Alfred Common (25 May 1880 in

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...

(Sunderland) – 3 April 1946 in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

) was an English footballer who played at

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He is most famous for being the first player to be transferred for a fee of £1,000 on his transfer to Middlesbrough from Sunderland in 1905. __TOC__

Club career

Common played for South Hylton and Jarrow in

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

before joining

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1900. Sunderland finished

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

runners-up in 1900–01, after which Common transferred to

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 ...

in October 1901 for £325. Neither Sunderland nor Sheffield United had cause to regret the deal in the sense that Sunderland finished as

Champions in 1901–02, and Common scored the first goal in United's

1902 FA Cup Final The 1902 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Sheffield United and Southampton on Saturday, 19 April 1902 at the Crystal Palace stadium in south London. It was the final match of the 1901–02 FA Cup, the 31st edition of the ...

win over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Common became a regular member of Sheffield United teams, and won the first of his three

international caps In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

in 1904, but in May of that year he refused to re-sign for

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

because he wished to return to Sunderland where he was reported to have 'business interests'.A Sensational Transfer. ''Sheffield United matchday programme''. 21 September 1985.

failed to persuade Common to change his mind and in the summer of 1904, he returned to Sunderland. The deal also took United's reserve goalkeeper Albert Lewis in return for a new record fee of around £520. In February 1905, little more than six months after this move, he broke the transfer record again by moving to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

for £1,000. Middlesbrough had purchased Common in an attempt to avoid relegation 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 ...

. His first game for Middlesbrough was on 25 February 1905, away to his former club Sheffield United. Middlesbrough won 1–0, with Common scoring from a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

after 50 minutes, it was their first away win for nearly two years. Consequently, the team, who had so far been battling against relegation that season, survived the drop. He played 168

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

games for

Boro __NOTOC__ Boro may refer to: People * Boro people, indigenous peoples of Amazonas, Brazil * A variant spelling for the Bodo people of northeast India * Charan Boro, Indian politician * Isaac Adaka Boro, a celebrated Niger Delta nationalist and Nig ...

and scored 58 goals. Alf Common the World's first £1000 footballer

At the age of 30, Common moved to Woolwich Arsenal in 1910. He made his debut on 1 September 1910 against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. After starting out at inside forward, he took on a more attacking role in his second season and was the club's top goalscorer with 17 goals in 1911–12, missing just two league games. However, he didn't score a single goal in the first half of the Gunners' 1912–13 season, before he was sold to

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 December 1912 for £250. Altogether he played 80 times and scored a sum of 23 goals for Arsenal. At Preston, he helped the club to win the Division Two title that season, although they were relegated the following 1913–14 season. Common retired from football in 1914, and went on to run

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

until 1943. He died in 1946 aged 65. In 1998, he was selected as one of the Football League's 100 Football League Legends. His keepsakes, England caps and cup winners medals etc. were auctioned by Graham Budd Auctions in London in November 2011.

International career

Common won his first

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

cap against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 29 February 1904. In all he won three caps, scoring two goals.

Career statistics

Honours

;

Football League Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

Runners Up Medal: 1900–01 ;

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

;

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

References and notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Common, Alf 1880 births 1946 deaths Footballers from Sunderland English footballers Association football forwards Sunderland A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players England international footballers FA Cup Final players