Alex Stepney

Born in Mitcham, Surrey, 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 earned 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, and he kept a clean sheet as United won 1–0 through a first-half goal from Denis Law.

Stepney was occasionally recalled by Ramsey but would ultimately not add to his solitary England cap, with Shilton emerging as the new deputy and ultimate long-term replacement. He continued to play in goal for Manchester United in a period of significant underachievement for the club, which culminated in their relegation to the Second Division in 1974, a season which saw Stepney, unusually for a goalkeeper, score two goals from penalties thus making him the (joint) leading scorer at Christmas. For half a season he was replaced by Jimmy Rimmer. By now, with Stepney's former Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty in charge, they bounced back as Division Two champions the following season (1974–75). During this time, Stepney suffered a freak injury when he dislocated his jaw while barking instructions at his disorganised defence. The next two seasons saw Stepney serve as the experienced presence in a Manchester United side assembled by Tommy Docherty through a combination of new signings and emerging academy players. During this period, he competed with Paddy Roche for the club's first-choice goalkeeper position. Stepney was the only member of the squad with previous club-level experience at Wembley when Manchester United reached the 1976 FA Cup Final. United were defeated 1–0 by Southampton, then a Second Division side, after Bobby Stokes scored the winning goal late in the match. Stepney was unable to prevent the decisive strike, which Manchester United players unsuccessfully…

The following year, Stepney was again not an automatic choice, playing 23 of United's 42 games in the league. He played the last of his 546 games for Manchester United in April 1978, prior to leaving for Dallas Tornado in the North American Soccer League in the United States, where he remained until he retired from professional football in 1980. He kept 175 clean sheets, made a club record 92 consecutive appearances (later broken by Steve Coppell) and, with those two goals, remains United's top scoring goalkeeper. Aside from Peter Schmeichel (who scored in a 1995–96 UEFA Cup game), no other Manchester United goalkeeper has scored in a competitive game for the club after World War II. Towards the end of his career, he turned out for non-league side Altrincham in the early 1980s, when they were competing in the Alliance Premier League. He helped them win the Alliance Premier League title in 1980–81 (they had won it the 1979–80 season as well), but they did not win promotion to the Football League as the re-election system was still in place and the majority of the league's members voted against them joining the Football League, ending Stepney's hopes of a professional comeback. Stepney became a goalkeeping coach after he stopped playing, including a spell at Manchester City in 2000–01. He also works as an after-dinner speaker and used to host The Legends Football Phone in on 105.4 Century Radio in Manchester, replacing Mickey Thomas – another former Manchester United player.

Stepney was never a flashy performer and perhaps his most impressive quality was his positioning, although he could also demonstrate agility when required.