Alan Warboys (born 18 April 1949) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 le ...

who played as a striker.

Career

Warboys began his career at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

, making his debut in April 1967 at the age of 17, before moving to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

in 1968. Following Wednesday's relegation in 1970, he joined

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

for a fee of £42,000, as a replacement for

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for th ...

who had joined

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. On his home debut for the club, Warboys scored twice against the team he had just left, Sheffield Wednesday and went on to finish the season having scored 13 goals in 17 league games, including scoring four times in one match during a 4–0 win over

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

, as the club missed out on promotion by one place. After spending one more year at Cardiff, he returned to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

to join

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

as part of a swap deal which saw

Gil Reece Gilbert Ivor '"Gil" Reece (2 July 1942 – 20 December 2003) was a Welsh international footballer. Described by former Wales manager Mike Smith as ''"a very quick player, sharp and tough"'', he made over 300 appearances in the Football League du ...

and

Dave Powell David John Powell (18 February 1876 – 22 August 1953) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Aust ...

move the other way to

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...

. After a brief spell with

, Warboys joined

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. In his five seasons at the club, he forged a lethal forward pairing with Bruce Bannister which would be much-celebrated, taking Rovers to promotion to 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 ...

and earning the duo the nickname ''Smash and Grab'' in reference to Warboys' physical playing style and Bannisters ability to grab the resulting chances created by Warboys. He later played for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

before returning to Doncaster Rovers. In his first season back at the club he was awarded the club's Player of the Year award before later moving into

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. Following an operation to remove a disc from his back, he retired in 1982.

After football

After retiring from football, Warboys settled in

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, working as a lorry driver. He was also the landlord of the Ring 'o' bells in Swinton, South Yorkshire during the 1990's.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warboys, Alan Living people 1949 births English footballers Bristol Rovers F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Fulham F.C. players English Football League players Association football forwards People from Goldthorpe