Alfred Strange
Strange in the 1920s
Personal information
Full name Alfred Henry Strange[1]
Date of birth (1900-04-02)2 April 1900[1]
Place of birth Marehey, Ripley, Derbyshire, England[2]
Date of death 3 October 1978(1978-10-03) (aged 78)[2]
Place of death Ripley, Derbyshire, England[1]
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Right half; forward
Youth career
Marehay Colliery
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1922–1924 Portsmouth 24 (16)
1924–1927 Port Vale 95 (25)
1927–1935 Sheffield Wednesday 253 (22)
1935–1936 Bradford Park Avenue 10 (0)
Total 382 (63)
International career
1930–1933 England 20 (0)
Managerial career
1945–1947 Bedford Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alfred Henry Strange (2 April 1900 – 3 October 1978) was an English footballer who played most of his career as a half back with Sheffield Wednesday. He won 20 caps for England, including three as captain.

He began his career at Portsmouth, helping "Pompey" to win the Third Division South title in 1923–24. He then transferred to Port Vale and impressed at the club enough to win a move to Sheffield Wednesday in February 1927. He spent eight years with the club, helping Wednesday to win the First Division title in 1928–29 and 1929–30. He ended his professional career at Bradford Park Avenue in 1936. Over the course of his 14 years in the Football League he scored 63 goals in 382 league appearances. He spent a brief spell as manager of Bedford Town after World War II.

Early and personal life

Alfred Henry Strange was born on 2 April 1900 in Marehey, Ripley, Derbyshire.[2] He was the fourth of nine children to Alfred Henry and Mary (née Fox); his father was a hewer in the local coal mine.[2] He attended Street Lane School and went on to follow his father into the mines.[2] He married Elsie Cuttell in 1923 and had three children: Margaret Elsie (born 1927), Donald Henry (born 1931) and Dorothy Patricia (born 1938).[2]

After retiring from football, he settled in Ripley and worked as a poultry farmer.[3] In 1979 a room at the Ripley Leisure Centre was named the "Alf Strange Room" in his honour.[4]

Club career

Strange played for the Marehay Colliery team, where he was spotted by scouts from Portsmouth, for whom he signed as a professional on 2 October 1922.[2] He started his career with Portsmouth as a centre-forward and in his two seasons there he scored 16 goals from 24 league appearances, helping them to win the Third Division South title in 1923–24.

Frustrated at the lack of regular first team opportunities at Fratton Park, Strange moved to Second Division club Port Vale for a £500 fee on 29 October 1924.[1][2] His excellent ball control and powerful shots impressed the fans at The Old Recreation Ground, as the club enjoyed some of its most successful years with three successive eighth-place finishes.[1] At Port Vale he was a regular selection at inside forward, scoring seven goals in 33 league and FA Cup games in 1924–25.[1] He claimed 17 goals in 42 games in 1925–26, including a hat-trick in a 4–2 win over Clapton Orient on 2 January and four goals in a 5–0 victory over Blackpool on 6 February.[1] He scored five goals in 28 appearances in the first half of the 1926–27 season.[1] On 18 February 1927, he was transferred to Sheffield Wednesday, with Harry Anstiss and "a substantial financial consideration" moving in the opposite direction.[1][2]

He claimed five goals in just 13 First Division games in the latter half of the 1926–27 campaign.[5] He was limited to only 17 appearances in the 1927–28 season.[5] After he was switched to right half "his career blossomed".[6] He was an "ever present" when Wednesday won the Football League title in 1928–29, and in the following season he missed only one league match as Wednesday claimed the title for the second consecutive year.[5] He played in Sheffield Wednesday's 2–1 defeat by Arsenal in the Charity Shield at Stamford Bridge in October 1930.[7]

Strange played 42 games in 1930–31,[5] as Wednesday dropped to third position with Arsenal running away with the title. He scored three goals in 45 matches in 1931–32,[5] helping the club to another third-place finish behind Arsenal and champions Everton. He claimed five goals in 43 appearances in the 1932–33 season,[5] as Wednesday made another third-place finish behind Arsenal and Aston Villa. However, he featured just 20 times in the 1933–34 season.[5] He missed out on all but one game of the 1934–35 season and was unable to play in any of Wednesday's matches in the FA Cup, when they went on to win the final against West Bromwich Albion 4–2.

In May 1935, after 253 league and 19 cup appearances at Hillsborough,[5] Strange transferred to Second Division side Bradford Park Avenue. He played the 1935–36 season at Horsfall Stadium before dropping down to lower league football, returning to his place of birth to play for Ripley Town. He also played for the Raleigh Cycles team and for Corsham United. Following World War II, Strange was appointed manager of Southern League side Bedford Town in April 1945, a position he held until resigning in January 1947.[8]

International career

Strange was selected to represent the Football League three times, before receiving his first England cap for the match against Scotland on 5 April 1930. He played at right half as England won 5–2, with Vic Watson and Strange's Wednesday teammate Ellis Rimmer each scoring twice. Two other Sheffield Wednesday players, Ernie Blenkinsop and Billy Marsden, also played in this match.[9]

In May 1930, he accompanied England on a European tour where he played against Germany and Austria, both matches being drawn. He continued to be selected for England over the next few years, being appointed captain for a 5–2 loss to France on 14 May 1931 and a 3–1 win over Wales on 18 November 1931.[10]

His final England appearance came at White Hart Lane on 6 December 1933, when he was able to gain "revenge" for the defeat by France two years earlier, with England winning 4–1 (George Camsell scoring twice).[11]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[12]
Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Portsmouth 1922–23 Third Division South 1391000149
1923–24 Third Division South 1170000117
Total 241610002516
Port Vale 1924–25 Second Division 3043300337
1925–26 Second Division 411710004217
1926–27 Second Division 2444100285
Total 9525840010329
Sheffield Wednesday 1926–27 First Division 1350000135
1927–28 First Division 1502000170
1928–29 First Division 4252000445
1929–30 First Division 4136000473
1930–31 First Division 4002010530
1931–32 First Division 4035000453
1932–33 First Division 4152000435
1933–34 First Division 2010000201
1934–35 First Division 10000010
Total 253221901027322
Bradford Park Avenue 1935–36 Second Division 1000000100
Career total 382632841041167

Honours

Portsmouth

Sheffield Wednesday

England

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 282. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "England Players – Alf Strange". englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "Strange, Alf – Marehay lad captained England". bygonederbyshire.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  4. ↑ "Links with history to be retained by centres". ripleyandheanornews.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Wednesday Playing Record". adrianbullock.com. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  6. ↑ Graham Betts (2006). England: Player by player. Green Umbrella Publishing. p. 231. ISBN 1-905009-63-1.
  7. ↑ "Fortune smiles on the Arsenal". Sheffield Independent. 8 October 1930. p. 10. Retrieved 22 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ Managers and Coaches, 1945-82 Bedford Old Eagles
  9. ↑ "England 5 v 2 Scotland (5 April 1930)". englandfc.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  10. ↑ "Alf Strange". englandstats.com. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  11. ↑ "England Player Profile". englandfc.com. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  12. ↑ Alfred Strange at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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