Malcolm Alker (4 November 1978 – 14 January 2024) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played as a . He spent his entire professional career with the Salford City Reds, making over 350 appearances between 1997 and 2010. He also served as the club's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for many years.

Background

Malcolm Alker was born in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England.

Career

Alker started his junior career with Orrell St James before moving to

Wigan St Patricks Wigan St. Patricks is an amateur rugby league football club based in the Scholes area of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The first team plays in the National Conference League Division One . In 1986, the club was one of ten founder members of the B ...

. He joined

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

in November 1995, and he made his first team début in 1997 against the

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Olympic Legacy Park and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Sheffield's on ...

. In 2000, Alker captained Salford City Reds for the first time at the age of 21 in the absence of regular captain Darren Brown. Alker played his entire professional rugby league career at Salford City Reds. He represented

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 ...

in 2002, and was capped twice by

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 ...

in 2005. Alker reached his testimonial year with Salford City Reds in 2006. His

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

took place during the 2007 pre-season against the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

, which the Warriors won 20–15. In January 2009, Alker was stripped of the club captaincy following a breach of club rules during their pre-season training camp in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. He was re-appointed captain two months later. In August 2010, Alker announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season, but would remain at the club in a coaching role. In March 2011, it was announced that head coach

Shaun McRae Shaun McRae (born 21 December 1959) is a rugby league coach, who is a former director of rugby at Hull F.C. after a spell with the Salford City Reds. Career Shaun McRae, nicknamed 'Bomber', was born in 1959 and began his rugby league coachin ...

would be taking

sick leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because ...

, with Alker jointly taking charge of coaching duties alongside fellow assistant

Phil Veivers Phil Veivers (born 25 May 1964) is a former Scotland international rugby league footballer. He played for the Southern Suburbs, St. Helens and Huddersfield as a . He is the brother of Australian international rugby league captain Greg Veivers ...

and Director of Football Steve Simms during his absence. In April 2011, Alker filed a complaint against Salford after being dismissed from a training session. After failing to come to an agreement, the club announced that Alker would be "taking time away from the club to undergo surgery on his neck".

Personal life

In 2012, Alker released his autobiography, ''The Devil Within''. In the book, Alker admitted use of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

and banned growth hormones during his playing days. Alker was sentenced to four years imprisonment on 12 January 2018 for the

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

of a

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

restaurant and a

Tesco Express Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Sir Jack Cohen in Hackney, London, in 1919 ...

store in Wigan on 31 October 2017. Alker died on 14 January 2024 from multiple organ failure at the age of 45.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Salford profileSuper League profile
* ĎŔ�
"My life in rugby league: Malcolm Alker"
interview at ''TotalRL.com''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alker, Malcolm 1978 births 2024 deaths 21st-century English criminals England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Lancashire rugby league team players Rugby league players from Wigan Rugby league hookers Salford Red Devils captains Salford Red Devils players Wigan St Patricks players British sportspeople convicted of crimes