Alec Croft (born 17 June 1937) is an English former professional

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 winger. He made 53 appearances in

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for his hometown club of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

Playing career

A product of Chester's youth system, Croft made his competitive first–team debut as a substitute against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in the replayed final of the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground (), is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham AFC. It is the largest stadium in North Wales and the List of football stadiums in Wales, fifth-largest in Wales. It is the world's o ...

in May 1958, with Wrexham winning 2–1. Just days earlier, Croft had scored for Chester against an All Star XI in a joint testimonial for Norman Bullock and Harry Smith at

Sealand Road Sealand Road was the home stadium of Chester City Football Club (known until 1983 as Chester Football Club) from 1906 until 1990. Although officially known simply as The Stadium, it was more commonly referred to as Sealand Road. It was much lov ...

. The following season saw Croft score on his league debut in a 2–2 draw against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

on 11 September 1958, but he managed just three league appearances during the campaign. However, the 1959–60 season saw manager

Stan Pearson Stanley Clare Pearson (11 January 1919 – 20 February 1997) was an English footballer. Born in Salford, Lancashire, Pearson was signed by Manchester United as an amateur in December 1935 and turned professional in May 1937. His first senior g ...

give many youngsters their opportunity in the side, culminating in Chester fielding one of their youngest ever forward lines when they hosted

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on Easter Saturday.Sumner (1997), p 72 At 22 Croft was the youngest of Chester's five attackers, as he was joined up front by 20-year-old John Pimlott and teenagers Ron Davies, Les Stopford and

Jimmy Cooper Jimmy Cooper may refer to: * Jimmy Cooper (musician) (1907–1977), Scottish hammered dulcimer player * Jimmy Cooper (footballer) (born 1939), Scottish football winger * Jimmy Cooper (boxer), American featherweight boxer from the 1940s and 1950s *Ji ...

for the 1–1 draw. Croft added 36 league appearances in 1960–61 before dropping into non–league football with Sankey'sSumner (1997), p 136 and later playing for

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club () was a Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. Founded in 1876, Bangor City have been founder members of the North Wales Coast League, the Welsh National League, the North Wales Combination, the W ...

External links

Chester 1960–61 team picture (featuring Croft)

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Alec 1937 births Living people Footballers from Chester English Football League players English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Chester City F.C. players GKN Sankey F.C. players Bangor City F.C. players