Alan Dickens

Infobox Football biography


playername = Alan Dickens
fullname = Alan William Dickens
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1964|9|3
cityofbirth = London
countryofbirth = England
nickname = Dicko
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 1981–1982
youthclubs = West Ham United
years = 1982–1989
1989–1993
1992
1993
1993–1994
clubs = West Ham United
Chelsea
→West Bromwich Albion
→Brentford
Colchester United
caps(goals) = 192 (23)
48 (1)
3 (1)
15 (1)
32 (3)
nationalyears = 1984–?
nationalteam = England U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 2

Alan Dickens (born September 3 1964 in Plaistow, London) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.

Dickens played for West Ham United as a youth, winning the FA Youth Cup with his local club in 1981. He signed as an apprentice on July 14 1981 and as a pro on December 18 1982. He scored on his debut, a 2-1 win at Notts County on December 18 1982. Although a midfielder, Dickens had to play most of the 1987-88 season as a striker following the departure of Frank McAvennie. Dicko played his last game for West Ham on 23 May 1989 against Liverpool. He made a total of 231 league and cup appearances for the East London club, scoring 29 goals, before moving to Chelsea for £600,000 in 1989. He made 22 league appearances during the 1989-90 season under Bobby Campbell.

He made his Chelsea debut in a 1-0 away win against Wimbledon on 19 August 1989, the opening day of the 1989-90 season, but was regularly substituted during the first half of the campaign. He scored his first league goal in a 4-2 defeat at QPR on December 9 1989, but made just one appearance between January and the end of the season (as a late replacement for Peter Nicholas in the last game of the season away to Millwall).

During his second season at Chelsea, Dickens failed to make a league start until mid-February. He did, however, keep his place in the side for the remainder of that campaign. Campbell's replacement at the end of the 1990-91 season, Ian Porterfield, signed Vinnie Jones and Dickens added just three games to his 1991-92 tally upon Jones' arrival on August 30 1991. He played his last first-team game in February 1992, a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest, after which he appeared only for the reserve team.

After periods on loan to West Bromwich Albion and Brentford during the 1992-93 season, Dickens moved to Colchester United where he made 32 league appearances. He later played non-league football with Chesham United, Collier Row, Billericay Town and Purfleet.

After retirement from football, Dickens went on to live in Barking [ [http://www.lalamy.demon.co.uk/peoplist.htm The Newham People List] , "LalAmy", last accessed June 2 2007] and work as a black cab (hackney carriage) driver [ [http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/bob.dunning/wherewba.htm Where are they now?, West Browich Albion] , "Bob's 1970-71 Footballers", last accessed June 2 2007] .

References

*cite book |last=Hogg |first=Tony |title=Who's Who of West Ham United |year=2005 |publisher=Profile Sports Media| id= ISBN 1 903135 50 8 |pages=66-67
* [http://www.westhamstats.info/westham.php?west=2&ham=190&united=Alan_Dickens Alan Dickens] , "westhamstats.info", last accessed June 2 2007
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=8457 Alan Dickens, Chelsea FC] , "sporting-heroes.net", last accessed January 1 2007
* [http://allfootballers.com/ "Since 1888"]

Persondata
NAME= Dickens, Alan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH= birth date|1964|9|3
PLACE OF BIRTH= Plaistow, London
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=