Alan Hudson
Encyclopedia
Alan Anthony Hudson is a former English
footballer
.
, Hudson was rejected by boyhood club Fulham
as a schoolboy before signing for Chelsea
Juniors. Injury denied him the chance to become Chelsea's youngest ever player aged 16 and he eventually made his senior debut 9 months later on 1 February 1969 in a 5-0 loss against Southampton
.
Hudson found himself in a Chelsea side noted for its flair and skill, complete with equally flamboyant footballers such as Peter Osgood
and Charlie Cooke
. It was during the 1969-70 season that he established himself as the team's playmaker, in the midfield of a 4-2-4 formation alongside John Hollins
who was more defensive, creating goals for Osgood and Ian Hutchinson, and enabling Chelsea to finish 3rd in the First Division
.
He played in every match in Chelsea's run to the FA Cup final
in 1970, but missed the final itself due to another injury when they beat Leeds United 2-1 in a replay at Old Trafford
, having drawn 2-2 at Wembley. He did, however, play a major role in Chelsea's replayed Europe
an Cup Winners' Cup final win against Real Madrid
in Athens
a year later.
The debt
burden caused by the building of the then new East Stand
at Chelsea resulted in the sale of key players, and a spiral of decline began. Chelsea lost 2-1 to Stoke City
in the 1972 League Cup
final at Wembley, whilst a falling-out with manager Dave Sexton
resulted in both Hudson and Osgood being placed on the transfer
list in January 1974. Within a month, Hudson had joined Stoke City
for £240,000, and his career with Chelsea was over at the age of 22.
Stoke manager Tony Waddington
saw Hudson as the final piece of the jigsaw that would turn Stoke City into genuine championship challengers in 1975. Hudson played some of the best football of his career under Waddington's shrewd leadership as Stoke finished just four points away from eventual champions Derby County
in his first season with the Potteries club.
Owing to a ban from international football after refusing to tour with the England under-23 side, Hudson didn't make his England debut until 1975, when sparkling performances earned him two call ups by then England
manager Don Revie
. He starred in the team that beat World Champions West Germany
2-0 at Wembley, and then in the 5-0 destruction of Cyprus
. However, injuries and clashes with Revie meant that those two caps were the only ones he earned.
Financial troubles at Stoke forced Hudson's sale to Arsenal
in December 1976 for £200,000. He helped Arsenal reach the 1978 FA Cup Final, which they lost 1-0 to Ipswich Town
, but differences with the Arsenal manager Terry Neill
meant that he moved to the Seattle Sounders
of the NASL
for £100,000 at the age of 27. In the fall of 1979, he signed with the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League
. Some sources claimed that Hudson played for the Hércules CF
, although the Spanish
team denied this. Hudson returned briefly to Chelsea (then in the Second Division
), although illness and injury denied him the chance to play for them again. There was also a nostalgic return to Stoke, where he helped the club avoid relegation from the old First Division in the 1983-84 season.
and was also declared bankrupt. In December 1997, Hudson suffered multiple injuries when run over by a car. He spent two months in a coma
and the doctors treating him were doubtful as to whether he would walk again, but he eventually completed a full recovery.
His autobiography The Working Man's Ballet was a critical success and led to work as a columnist on the Stoke Evening Sentinel and The Sporting Life
. A further book The Tinker and The Talisman was self-published in 2003. In 2004 Hudson appeared as himself in a cameo appearance in the British film The Football Factory.
In June 2006, Hudson joined Radio Napa in Cyprus
, where he commentated on the FIFA World Cup in Germany. In 2008 Alan Hudson released his 3rd book titled "The Waddington Years" which described his great friendship with former Stoke City manager Tony Waddington
.
of the Conference National
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
.
Biography
Born and brought up near the King's RoadKings Road
King's Road or Kings Road, known popularly as The King's Road or The KR, is a major, well-known street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both in west London, England...
, Hudson was rejected by boyhood club Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
as a schoolboy before signing for Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
Juniors. Injury denied him the chance to become Chelsea's youngest ever player aged 16 and he eventually made his senior debut 9 months later on 1 February 1969 in a 5-0 loss against Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
.
Hudson found himself in a Chelsea side noted for its flair and skill, complete with equally flamboyant footballers such as Peter Osgood
Peter Osgood
Peter Leslie Osgood was an English footballer who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. He is best remembered for representing Chelsea and Southampton at club level, and was also capped four times by England in the early 1970s.-Chelsea:Born in a small road named Kentons Lane in Windsor, Osgood...
and Charlie Cooke
Charlie Cooke (footballer)
Charles 'Charlie' Cooke is a former Scottish footballer. He was a talented and skilful winger who played for Aberdeen, Dundee, Chelsea and Crystal Palace before ending his career in the United States....
. It was during the 1969-70 season that he established himself as the team's playmaker, in the midfield of a 4-2-4 formation alongside John Hollins
John Hollins
John William Hollins MBE is a retired English footballer and manager. He was initially a midfielder who, later in his career, became an effective centre back.Hollins' son, Chris Hollins is the main sport presenter on BBC Breakfast....
who was more defensive, creating goals for Osgood and Ian Hutchinson, and enabling Chelsea to finish 3rd in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
.
He played in every match in Chelsea's run to the FA Cup final
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
in 1970, but missed the final itself due to another injury when they beat Leeds United 2-1 in a replay at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (football)
Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 75,811, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in England after Wembley, the third-largest in the United Kingdom and the eleventh-largest in Europe...
, having drawn 2-2 at Wembley. He did, however, play a major role in Chelsea's replayed Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an Cup Winners' Cup final win against Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
a year later.
The debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
burden caused by the building of the then new East Stand
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
at Chelsea resulted in the sale of key players, and a spiral of decline began. Chelsea lost 2-1 to Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
in the 1972 League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
final at Wembley, whilst a falling-out with manager Dave Sexton
Dave Sexton
David "Dave" Sexton OBE is an English former football manager and player.-Playing career:Son of former professional boxer Archie Sexton, he started his playing career with West Ham United in 1948. Playing mainly at inside-forward, he would finish his career with time at Luton Town, Leyton Orient,...
resulted in both Hudson and Osgood being placed on the transfer
Transfer (football)
In professional association football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between professional clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one professional association football club to another. In general, the players can only be...
list in January 1974. Within a month, Hudson had joined Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
for £240,000, and his career with Chelsea was over at the age of 22.
Stoke manager Tony Waddington
Tony Waddington
Anthony Waddington was an English football player and manager. He managed Stoke City F.C. from 1960 until 1977 and guided them to their only major trophy - the League Cup in 1972. He later managed his only playing club, Crewe Alexandra, from June 1979 to July 1981...
saw Hudson as the final piece of the jigsaw that would turn Stoke City into genuine championship challengers in 1975. Hudson played some of the best football of his career under Waddington's shrewd leadership as Stoke finished just four points away from eventual champions Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
in his first season with the Potteries club.
Owing to a ban from international football after refusing to tour with the England under-23 side, Hudson didn't make his England debut until 1975, when sparkling performances earned him two call ups by then England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
manager Don Revie
Don Revie
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977...
. He starred in the team that beat World Champions West Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
2-0 at Wembley, and then in the 5-0 destruction of Cyprus
Cyprus national football team
The Cyprus national football team represents Cyprus in association football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus' home ground is the GSP Stadium in Nicosia and the current coach is Nikos Nioplias...
. However, injuries and clashes with Revie meant that those two caps were the only ones he earned.
Financial troubles at Stoke forced Hudson's sale to Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
in December 1976 for £200,000. He helped Arsenal reach the 1978 FA Cup Final, which they lost 1-0 to Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
, but differences with the Arsenal manager Terry Neill
Terry Neill
William John Terence "Terry" Neill is a Northern Ireland former football player and manager.-Playing career:Born in Belfast, Neill played as a youth for Bangor, before moving in December 1959 to Arsenal. He spent a year in Arsenal's youth side, before making his debut against Sheffield Wednesday...
meant that he moved to the Seattle Sounders
Seattle Sounders (NASL)
The Seattle Sounders were a U.S. professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season.-Stadium:The Sounders played at Memorial...
of the NASL
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
for £100,000 at the age of 27. In the fall of 1979, he signed with the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League
Major Soccer League
The Major Indoor Soccer League, known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League, was an indoor soccer league in the USA from 1978 to 1992. After the folding of the North American Soccer League in 1984, the MISL was the Division I soccer league for the United States...
. Some sources claimed that Hudson played for the Hércules CF
Hércules CF
Hércules Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1922, it currently plays in the Spanish second division, and holds home games at the Estadio José Rico Pérez, which seats 30,000 spectators.-History:After first...
, although the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
team denied this. Hudson returned briefly to Chelsea (then in the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
), although illness and injury denied him the chance to play for them again. There was also a nostalgic return to Stoke, where he helped the club avoid relegation from the old First Division in the 1983-84 season.
Retirement
Since his retirement, Hudson has suffered a series of setbacks. He had problems with alcoholismAlcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and was also declared bankrupt. In December 1997, Hudson suffered multiple injuries when run over by a car. He spent two months in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
and the doctors treating him were doubtful as to whether he would walk again, but he eventually completed a full recovery.
His autobiography The Working Man's Ballet was a critical success and led to work as a columnist on the Stoke Evening Sentinel and The Sporting Life
Sporting Life (newspaper)
The Sporting Life was a British newspaper published between 1859 and 1998 that was best known for its coverage of horse racing. Latterly it has continued as a multi-sports website....
. A further book The Tinker and The Talisman was self-published in 2003. In 2004 Hudson appeared as himself in a cameo appearance in the British film The Football Factory.
In June 2006, Hudson joined Radio Napa in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, where he commentated on the FIFA World Cup in Germany. In 2008 Alan Hudson released his 3rd book titled "The Waddington Years" which described his great friendship with former Stoke City manager Tony Waddington
Tony Waddington
Anthony Waddington was an English football player and manager. He managed Stoke City F.C. from 1960 until 1977 and guided them to their only major trophy - the League Cup in 1972. He later managed his only playing club, Crewe Alexandra, from June 1979 to July 1981...
.
Personal life
His son, Anthony, is also a former professional footballer, and a former manager of Newport CountyNewport County A.F.C.
Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
of the Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
.