Terry Alcock

Port Vale

Alcock was born in Hanley and attended Wellington Road School, where he played as a goalkeeper before later converting into a versatile central defender. Starting his career at Third Division club Port Vale in 1963, he played two games in 1963–64, before he turned professional in September 1964 under Freddie Steele. He then featured 31 times in the 1964–65 season, as the "Valiants" were relegated into the Fourth Division. He made 46 appearances in 1965–66, as new boss Jackie Mudie struggled to keep Vale off the foot of the table; they eventually finished 19th, four points ahead of bottom club Wrexham. He played 45 games in 1966–67, picking up attention from higher profile clubs.

Blackpool

Alcock left Vale Park in August 1967, when he was signed by Blackpool manager Stan Mortensen, whose side were then playing in the Second Division, for a fee of £30,000, which was a Port Vale club record at the time. His new team missed out on promotion to the First Division in 1967–68 after they finished one point behind champions Ipswich Town and level on points with Queens Park Rangers, who had a superior goal average. They dropped to eighth in 1968–69, before winning promotion as runners-up in 1969–70 under the stewardship of Les Shannon. However, the new boss Bob Stokoe could not prevent the club from dropping straight back out of the top flight with a bottom-placed finish in 1970–71. Alcock was a member of the Blackpool team that won the 1971 Anglo-Italian…

Blackpool

Football League Second Division second-place promotion: 1969–70 Anglo-Italian Cup: 1971; runner-up: 1972