Alan Bloor
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Alan Bloor (born 16 March 1943) is an English 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 ...
and manager. He made 394 league 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 ...
for both Potteries teams. He spent eighteen years as a
centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
at
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
between 1960 and 1978, helping them to lift 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
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
, before spending a brief association with
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 ...
as a player and manager between 1978 and 1979. He also briefly played for American club
Cleveland Stokers The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was Cleveland Stadium. History United Soccer Association ...
in 1967. He is fifth in Stoke's all-time appearances list, and was nicknamed "Bluto" by the club's supporters.


Playing career


Stoke City

Bloor played centre-half for Stoke-on-Trent schoolboys and won youth caps with England. He started his career with
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
in 1960 on his 17th birthday. He made his first team debut on 19 September 1961, playing alongside
Eric Skeels Eric Thomas Skeels (born 27 October 1939) is an English former Association football, footballer. He played 512 games in the English Football League, Football League, 507 for Stoke City F.C., Stoke City. He is Stoke's record appearance holder ha ...
in a 1–0 defeat by
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
at the
Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...
. He played a total of six
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 ...
games in 1961–62, but did not take to the field in another competitive fixture until the 1964–65 season; he played 15 First Division during the campaign, and scored his first senior goal in a 1–1 draw 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 ...
at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
on 23 January. He played 36 games in 1965–66 and 32 games in 1966–67. He was loaned out to Stoke's sister club
Cleveland Stokers The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was Cleveland Stadium. History United Soccer Association ...
in 1967, and played 11
United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...
games. Bloor hit four goals in 43 appearances in 1967–68, and helped the "Potters" to finish three points above the relegation zone. He played 35 games in 1968–69, as Stoke again finished three points above the drop zone. He made 43 appearances in the 1969–70 season and 48 appearances in the 1970–71 season. He played 63 games in the 1971–72 season, including 11
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 ...
games. He was a member of 1972 League Cup winning side that beat
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 ...
2–1 at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
to claim the club's first major trophy; he was part of a four-man defence along with
John Marsh John Marsh may refer to: Politicians * John Marsh (MP fl. 1394–1397), MP for Bath * John Marsh (MP fl. 1414–1421), MP for Bath *John Allmond Marsh (1894–1952), Canadian Member of Parliament * John Otho Marsh Jr. (1926–2019), American c ...
,
Mike Pejic Michael Pejic (born 25 January 1950) is a former England international footballer who played in the English Football League for Stoke City, Everton and Aston Villa. Pejic started his career with Stoke City under the management of Tony Waddin ...
, and Denis Smith, playing in front of goalkeeper
Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...
. Bloor played 33 games in 1972–73 and 31 games in 1973–74, helping the "Potters" to win the Watney Cup and finish in fifth in the top-flight. He could only play twice in 1974–75, as he picked up a serious back injury. He scored five goals in 37 appearances in 1975–76, including strikes at
Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
and Old Trafford. He scored twice in 40 appearances in 1976–77, as Stoke were relegated in what was
Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at Stoke City. He progre ...
's last season as manager. Bloor started just five Second Division games in 1977–78, as the club changed managers between
George Eastham George Edward Eastham, OBE (born 23 September 1936) is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also nota ...
,
Alan A'Court Alan A'Court (30 September 1934 – 14 December 2009) was an English footballer who mostly played for Liverpool. He gained five caps for England and represented the nation at the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Playing career Born in Rainhill, Lancash ...
, and
Alan Durban William Alan Durban (born 7 July 1941) is a Welsh former international footballer and manager, whose career was at its peak between the 1970s and 1990s. He played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Derby County and was player-manager of ...
.


Port Vale

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 ...
, initially as player and youth team coach, in June 1978. He made six
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 ...
appearances in 1978–79, scoring once in a 5–1 win over nearby
Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
at
Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History Cre ...
on 25 August. He settled down to concentrate on his role behind the scenes at
Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...
in September 1978.


Style of play

Bloor was a fearsome defender and a "voracious tackler". He played alongside Denis Smith for much of his Stoke career, and used his intelligence to read the game and clean up any mistakes the more aggressive Smith made.


Management career

Bloor was appointed the caretaker manager of Port Vale in August 1979 following the departure of
Dennis Butler Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968, before ending his playing career following a five-year spell at Rochdale. Later wor ...
, and was appointed the position on a full-time basis the following month. He sold
Ken Todd Kenneth Todd (born 24 August 1957) is an English former footballer who scored 11 goals in 52 games in the English Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Port Vale, and Portsmouth in the late 1970s. Despite being bought for £37,000 by Va ...
to
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
for £20,000, cancelled Ged Stenson's contract, and spent £30,000 on
Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
defender
Paul Bowles Paul Frederic Bowles (; December 30, 1910November 18, 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his ...
. Losing five of their seven games in October, the "Valiants" drifted to third-from-bottom. Vale went undefeated in the league in November, but Bloor unexpectedly resigned in December 1979, saying he did not 'have what it takes'. Coach
Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...
was also dismissed, and he blamed the players for his downfall, claiming they did not like hard work. Bloor later became a carpet salesman.


Career statistics


Playing career

Source:


Managerial career


Honours

Stoke City *
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 ...
:
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
*
Watney Cup The Watney Mann Invitation Cup (normally referred to as simply the Watney Cup) was a short-lived English football tournament held in the early 1970s. It was held before the start of the season, and was contested by the teams that had scored th ...
: 1973


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloor, Alan 1943 births Living people Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English footballers England youth international footballers Association football defenders Stoke City F.C. players English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Cleveland Stokers players Port Vale F.C. players English Football League players United Soccer Association players English football managers Port Vale F.C. managers English Football League managers Association football coaches Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate sportspeople in the United States