Alex Stepney
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander Cyril Stepney | ||
| Date of birth | 18 September 1942 | ||
| Place of birth | Mitcham, Surrey, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Tooting & Mitcham United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1961–1963 | Tooting & Mitcham United | 35 | (0) |
| 1963–1966 | Millwall | 137 | (0) |
| 1966 | Chelsea | 1 | (0) |
| 1966–1978 | Manchester United | 433 | (2) |
| 1979–1980 | Dallas Tornado | 54 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | → Altrincham (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 1981–1982 | Altrincham | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 625 | (2) | |
| National team | |||
| England U23 | |||
| 1968 | England | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Alexander Cyril "Alex" Stepney (born 18 September 1942 in Mitcham, Surrey) is an English former football player who was Manchester United's goalkeeper when they became the first English club to win the European Cup.
Stepney had unsuccessful trials with Fulham and joined Tooting & Mitcham United. From there, he was spotted by Millwall, who signed him as an amateur in 1963, but quickly realised his potential and made him a professional within two months of his arrival. Stepney was ever-present for almost three seasons, making 158 appearances, only missing the last game of the 1965–66 season. During this period, he achieved three England under-23 caps.
In May 1966, Stepney joined Chelsea for £50,000. Manager Tommy Docherty initially intended to play Stepney and fellow goalkeeper Peter Bonetti in alternate weeks, but just three months later Stepney was sold to Manchester United for a record fee of £55,000, having made just one appearance for the club. With Harry Gregg's career virtually ended by injury, the Manchester United manager, Matt Busby, opted for Stepney after deciding that neither Pat Dunne nor the injury prone David Gaskell was up to the job. Stepney made his debut for United later the same year against Manchester City at Old Trafford which United won 1–0 with a first half goal from Denis Law.
With Stepney in goal, Manchester United won the League in 1967, entitling them to entry into the European Cup the following season, a competition which no English club had yet won. Stepney featured throughout United's progress to the final at Wembley, memorably making a late close-range save from Benfica striker Eusébio in the closing stages with the score at 1–1. Eusébio was so astonished at Stepney's save – he caught a vicious close-range shot – that he stopped to applaud the keeper as Stepney threw the ball back into play. United eventually won 4–1 after extra time. Stepney will also be remembered for conceding a goal scored by Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper, Pat Jennings, in the 1967 Charity Shield match at Old Trafford. With Tottenham leading 1–0, Jennings punted the ball upfield from the Stretford End. The ball bounced over the stranded Stepney into the net. The game ended 3–3.
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