Alick Jeffrey (29 January 1939 – 22 November 2000) 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 le ...

who played as a striker. Jeffrey made nearly 300 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, scoring over 100 goals.

Career

Born in

Rawmarsh Rawmarsh (locally ) is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-northeast from Rotherham town centre and south-southwest of Swinton. ...

, Jeffrey made his senior debut for

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 ...

in 1954, at the age of just 15. Jeffrey was considered one of the most promising players in the country, and played for England U23 when still a teenager. He had an agreement with

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 ...

that he would move there at the end of the 1956–57 season, but Jeffrey sustained a badly broken leg playing for England U23 v France in October 1956, and it was immediately apparent that he might never play again. He officially retired due to that injury in January 1959. He received compensation from the FA because his injury was sustained whilst on International duty. However, he then met the former Sweden International Manager George Raynor (who became manager of the non-League side Skegness Town F.C.) and who assisted Jeffrey in being able to play again, despite his former injuries. An attempted come back with Skegness in August 1959, ended when he broke his leg again on his debut. Jeffrey then moved to Australia, and began his long road back to professional football with

Sydney Prague The Sydney Football Club Prague, commonly known as ''Sydney Prague'' or just ''Prague'', was a former association football club formed in 1951 by predominantly Czech Australians, which participated in the NSW State League from its foundation in ...

in 1961 and Auburn in 1962. Later in 1962, Jeffrey returned to England to play non-league football with Skegness Town F.C. before finally returning to professional football with Doncaster Rovers in December 1963, where he made his debut in a reserve team game in front of almost 4,000 supporters. Jimmy Murphy, the ex Manchester United Assistant Manager, called Jeffrey the "English Pele". Despite the fact that his athletic ability never returned to its previous heights, he had a successful career with Doncaster who were now in the lower divisions of the football league. In 1964–65 he led the entire league with 36 goals in the 4th division. In the twilight of his career, he also played in

with Lincoln City, before playing non-league football with

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

in 1970.

Legacy

The road around the Doncaster Rovers stadium opened in 2006 was named Alick Jeffrey Way, whilst five apartment blocks built on the site of the former Doncaster Rovers ground at Belle Vue were named after five of the Rovers' greatest ever players – Alick Jeffrey,

Walter Langton Walter Langton (died 1321) of Castle Ashby'Parishes: Castle Ashby', in A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 4, ed. L F Salzman (London, 1937), pp. 230-236/ref> in Northamptonshire, was Bishop of Lichfield, Bishop of Coventry and Lic ...

Tom Keetley Tom Keetley (16 November 1898 – 18 August 1958) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward. He scored 284 Football League goals between 1919 and 1934. Life and career One of eleven brothers and one sister, he was b ...

Syd Bycroft Sydney Bycroft (19 February 1912 – 4 October 2004) was an English footballer who played from 1931 until 1951 initially as a forward then as tough tackling centre-half. Playing career Bycroft started his career at Notts County, though failed t ...

and

James Coppinger James Coppinger (born 18 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He began his career at Newcastle United, making one appearance in the Premier League, and later spent two years at Exeter ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffrey, Alick 1939 births 2000 deaths English footballers England under-23 international footballers Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players English Football League players Skegness Town A.F.C. players Association football forwards Sydney FC Prague players