Alec Lindsay

Career Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, Lindsay played 139 matches for Bury, helping the club gain promotion in 1967–68. Manager Bill Shankly signed him for Liverpool in March 1969 for £67,000. He made his debut against Irish side Dundalk in the European Fairs Cup, on 16 September 1969. Liverpool won by an emphatic 10–0 scoreline, a record win until Liverpool beat Norwegian side Strømsgodset I.F. 11–0 in the Cup Winners' Cup, on 17 September 1974.

After an initial settling in period in which Lindsay played seven times, he was the selected as first choice left back during the 1970–71 season, which included the 1971 FA Cup Final at Wembley. League champions and double hunting Arsenal lay in wait. After the allotted 90 minutes the scores were level 0–0; during extra time the Reds took the lead, the Gunners scored a scrappy equaliser and went on to win the game 2–1 thus completing the league and FA Cup double. Arsenal were victorious that day - Lindsay would be back for another go in 1974 - but first Liverpool won a double of their own in 1973, winning the League championship and UEFA Cup, against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. He played in the 1974 FA Cup Final against Newcastle United and despite him having a goal ruled out for offside, Lindsay got his winners medal as Liverpool beat the Magpies 3–0.

This was to be the peak of Lindsay's Liverpool career. Shankly, the man who brought Lindsay to Merseyside, decided to retire in the summer of 1974. Unfortunately, for Lindsay, new manager Bob Paisley selected Phil Neal as his regular left-back the following season and even after Neal then moved to his favoured right back role, Lindsay was still rarely selected with Paisley preferring Welshman Joey Jones. He had already played four times for the England team, but was not selected for England again after falling out of favour at Anfield.

Liverpool won two more League titles during the next three years but Lindsay did not play enough games on either occasion to collect a league title medal. He also missed out on the 1976 UEFA Cup success and the 1977 FA Cup final when Liverpool, in search of a "treble", lost narrowly to rivals Manchester United. However, he was named as one of the five substitutes for the European Cup final in Rome three days later, when Liverpool beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1. He left Anfield in the summer of 1977 and joined Stoke City.

He made a good start to his Stoke career converting three penalties in his first five matches for the club under George Eastham. He remains an avid Liverpool supporter and was a contributor to the Hillsborough Family Support Group's (HFSG) "Project 96" in August 2009. After his retirement he became a publican.

Career statistics Club Source:

A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Charity Shield.

International Source:

Honours Bury Football League Third Division runner-up: 1967–68

Liverpool Football League First Division: 1972–73, 1975–76 FA Cup: 1973–74; runner-up: 1970–71 FA Charity Shield: 1974, 1976 UEFA Cup: 1972–73