Albert Stubbins

Albert Stubbins
Personal information
Date of birth (1919-07-17)17 July 1919
Place of birth Wallsend, England
Date of death 28 December 2002(2002-12-28) (aged 83)
Place of death Cullercoats, Tyne and Wear, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position Centre forward
Youth career
Whitley & Monkseaton
Sunderland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1937–1946 Newcastle United 27 (5)
1946–1953 Liverpool 159 (75)
1953–1954 Ashington
Total 186 (80)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Albert Stubbins (17 July 1919 – 28 December 2002) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. Beginning his career at Newcastle United, the onset of World War II limited his playing time.

Spending seven years at Liverpool where he was bought for a club record fee, Stubbins won the League Championship in 1947. There he formed a prolific strike partnership with Jack Balmer, and they were joint-leading goalscorers in the title-winning season with 24 goals each. Stubbins was then the top goalscorer outright in 1948 with 24 goals, and he helped Liverpool reach the 1950 FA Cup Final in which he played at Wembley Stadium.

Immensely popular at Anfield, Stubbins was the recipient of a famous terrace chant from Liverpool supporters. 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. In 2006 he was listed at number 50 in "100 Players Who Shook The Kop".

Stubbins was included on the front cover of the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the only footballer to appear.

Career

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.

"Any conversation regarding the greatest strikers to have represented Liverpool should automatically include Albert Stubbins, a popular goalscorer revered by all at Anfield and even the Beatles."

— Official Liverpool F.C. profile of Stubbins.

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."

Stubbins' kit (right) from the 1950 FA Cup final in the Liverpool F.C. museum

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 claim a 3–1 victory over Bolton Wanderers. Playing in a team that included prolific winger Billy Liddell and a future manager of the club, left-half Bob Paisley, Stubbins scored 28 goals (24 league goals) in the 1946–47 season (making him joint top scorer with Jack Balmer) helping Liverpool to win the League Championship, their first since 1923. Stubbins also top scored outright with 24 goals the following season. Although a contractual dispute in the 1948–49 season limited his appearances for the Merseyside club, he then helped Liverpool reach the 1950 FA Cup final, the first time Liverpool had appeared at Wembley with their previous Cup Final appearance in 1914 taking place before Wembley was built. However, they lost to Arsenal by two goals to nil. An immensely popular figure during his seven years at Anfield, Stubbins was the recipient of a famous chant from Liverpool supporters: 'A-L-B-E-R-T, Albert Stubbins is the man for me!'

On 18 October 1950, at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road, Stubbins netted five goals in the Football League's 6–3 victory over the Irish League in an exhibition match. He made his final appearance for Liverpool at Stoke City in January 1953 aged 33 before injuries forced him to retire that year, having scored 83 goals in 178 appearances for the club, or 1 every 2.1 games. Despite his club success, he played for the England only once, in an unofficial international against Wales in 1945, a game England lost 1–0.

Later life

"One of Liverpool's finest players of the immediate post-World War II period, Stubbins' fame also earned him a place on the front cover of the Beatles' ‘Sergeant Pepper’ album – where he was the only footballer to feature."

— FourFourTwo magazine, ranking Stubbins no. 45 in their greatest Liverpool players list and his fame which led to an appearance on the cover of a Beatles album.

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.

Career details

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Liverpool 1952–53 5000––0050
1951–52 12500––00125
1950–51 23610––00246
1949–50 281071––003511
1948–49 15631––00187
1947–48 402422––004226
1946–47 362464––004228
Newcastle United 1946-47 3100––0031
1945-46 0021––0021
1938-39 23410––00244
1937-38 1000––0010
Total 1868022900000020889

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Albert Stubbins obituary: The robust but fair Geordie goal scorer who became a Liverpool legend". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "No.5: Albert Stubbins". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Hall of Fame". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 "100 Players Who Shook The Kop". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Ladson, Matt (29 April 2022). "Ranked! The 50 best Liverpool players ever". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "Stubbins arrives in record deal". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Past players: Albert Stubbins". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC On This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-905411-50-4.
  9. ↑ "50 Greatest Liverpool Players Ever". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  10. ↑ "Sgt. Pepper - Meet the Band: Albert Stubbins". BBC. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Player profile: Albert Stubbins". LFCHistory.net. Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  12. ↑ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 489. ISBN 0354-09018-6.
  13. ↑ "Liverpool career stats for Albert Stubbins - LFChistory - Stats galore for Liverpool FC!". LFCHistory.net. Retrieved 26 January 2020.