Milija Aleksic

A goalkeeper born to a Yugoslav father, he grew up in a small Serbian community in Chesterton, Staffordshire; he was a childhood friend of future England international Mike Pejic. His career started with Gordon Lee's Port Vale. He played two FA Cup games for the "Valiants" as a 17-year-old in the 1968–69 season, both First round games with Shrewsbury Town in which he conceded one goal in both the original game and the replay at Vale Park. An emergency replacement for the injured Stuart Sharratt, he was so keen that he used to iron his bootlaces before playing. He was given a free transfer in May 1969 and moved into non-League football with Eastwood, and then Stafford Rangers. With Rangers he was a member of the 1972 FA Trophy winning team, following a 3–0 win over Barnet at Wembley Stadium. In 1973, he returned to the Football League, signing for Tony Waiters's Plymouth Argyle. He played against Pelé in a friendly against Santos in March 1973, which Plymouth won 3–2. The "Pilgrims" posted a 17th-place finish in the Third Division in 1973–74, before winning promotion with a second-place finish in 1974–75 (they finished one point behind champions Blackburn Rovers). They then held their own in the Second Division, finishing in 16th place in 1975–76. In August 1976, he played two games on loan at Oxford United; both games were League Cup clashes with Cambridge United. He was then loaned out to Ipswich Town. Aleksic left Home Park permanently when he was moved on to league rivals…

Stafford Rangers

FA Trophy: 1971–72 Plymouth Argyle

Football League Third Division second-place promotion: 1974–75 Tottenham Hotspur

FA Cup: 1980–81 FA Charity Shield: 1981 (shared)