Alan David Lamb (born 3 July 1952) is a Scottish former

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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He won one cap for Scotland under-23s in 1974. He began his career at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

in 1972 and played under Sir Bobby Charlton. He moved to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

for a £5,000 fee in March 1977, before joining

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

on a free transfer in May 1978. He helped the club to the First Division title in 1978–79 and finished his career with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Career

Lamb began his career at

in 1972, who avoided

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

out of the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

by a single point in 1972–73 under Alan Ball's stewardship. Bobby Charlton was appointed

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

in 1973. The "Lilywhites" failed to avoid the drop in 1973–74, however. They finished ninth in the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1974–75, after which

Harry Catterick Harry Catterick (26 November 1919 – 9 March 1985) was an English football player and manager. As a player Catterick played for Everton and Crewe Alexandra, in a career that was interrupted by World War II, but he is most notable as a manager. ...

took charge at Deepdale. Unsuccessful promotion campaigns followed in 1975–76 and 1976–77. He was purchased by

manager Roy Sproson for a £5,000 fee in March 1977, as a replacement for the recently sold

Colin Tartt Colin Tartt (born 23 November 1950) is an English former footballer. A midfielder, he made 478 league appearances in a 13-year career in the Football League. A qualified teacher, he began his career with Port Vale in 1972. He spent five year ...

. He was a regular in the side, featuring in 15 games towards the end of the 1976–77 season. He made 47 appearances in 1977–78, scoring three goals, as the "Valiants" suffered relegation into the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

under Bobby Smith. Lamb left Vale Park on a free transfer to

in May 1978. He made 24 appearances as Tommy Gemmell took the Dens Park club to the Premier Division as champions of the First Division in 1978–79. Lamb then moved on to Alex Stuart's

and played 14 games in 1979–80 before leaving Muirton Park in the summer.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Dundee *

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

: 1978–79

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Alan 1952 births Living people Footballers from Falkirk Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Preston North End F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Dundee F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players