Albert Stubbins

Born in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England, he spent his early years in the United States, returning to Wallsend, where he attended Carville School, in 1929. Stubbins first played for Newcastle United aged 18 in 1937, appearing in official games 30 times and scoring six goals for the team. He then scored 237 goals in 199 games played during the war, and in the 1945–46 transitional season before official League football was restarted, Stubbins scored 39 goals in the Northern League; the second-highest Newcastle scorer was the young outside-right Jackie Milburn with 14 goals, a player who would become an icon at Newcastle, but many fans and journalists believed Stubbins was the better centre-forward.

In 1946 Stubbins was signed by Liverpool for a then club record of £12,500. He had also been approached by Merseyside rivals Everton. Liking the proposal put forward by Liverpool chairman Bill McConnell and manager George Kay, Stubbins said, "we discussed matters and I was impressed with them both, and with the possibilities of Liverpool, so I said I would go to Anfield. I also knew several of the Liverpool players at the time like Willie Fagan and Jack Balmer. That probably gave Liverpool the slight edge and in the end I never spoke to Everton because I had been so impressed with Liverpool's offer."

Making his Liverpool debut on 14 September 1946 in a league match at Burnden Park, Stubbins made an immediate impact when he scored an 82nd-minute goal as the Reds left it late to…

Newcastle United (1938–39) – 27 appearances, 5 goals, Football League Second Division Wartime guest games (1939–1946) – 188 appearances, 231 goals Liverpool FC (1946–1953) – 178 appearances, 83 goals, Football League First Division Championship winners medal (1946–47), FA Cup runners-up medal (1949–50)

Following his retirement, Stubbins briefly coached an American semi-professional side, the New York Americans in 1960. He then returned to his native north-east England where he entered a full-time career in sports journalism. In 1967 Stubbins appeared on the front cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, the only footballer to be depicted. In selecting two players from each decade to enter the Liverpool F.C. Hall of Fame, Stubbins was one of two players chosen from the 1940s (the other being Billy Liddell). In 2006 he was listed at number 50 in "100 Players Who Shook The Kop", an official Liverpool fan poll. He also has a Liverpool F.C. fan club named in his honour, "The Albert Stubbins Crazy Crew". He also featured as a minor character in Stephen Baxter's 1995 time-travelling novel The Time Ships. He died in 2002, aged 83, after a short illness.