GLOVERS NEWS: 100th anniversary of birth of Yeovil Town legend Alec Stock

ONE hundred years ago on March 30, 1917, a baby was born who would go on to become one of the most important names in Yeovil Town Football Club’s history – Alec William Alfred Stock.

While Gary Johnson may have leapfrogged above Stock in the pecking order for notable achievements for the Glovers by propelling Yeovil into the Football League and then The Championship in modern times, turn the clock back 70 years and it was Alec Stock who really did put the club on the football map.

Stock passed away peacefully on April 16, 2001, at Wimborne Minster in Dorset at the age of 84.

But his name will forever be remembered at Yeovil Town.

PHOTO - ABOVE: Alec Stock (left) in his player-manager days at Yeovil Town ahead of the FA Cup match with Sunderland and (right) Alec Stock back at Huish as a spectator for Yeovil's FA Cup Third Round match with QPR in 1988.

PHOTO - RIGHT: Alec Stock (left)  goes up for the kick-off against Sunderland and (right) an older Alec Stock back at the ground which he enjoyed that FA Cup giant-killing magic with. 

He was born in Peasedown St John and played for Tottenham Hotspur, Charlton Athletic and Queens Park Rangers before the Second World War.

Following the war in which he served in the Army as a captain he joined Yeovil Town as player-manager in 1946.

It was not until the 1948-49 season when things really clicked for Stock at Yeovil Town with a famous FA Cup run.

It started off with a 3-2 win at Lovells Athletic in the Fourth Qualifying Round before beating Romford 4-0 at Huish in the First Round Proper. Another 4-0 win followed in the Second Round at old rivals Weymouth.

Yeovil were drawn at home to Bury, of the Football League, in the Third Round and pulled off a shock 3-1 win with goals from Jack Hargreaves, Ray Wright and Bobby Hamilton.

The Glovers were paired with the mighty Sunderland in the Fourth Round – a star studded team which included the hot shot striker Len Shackleton.

More than 17,000 packed into Yeovil’s Huish ground and Stock had talked-up the club’s sloping pitch into something more akin of a mountain.

The day of January 29, 1949, will go down into Yeovil folklore as they produced a stunning 2-1 success with goals from Stock himself and Eric Bryant. Every player was a hero including young reserve goalkeeper Dickie Dyke who had been drafted into the side at short notice due to an injury to regular stopper Stan Hall.

News of Yeovil’s victory shot around the country and is still – to this day – regarded as one of the biggest FA Cup shocks in the competition’s long and proud history.

The Fifth Round on February 12, 1949, saw Yeovil given a trip to face Manchester United. The game was played at Manchester City’s Maine Road ground because Old Trafford was still out of action due to damage sustained in the Second World War.

A crowd of 81,565 was at the match and Yeovil started in promising fashion when they gained a corner in the opening minute. But that was as good as it got and Yeovil fell to an 8-0 defeat.

But the dye had been cast and Yeovil’s giant-killing achievements of that season have lived with the club since then.

It was not long before Stock was being courted by Football League clubs wanting his services and in September 1949 he announced he was joining Leyton Orient.

He then went on to AS Roma, Queens Park Rangers, Luton Town, Fulham and Bournemouth, while he also spent 53 unhappy days as assistant manager at Arsenal in 1955-56.

He enjoyed great success at QPR where they gained consecutive promotions to the old First Division in 1967 and 1968 and became the first Third Division team to win the Football League Cup in 1967 with a 3-2 win over WBA.

Stock had further success with Luton Town who he helped to promotion from the Third Division and then Fulham who he led to the 1975 FA Cup Final.

But it was at Yeovil Town where it all started for Alec Stock and he is remembered fondly on what would have been his 100th birthday on March 30, 2017.

A testimonial was held at Huish Park in 1999 where Yeovil Town took on Fulham in a pre-season friendly.

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Adult membership to join the Glovers Trust is just £10 per year, while it is just £1 per year for those aged Under-16; and £100 per year for a corporate membership.

For more details – go to the Glovers’ Trust website at http://www.glovers-trust.co.uk/ .

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