John McAlle (born 31 January 1950) is a 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 ...

who spent the majority of his career at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, where he played over 500 games.

Career

McAlle joined

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

as an apprentice in July 1965, turning professional in February 1967. After a period playing in the reserve league, he made his first team debut on 29 April 1968, in a 1–0 defeat at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He only appeared sporadically (mostly as a substitute) in the following years, but became a first-team regular in the 1970–71 season. Known to his teammates as Scouse, McAlle was the club's first-choice centre-back throughout most of the 1970s. During this period he played in the

1972 UEFA Cup final The 1972 UEFA Cup Final was the final of the first UEFA Cup football tournament. It was a two-legged contest played on 3 May and 17 May 1972 between two English clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur. This was the first UEFA club com ...

and won the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in 1974. He was also part of the side that won the Second Division championship in 1976–77, to immediately return Wolves to the top flight. His position at Molineux was weakened by the arrival of

Emlyn Hughes Emlyn Walter Hughes (28 August 1947 – 9 November 2004) was an English footballer. He started his career at Blackpool in 1964 before moving to Liverpool in 1967. He made 665 appearances for Liverpool and captained the side to three league ti ...

in 1979, after which he was largely used as a substitute. His career took a further downturn when he broke his leg coming on as a sub playing against Watford in February 1980, which kept him out for 11 months. He returned for the second half of the 1980–81 season and managed to retain his place in the starting line-up. The defender's long association with

finally ended in August 1981, when he joined

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 ...

for £10,000 after he was not offered a contract extension. In total McAlle played 508 games for the Midlanders, making him the fifth highest-serving player in their history. After a brief spell at Bramall Lane, where he won the Fourth Division title, he moved to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

, where he finished his league career in the second tier. John's last ever professional match came for Derby against Barnsley in March 1984 wearing the number 10 shirt. He finished his playing career at non-league Harrisons FC, based in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. McAlle moved into

landscape gardening Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

after football, but has since retired and lives in

Brewood Brewood is an ancient market town in the civil parish of Brewood and Coven, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Located around , Brewood lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton c ...

South Staffordshire South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains notable settlement ...

.Instone, David
"More Jersey Jaunts For John McAlle Back On Familiar Ground"
''WolvesHeroes.com'', 20 December 2008 (Retrieved: 25 July 2009) In recognition of his outstanding service to Wolverhampton Wanderers he was inducted into their 'Hall Of Fame' in May 2015.

References

● Playfair football annuals 1968-69 to 1985-86

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McAlle, John 1950 births Living people English men's footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Footballers from Liverpool English Football League players Men's association football central defenders People from Brewood