Just how good was King Alick?

[Bentley Bullet]

He must be in the running for the most famous person from Doncaster. I was in a shop in Ibiza about twenty years ago and the Spanish shopkeeper asked me where I was from. When I said, Doncaster, he said "Alick Jeffrey"!

[ravenrover]

He was unbelievable, unfortunately I only saw him after his horrific injuries. My first glimpse of the King was against Preston North End in the league cup, he hit the post from around 20 yards I'm sure the post bent twelve inches. I maybe wrong but I believe he scored the only goal in front of a 16,000 plus crowd. We must however never forget the hammer that paved the way for him on so many occasions that being the great Laurie Sheffield, a great centre forward and a great bloke off the field. My Dad would say "if you think Alick is the King Laurie Sheffield must be the Prince" he thought Laurie was as good. Two fantastic players who made my teenage years that bit more special.

He did score the only goal and instead of a net buster it was a delicate flick which left the keeper stranded and just rolled over the line

[Rosso Exile Deux]

.....not only Doncaster people who remember King Alick he is still remembered around the country....

Some years back on hols, my lad was wearing the sacred hoops and we got chatting to an old boy from Swansea who noticed them. He made a point of saying John Charles and young Alick were in a class of their own, and he had seen most of the top British players in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

[silent majority]

I think I started watching football at the wrong time! My first season was 1964/65. The next season DRFC were promoted from Div 4, England won the World Cup and Alick Jeffrey was plying his trade . Football in those days was easy, and nothing but success with tremendously talented footballers.

I was set up for a lifetime of disappointment. Once Alick disappeared the Rovers went on a very long barren run, England have never threatened another World Cup and I doubt I'll ever experience both club and country jointly succeeding in the years to come.

[The Red Baron]

Worse for me, SM. I started in 1969-70 and it took me over 10 years to see my first promotion. We didn't win a Divisional title till 2003-04, by which time I was in my 40s.

My only memories of Alick as a player were in a couple of Testimonial games. You could see he was someone who could play (as with Billy Bremner) but I would have loved to have seen him in his pomp.

[BobG]

I was there Bob, and it was Dixie Macneill you are thinking of. Him and Percy Freeman were a double act at the time, and played football the old "Nat Lofthouse" way.

Laurie Sheffield was a top player at timing his jump to meet the ball in the air. Not the tallest by any means, but strong and won a high percentage of his headers.

Albie!!!

Brilliant! Yes. It was him. I remember the name now you've told me. I had an idea last night when I wrote that post that Lincoln had got a couple of good forwards that season. They scored a fair few didn't they? Hardly surprising!

Bob

[Sammy Chung was King]

Is there a bit of exaggeration in just how good he was with time passing?. Somebody compared him to Pele, another that he almost bent a post in half. I wasn't there i'm not denigrating his memory because you guys saw him i didn't.
Somebody else compared him to Rooney who in most peoples minds isn't anywhere near being seen as an all time great. Somebody else rated Sheffield as better the comparisons are very wide apart.

Busby wanted him i know that from reading it but would he have been a back up if they had signed him?. David Pegg was supposed to have been a fine player but he wasn't a certainty for his place.
Just how good was he?, was he a Pele or was he as good as Rooney?. I think a lot liked him as a man and maybe that adds to how good they think he was. Nothing wrong with admiring somebody but is it based on fact or childhood memories that aren't quite fact?

[Bentley Bullet]

Jimmy Armfield Compared Rooney to Jeffrey, in terms of style and potential, when Rooney was a youngster.

Jimmy Murphy, the ex-Manchester United Assistant Manager, called Jeffrey the "English Pele". claiming he was one of the most exciting players of the 50s.

It is claimed that Bobby Charlton wouldn't have become such a household name had it not been for Jeffrey's injury because Charlton took the inside forward position that was penciled in for Jeffrey.

[SydneyRover]

Alick is remembered in lots of places, I worked with a guy in 76 that played amateur football and lived in Auburn, Sydney, and had met the great man, can't remember if he had ever played with him, but I do remember the praise he heaped on him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alick_Jeffrey

[ZiggerZagger]

Alas I never got to see the man play, but, I remember watching an interview with Jimmy Greaves. He was asked what was the best thing that ever happened to him in his career. He just looked straight at the man interviewing him and said Alick Jeffrey broke his leg. Interviewer asked who was Alick Jeffrey, he smiled and said the greatest footballer England never had. If he hadn't of broken his leg, I'd of never played for England and Bobby Charlton would of never played for Man United. The man asked him how good was he, he paused for a moment then said You know how everyone is going on about this young kid from Argentina  ( Maradona ) well Jeffrey was the same, only younger, and had two feet.

