Alan Suddick (2 May 1944 – 15 March 2009) 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 ...

who played at

inside-right 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 ...

for Blackpool, Bury, Newcastle United,

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

and Stoke City. A talented player, he was a dead ball specialist, with a unique ability to bend the ball, and was known in particular for his "banana" free-kicks; he would often crouch down before taking set pieces, so that the keeper could not see him, thus making his strikes more difficult to read.

Club career

Newcastle United

Born in

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...

, County Durham, at the age of 17 years and 158 days, Suddick became Newcastle United's then-youngest-ever player. He was part of the Newcastle team that were

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 ...

champions and won promotion to the First Division in 1964–65. In his time at Newcastle, he played 152 games and scored 43 goals. On 22 October 1966, Blackpool beat Newcastle 6–0 at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

. Suddick was in ''the Magpies team that day, and so impressed were the home side with his commitment that, two months later, they paid a then-club-record £63,000 for his services.

Blackpool

Suddick made his Blackpool debut on 26 December 1966, in a 4–1 home defeat by

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, and was virtually ever-present from that point on, striking up a partnership with

Tommy Hutchison Thomas Hutchison (born 22 September 1947) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a midfielder. He made over 1,100 appearances, including 314 in the Football League alone for Coventry City, and more than 160 apiece in the competition f ...

on the left or deep in midfield. Five days after his debut Suddick scored his first goal for the club in a 5–1 win at

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 ...

. In 1968–69, he was Blackpool's top scorer with twelve goals, missing just one game all season. He was part of the Blackpool team that won promotion to the First Division in 1969–70, and played in every league and cup match. He also played a big part in ''the Seasiders''' FA Cup third round replay victory over Arsenal at

on 15 January 1970, when Blackpool, 2–0 down at half-time, came back to win 3–2 with Suddick scoring the first goal. He missed the majority of the 1970–71 season with a leg injury. In the 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup, Suddick scored what he considered to be the best goal he ever scored, in a 3–3 draw with

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

at Bloomfield Road on 26 May. In the final against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

in Rome on 12 June, he took the opposition apart in a 2–1 extra-time victory. On 27 October 1971,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

tried to sign Suddick, but the deal was turned down, with Blackpool manager

Bob Stokoe Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...

refusing to even comment on it. At the end of the 1971–72 he won the club's Player of the Year award. In the close season he once again played in the Anglo-Italian Cup and scored one goal as Blackpool beat Lanerossi Vicenza 10–0 at home. Blackpool again reached the final, losing to Roma. He helped the club reach the quarter-finals of 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 1972–73 and in an earlier round captained the side against AFC Bournemouth on 6 September 1972. He became the first player to score a penalty in all of the major competitions – the League, FA Cup and League Cup – when he scored from the spot in Blackpool's 2–1 victory over Bradford City A.F.C. at

Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they ...

on 13 January. At the end of the season he again played in the Anglo-Italian Cup as Blackpool went undefeated, but were eliminated at the group stage by not scoring enough goals. Suddick scored his 100th

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 ...

goal, a penalty, in Blackpool's 3–0 victory over Preston North End at Bloomfield Road on 23 March 1974. He missed much of the 1974–75 season with a re-occurrence of the leg injury that kept him out of action in 1970–71. Injuries would limit his appearances toward the end of his time at Blackpool and in October 1976 he was put on the transfer list. His last game came on 30 October, a 2–2 draw with

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 ...

. He made a total of 371 appearances for ''the Seasiders'', scoring 81 goals. His talent, however, was never truly realised, with his temper sometimes getting the better of him. Such was his popularity at Blackpool that he became known as "The King of Bloomfield Road" a title which the fans still affectionately call him. During his time playing for the club, ''Seasiders'' fans adapted two lines from the traditional English

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

, "

The First Nowell "The First Nowell", also known as "The First Noel (or Noël)", is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier. Born is the King of Bloomfield Road! Toward the end of his time at Blackpool, Suddick established an unofficial

keepie uppie Keepie uppie, keep-ups or kick-ups is the skill of juggling with an association football using feet, lower legs, knees, chest, shoulders, and head, without allowing the ball to hit the ground. It is similar to Kemari, a game formerly practiced in ...

world record, completing three laps and 20 yards of the pitch, keeping the ball off the ground at Bloomfield Road in just under 20 minutes.

Later career

On 31 December 1976, he moved to Stoke City for a fee of £12,000. Injury restricted him to just nine matches for Stoke in the 1976–77 season, he did score once which came in a defeat away at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. In August 1977 he joined Fourth Division club

on loan, playing six games. Then in September he joined Third Division club Bury, before ending his league career at the end of the 1977–78 season. After spending a time coaching with Blackpool, in August 1978 he moved into non-league football with Barrow who were then in the Northern Premier League, where he played 38 games, scoring three goals. He also became the club's part-time player-manager, balancing a role as a hotel manager at the same time. On 2 November 1979 he joined Northern Premier League club Lancaster City teaming up at Giant Axe with former Blackpool teammate Keith Dyson.

Blackpool F.C. Hall of Fame

Suddick was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player

Jimmy Armfield James Christopher Armfield, (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional football player and manager who latterly worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at B ...

in April 2006. Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Suddick is in the 1970s.

International career

Suddick played twice at Under-23 level for

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 ...

, against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

when he scored one of the goals in a 6–1 victory and then against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

when England won 4–2.

Post-retirement

After he retired Suddick continued to live in Blackpool, close to Bloomfield Road, where he regularly attended matches. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road when it was officially opened by former Blackpool and England captain

in April 2006. In December 2008 Suddick revealed that he would be undergoing stem cell replacement therapy in his battle against cancer, at

Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...

in early 2009. On 18 February 2009 it was revealed that he was seriously ill in hospital. He underwent a

tracheotomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The r ...

on 27 February; however, his condition deteriorated and three weeks later both his legs were amputated below the knees after he contracted an infection and developed gangrene. His condition worsened again during 14 March and he died in his sleep the following day.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup,

Anglo-Scottish Cup The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format t ...

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It wa ...

and

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 ...

Honours

Newcastle United *

champion: 1964–65 Blackpool * Anglo-Italian Cup winner: 1971

References

External links

* *
Obituary in ''The Independent''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suddick, Alan Newcastle United F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Bury F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Southport F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players English men's footballers England men's under-23 international footballers 1944 births 2009 deaths Footballers from Chester-le-Street Deaths from cancer in England English Football League players Men's association football midfielders