate ladies team the Millwall Lionesses.

Club career

An associate schoolboy player with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Wooler played for Alton Town and Weymouth as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

in the Southern League.

Reading

Wooler signed for Reading in 1971 making his debut in December 1971.

West Ham United

Making 38 appearances for Reading Wooler moved on a free transfer to West Ham United in 1973 making his debut on 22 December 1973, as a substitute for Johnny Ayris, in a 2–0 home defeat to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. His next appearance came as a replacement for

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...

in the FA Cup third round replay against

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

in January 1974. In a giant-killing, after a 1–1 draw at Upton Park, Hereford, recently elected to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, beat First Division West Ham 2–1 at Edgar Street. In contrast, his third game came three days later as West Ham beat Manchester United 2–1 at Upton Park. Between 1974 and 1976 loan periods were arranged with Wooler playing for Boston Minutemen in the NASL.

Aldershot

Wooler made only two more appearances for West Ham before moving to Aldershot in 1976. Playing for eight seasons with Aldershot and on one occasion going two-and-a-half seasons without missing a first team game, Wooler played 305 games, in all competitions, scoring three goals; a total which puts him in 13th place in the Aldershot all-time appearance list.

Non-league and loans

From 1985 until 1989 Wooler moved into

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Leatherhead and Farnborough Town. Between 1977 and 1989 Wooler regularly spent his summers playing for Finnish sides and turned-out for Malmin Palloseura,

and HJK Helsinki.

Managerial career

Wooler was manager of Millwall Ladies team.

Death

Wooler died in March 2022, aged 68 after being diagnosed with Myeloma.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooler, Alan 1953 births 2022 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma Footballers from Poole Men's association football defenders English men's footballers English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Alton F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Reading F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Boston Minutemen players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players FinnPa players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Millwall Lionesses L.F.C. managers English women's football managers