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[1] and work as a black cab (hackney carriage) driver[2].
References
- Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media, 66-67. ISBN 1 903135 50 8.
- Alan Dickens, westhamstats.info, last accessed June 2 2007
- Alan Dickens, Chelsea FC, sporting-heroes.net, last accessed January 1 2007
- ^ The Newham People List, LalAmy, last accessed June 2 2007
- ^ Where are they now?, West Browich Albion, Bob's 1970-71 Footballers, last accessed June 2 2007