That to me says it all.

[Bezza]

how good was Alick Jeffrey, IMO  The best player to ever wear a Rovers shirt , to dout Alicks ability only comes from someone who never saw him , to everyone who saw him he is the king.

[idler]

Is there a bit of exaggeration in just how good he was with time passing?. Somebody compared him to Pele, another that he almost bent a post in half. I wasn't there i'm not denigrating his memory because you guys saw him i didn't.
Somebody else compared him to Rooney who in most peoples minds isn't anywhere near being seen as an all time great. Somebody else rated Sheffield as better the comparisons are very wide apart.

Busby wanted him i know that from reading it but would he have been a back up if they had signed him?. David Pegg was supposed to have been a fine player but he wasn't a certainty for his place.
Just how good was he?, was he a Pele or was he as good as Rooney?. I think a lot liked him as a man and maybe that adds to how good they think he was. Nothing wrong with admiring somebody but is it based on fact or childhood memories that aren't quite fact?

Had you seen him Sammy you would not be asking the question.
I only saw him after he broke his leg and he was magnificent then. He was pinging balls exactly where he wanted and any distance. He had a great shot with either foot and read a game brilliantly. Look at the praise heaped on him by his peers. That should answer your question plus he is still being talked about 50 years after he broke his leg.

[tommy toes]

When we played Liverpool at Anfield in 1970 Alick was slow and overweight yet he was still the best player on the pitch.
I wish there was a film of that match. Emlyn Hughes was trying to mark him. Alick made him look silly  and he was an England regular.

[Bentley Bullet]

SCWK asked If there's a bit of exaggeration in just how good King Alick was with time passing.

I suppose it's a valid question considering some football fans have a mentality to select certain players who can do no wrong, and others who can do no right. That was still the case back then during King Alick's playing days.

We've all on here seen Billy Sharp hit a shot so wide off the mark that it went out for a throw -in, followed by a crowd reaction of "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! #Billy. Billy Sha-arp, Billy, Billy Sharp#"!
We've all on here also seen Lewis Guy hit a shot just wide of a post and the crowd going "F*ck*ng us*less tw*t, WARRRRRAA MISS"!

Similar did happen back in the 60's. Graham 'Willie' Watson was often called 'Mary Watson', for the slightest of mistakes, whereas Albert Broadbent was applauded for booting the ball into the racecourse paddock.

The thing is, honest to God, Alick never seemed to make mistakes!

[Donny Dub]

I started watching Rovers before Alice broke his leg and I had not realised that he must've been just a teenager until reading this topic.  He bossed the play even then, strutting about totally dominating the game and making those around him look like boys!  He was such a skilful player and gifted with such strength and power.  He was very impressive I can asssure you. 
Good luck!

[ravenrover]

When we played Liverpool at Anfield in 1970 Alick was slow and overweight yet he was still the best player on the pitch.
I wish there was a film of that match. Emlyn Hughes was trying to mark him. Alick made him look silly  and he was an England regular.

Or of Hughes making a headed clearance off the line and his knees buckling after a shot/free kick from AJ.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Sammy, just to paint a picture. If you can imagine Rooney playing in our team right now, he'd be head and shoulders above the rest wouldn't he? Well that's how Alick stood out and I saw him from 66/67 when he was ageing, of sturdy build and less mobile.

Now it's hard to imagine how good he was as a youngster but when you hear to testimony from those who saw him then, then you can understand he could have had a similar impact on the game as Rooney did when he burst on to the scene. 

[Sammy Chung was King]

It sounds like those who did see him were blessed. I have watched us since 1989 off and on and haven't seen anybody in that category.
Is there any footage of him playing either when he was young or older?. I know back then things were not televised but is there some unearthed footage somewhere?.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

There is some fleeting footage on Pathe News website. Search Doncaster Rovers and there's an FA Cup tie with Bristol Rovers. Charlie Williams features as well. Alick is aged 17 in that match.

[Goole Rover]

Sammy I recall the highlights of Bradford PA v Rovers being televised the following Sunday afternoon on Yorkshire TV. Sadly Rovers lost and the worse thing was that it was one of Bradford's very few victories.
I do believe they finished bottom and again I think it was Rovers promotion season 68/69, Alick did play in this match and you do get a glimpse of him.

