Brian Albeson (14 December 1946 – 15 October 2003) was an English 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 scored 12 goals from 302 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 ...

playing as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Bury,

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

. He also played in the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

for

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

and in

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, 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 ...

for

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

Life and career

Albeson was born in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and began his football career with Bury. He was capped by England youth in January 1965, in a 3–2 defeat to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in the Home Nations Youth Championships. He played once in

for Bury before joining

in 1967. He spent four years at Darlington, making 154 appearances in all competitions, and forming a regular partnership with Joe Jacques, before following Jacques to

. In his first season at Southend he shared the club's Player of the Year award with Bill Garner, and went on to make 120 appearances in all competitions. He signed for

in March 1974, remaining there until the end of the next season. He then played once for

, in the League Cup against Halifax Town, before moving into

with

. After retiring from football, Albeson ran a hairdressers in

. He was married to Anne and had four children: Louise, Simon, Claire and Leanne. He died in 2003 at the age of 56.

Honours

*Southend United Player of the Year: 1971–72

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albeson, Brian 1946 births 2003 deaths English men's footballers Footballers from Oldham Men's association football defenders England men's youth international footballers Bury F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen