Clubs: Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Fulham, Portsmouth

Alan Stephenson was a tall, slimly built but strong centre-half who played for the Palace with grace and power in the tough footballing days of the mid-1960s.

He was dominating in the air and solid and reliable in the tackle so that he was a perfect defender for a team marshalled by manager Dick Graham. He made a major contribution to Palace's progress up the League and deservedly became Palace's captain while also earning England Under 23 honours.

Alan actually began his Palace career as an amateur after travelling across London upon hearing that trials were being held at Selhurst Park. He made his debut as a mere 17-year-old but he forced his way into the Third Division promotion team, playing alongside Bran Wood in an early dual central defender's role and from then on he missed only an occasional game through injury for four years in Division Two, before joining West Ham United in march 1968 for a club record fee of £80,000.

Statistics

	Games	Goals
1961/1962	1	0
1962/1963	1	1
1963/1964	27	2
1964/1965	48	4
1965/1966	42	4
1966/1967	44	1
1967/1968	22	1
Total	185	13

Source: Crystal Palace Player by Player Since 1960, Rev. Nigel Sands (Sporting and Leisure Press 1996)