Alick Jeffrey

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Alick Jeffrey was an ex-player of Doncaster Rovers. He died on November 22, 2000 at the age of 61.

Alick Jeffrey`was without question the greatest player ever to come from Doncaster Rovers. His first game for them was when he was 15 years of age. He had already played twice for England U-23's by the age of 17 and he was on the verge of playing for the full England side. He was going to be snapped up by Manchester United. The Manchester United Assistant Manager Jimmy Murphy called Jeffrey, "the English Pelé" - Jeffrey was the most complete forward he had ever seen. He could shoot with either foot phenomenally hard; he could head the ball with great accuracy and he could land a long pass on a sixpence! The manager of Manchester United at the time was Sir Matt Busby, and he said that if he had signed Jeffrey, then Bobby Charlton would never have played for Manchester United. Sadly Jeffrey broke his leg playing for England U23's against Bristol at Ashton Gate in October 1956.

Passing Back: The cruel break stopped the player who was better than Best BY TOM DART. October 1956 EVERY supporter can name a player who did not live up to his potential, who fell victim to bad luck, injury, or his own personality. The story of Alick Jeffrey is another of young talent cruelly stifled, but it is different from the rest. Plenty can argue they might have been good, even great, in other circumstances. Few can claim that if life had not been so unfair, they would have been the very best. Born in the Yorkshire village of Rawmarsh, near Rotherham, in 1939, Jeffrey’s prodigious talent saved him from following his father down a coal mine and he made his debut for Doncaster Rovers, then in the second division, at inside forward, aged 15 years and 229 days, signing professional forms in 1956. By that time he had represented England at schoolboy, youth and amateur level and, aged 16, he had scored twice to knock Aston Villa out of the FA Cup. A dedicated trainer, but with a stocky build that gave him weight problems, he became nationally known as England’s brightest hope, the next wonder boy after Duncan Edwards. Jackie Milburn described him as the best young player he had ever seen. “Alick shows genius,” Stanley Matthews said. Jeffrey’s blossoming reputation brought him to the attention of Matt Busby, the Manchester United manager, and he spent a week training at Old Trafford. “I will come and get you in time,” Busby said. Jeffrey’s form for Doncaster — he scored 34 goals in 71 games during his first spell with the club — meant that in October 1956 Busby began transfer discussions with Jeffrey, who had scored 15 goals in 13 matches in only his second season. He would become another of the manager’s famous “Babes”, training and playing alongside Eddie Coleman, Edwards and Bobby Charlton. “You’ll be a Manchester United player very soon,” Busby said. Before he had the chance to sign, he was selected for England in an under-23 match against France at Ashton Gate, Bristol, on October 17. It was his second cap at that level, and his last. During the match he broke his right leg in two places, an injury thought to be career-ending, and the FA paid out compensation in full. In 1957 Alick became a singer, touring the clubs of Yorkshire as one of the Jeffrey Trio with his father and Charlie Williams — a Doncaster team-mate who became the country’s most famous black comedian in the 1970s Two years later, having recovered from the fracture, he joined Skegness Town but broke his other leg. By the time he recovered from this second setback it was 1961 and Rovers had dropped to the fourth division. He was unable to rejoin his old club, however, because the FA insisted he repay the insurance money before resuming his league career. So he emigrated to Australia, where he played for two years. The injury compensation issue was resolved in 1963, allowing him to return to Doncaster that December. He played a further 191 games for Rovers, scoring 95 goals, but had to endure another personal tragedy. In 1966 he was involved in a car crash in which the driver, John Nicholson, the club captain, was killed. Jeffrey was left in a coma but survived to continue playing after several months of recuperation. In his second spell at Belle Vue there was talk of him joining Don Revie’s Leeds United, but a move never materialised and a dispute with Lawrie McMenemy, his manager, saw him join Lincoln City in 1969. He played 22 times for them, scoring three goals. He tried one last time to resume his career at Doncaster when Maurice Setters was the manager but, now in his early thirties, the injuries had taken their toll. “When you’ve got kids running past you at a hundred miles an hour it’s time to retire,” he said. He left football and ran pubs in Doncaster for the next 23 years. In the decade or so that followed his injury, the footballing world often discussed the career that might have been. Nobby Stiles believed that he would have become one of the world’s finest players. In 1969, Peter Doherty, the former Ireland international who was his manager at Doncaster, said that Jeffrey would have been even better than George Best. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he would have been the greatest scorer of goals England has ever seen,” he said.“He could hit a ball over 30 yards harder than many do over ten. But what a tragedy it was for him, his club and the game that his future should be erased by that fracture.” Jimmy Murphy, Busby’s assistant, once said that Bobby Charlton would never have played No 9 for Manchester United if Jeffrey had joined. Yet Jeffrey was never bitter, pointing out that the injury that destroyed his potential may have saved his life: he would probably have been on the plane back from Munich that crashed in 1958, killing eight of the United squad and 15 others.

In a comeback in 1958, he broke his other leg and his career seemed over. He emigrated with his family to Australia but soon found his form and returned to England and his beloved Doncaster Rovers, by then languishing in the then Fourth Division. He graced the Doncaster game for another six seasons, generally top scorer each season , but never quite capturing his glittering 1950's form. He went to Lincoln on a free transfer in 1969, and retired from the game soon afterwards, becoming a Pub Landlord.