Adrian Alston
Encyclopedia
Adrian Alston is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

-born Australian
Australian people
Australian people, or simply Australians, are the citizens of Australia. Australia is a multi-ethnic nation, and therefore the term "Australian" is not a racial identifier. Aside from the Indigenous Australian population, nearly all Australians or their ancestors immigrated within the past 230 years...

 former professional football (soccer) player. His brother Alex was also a professional footballer.

Career

While playing as an apprentice at his hometown club Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

, Alston was offered a chance by South Coast United
South Coast United
South Coast United Soccer Club is an Australian football from the city of Wollongong.The club was founded in 1984 by Wollongong's Croatian Australian community...

 in Australia and quickly settled in the country. His performances in the 1974 World Cup saw Alston receive offers from a number of clubs in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, including Hertha Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...

, but instead decided to join Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...

 in The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

. However Alston spent just one season at Kenilworth Road
Kenilworth Road
Kenilworth Road Stadium is a football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been home to Luton Town Football Club since 1905, when financial complications forced the club to leave its previous location at Dunstable Road...

 before Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

 manager Jimmy Andrews
Jimmy Andrews
Jimmy Andrews is a Scottish former footballer who played as a left winger.-Career:Andrews was signed by English club West Ham United from Dundee in November 1951 for £4,750. He played his first game for the club on 24 November 1951, against Everton. His final game for West Ham came against...

 paid £20,000 to take him to Ninian Park
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in Leckwith, Cardiff, Wales. Until 2009, it was the home ground of Cardiff City F.C., who compete in the English Football League Championship...

.

He scored twice on his debut in a 4–3 win over Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...

 and later went on to become the first post-war Cardiff player to score a hat-trick in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 in a 6–2 win over Exeter City
Exeter City F.C.
Exeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003...

. After helping the club win promotion to Division Two
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

, he struggled to reproduce his form the following year and left Cardiff to play in the NASL
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

 for Tampa Bay Rowdies.

International career

He was a member of the Australian 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

. Prior to the Australia side meeting West Germany in the group stage, German manager Helmut Schoen stated
In total he represented Australia between 1969 and 1977 in 43 official matches, scoring 7 goals. Alston represented New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 in 1974 as a player and led the selection of the Illawarra
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...

 region as coach in 2004.

External links

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