Sixty years ago, on 17 September 1966, goalkeeper Alex Stepney ran out at Old Trafford for the first time.
In a recent social media post, Alex said, “The moment the Stretford End greeted me as I ran to my goalposts, I felt lifted. I’ll never forget it.” Alex, who played over 400 times for Manchester United and once for England, was a Mitcham lad who came through the Tooting Colts and Reserves at the time of the great Terrors side of 1958–59, which all but beat Nottingham Forest at Sandy Lane in the never-to-be-forgotten FA Cup third round proper tie.
In the 1960–61 season, he moved up to the Second Team and made 24 appearances for them. In the second half of the 1961–62 campaign, he made 14 appearances for the First Eleven. His last season at Sandy Lane was in 1962–63, during which he played 47 times but also suffered the worst injury of his career when he broke his wrist at Kingstonian. In those days, there were no substitutes, and Alex famously played on the wing for half of the match.
In his final season, he received Cup Winners’ medals in two minor cup competitions: the Surrey Senior Shield Final—which was carried over from the previous campaign and saw Woking defeated 2–1 at Sandy Lane—and the Surrey Invitation Cup Final, which was also carried over from 1961–62 when Guildford City were beaten 4–2 (after extra time), also at Sandy Lane. Alex also went close to lifting the Isthmian League Championship that season, but the club had to settle for third place, with near-neighbours Wimbledon finishing as champions. He also played in the club’s record victory, which came in February 1963 against Welton Rovers—an 11–0 home victory in an Amateur Cup second round tie.
In the close season, he turned professional with Millwall. As a token of goodwill, Millwall sent a team to Sandy Lane to face Tooting & Mitcham—a small price to pay for such an outstanding talent. After three seasons at The Den, he moved to Chelsea for a record fee for a goalkeeper at the time. Alex was only at Stamford Bridge for a few months before moving to Manchester United in May 1966 for a then-world-record fee for a goalkeeper.
He went on to win the League Championship with the Reds in 1967, followed by the European Cup the following season when they beat Benfica at Wembley. His single England cap came at Wembley in 1968 in a 3–1 victory against Sweden, and he was also the third-choice keeper in the 1970 England World Cup squad. He left Manchester United in 1979 and went on to do a variety of things. Alex Stepney returned to the club in April 2008 to be the guest speaker at the Club Dinner, celebrating Tooting & Mitcham’s 75th anniversary.