[idler]

When he was young and making headlines I remember a piece on Sportsview with Peter Dimmock about Alick.
I don't think that it was very long but showed him walking down a street near where he lived and might have talked to him.
The problem is tv matches were either FA cup finals or internationals. The only other ones were Pathetic News at the cinema. It wasn't like the carpet coverage that you get today. If you drew a big club in a cup match that might be the only chance to see their big players in those days.

[Bentley Bullet]

The King did play in a 'Sunday soccer' televised YTV match at Bradford Park Avenue in 1972. I've searched for it but can't find it on the internet. Perhaps someone else will have better luck.

[The Red Baron]

The King did play in a 'Sunday soccer' televised YTV match at Bradford Park Avenue in 1972. I've searched for it but can't find it on the internet. Perhaps someone else will have better luck.

It was in 1968. Alick had retired by 1972.

[Bentley Bullet]

You are correct TRB. I did apply a bit of conjecture to the date.

[drfchound]

I started watching the Rovers in 1962 so had the privilege of seeing Alick in his mid sixties comeback.
He was streets better than everyone else in those days.
I suppose if he had gone to Man Utd as was expected he would have been revered in the same way as Duncan Edwards if he had been killed at Munich or Bobby Charlton if he had survived.

[niteowler]

I started watching Rovers before Alice broke his leg and I had not realised that he must've been just a teenager until reading this topic.  He bossed the play even then, strutting about totally dominating the game and making those around him look like boys!  He was such a skilful player and gifted with such strength and power.  He was very impressive I can asssure you. 
Good luck!

If I am not mistaken I believe Alick was 15 when he first played for Rovers in the old 2nd division which now equates to the Championship, and we pinched him from under the noses of our rivals Rotherham as he came from Rawmarsh. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Avsuptem]

King Alick's return to football coincided with my induction into the life changing compulsion of being RTID. I vaguely remember watching a TV report announcing his return to Doncaster colours and there being some argument about him being allowed to play professional football having previously received compensation for his injuries. I think it was settled by some sort of claw back payment but am not sure of that.

Most knowledgeable football types of a certain age eulogise about Alec Jeffrey, I once worked with someone who was at the match in Bristol when he broke his leg, he said you could hear the noise of the bone snapping and that the whole stadium fell into stunned silence.

 I only saw him play a few times but in my view he was possessed of natural talent that can be compared with the very best there has been.  If only things had been different.

[Lifelong supporter]

I started watching Rovers before Alice broke his leg and I had not realised that he must've been just a teenager until reading this topic.  He bossed the play even then, strutting about totally dominating the game and making those around him look like boys!  He was such a skilful player and gifted with such strength and power.  He was very impressive I can asssure you. 
Good luck!

If I am not mistaken I believe Alick was 15 when he first played for Rovers in the old 2nd division which now equates to the Championship, and we pinched him from under the noses of our rivals Rotherham as he came from Rawmarsh. Please correct me if I am wrong.

If you click on the link of the original post niteowler it tells you all about him and you're right he did make his debut in the old Second Division at the age of fifteen!

[drfchound]

King Alick's return to football coincided with my induction into the life changing compulsion of being RTID. I vaguely remember watching a TV report announcing his return to Doncaster colours and there being some argument about him being allowed to play professional football having previously received compensation for his injuries. I think it was settled by some sort of claw back payment but am not sure of that.

Most knowledgeable football types of a certain age eulogise about Alec Jeffrey, I once worked with someone who was at the match in Bristol when he broke his leg, he said you could hear the noise of the bone snapping and that the whole stadium fell into stunned silence.

 I only saw him play a few times but in my view he was possessed of natural talent that can be compared with the very best there has been.  If only things had been different.

Alec(?) Jeffrey

[niteowler]

I started watching Rovers before Alice broke his leg and I had not realised that he must've been just a teenager until reading this topic.  He bossed the play even then, strutting about totally dominating the game and making those around him look like boys!  He was such a skilful player and gifted with such strength and power.  He was very impressive I can asssure you. 
Good luck!

If I am not mistaken I believe Alick was 15 when he first played for Rovers in the old 2nd division which now equates to the Championship, and we pinched him from under the noses of our rivals Rotherham as he came from Rawmarsh. Please correct me if I am wrong.

If you click on the link of the original post niteowler it tells you all about him and you're right he did make his debut in the old Second Division at the age of fifteen!

Apologies Lifelong,missed that one, good read though.