Pateley Bridge man Alan Sutton can barely believe he won league titles with Leeds United.
His career at United spans three decades and includes a First Division title, a Second Division championship, a cup final at Wembley and stints in Europe.
But Alan was not a player – he was the club’s physio.
Sitting in his conservatory at his home in Pateley Bridge on a sunny April morning, he says it took him a while to realise his achievements.
“Have you ever seen that episode of Dallas when Bobby Ewing gets killed, but then he comes back again? He comes out of his shower and it was like a dream.
“It’s a bit like that. I wake up and think: ‘did that really happen?’”
He’s documented his career in a book My Journey: Pavement to Premier League with Leeds United, which initially started as stories for his grandchildren during the first covid lockdown.
But Alan’s story of his time at the pinnacle of English football is not a conventional one.
In fact, 25 years prior to joining Leeds United as its physiotherapist, he was flagging pavements in Bradford.
So how did a kid from Bradford go from working on building sites to lifting a First Division title?
Flagging pavements in Bradford
Alan was born in Bradford in 1946. His mum and dad, Winnie and Alf, both worked typical mill town jobs.
Alf was a foundry man and Winnie worked in the mills.
Much like a lot of teenagers in post-war Britain, Alan left school at 15 in 1961.
His dream was to play football and his education suffered for it. As a result, he was left to apply for manual jobs in his hometown – some with not much success.
He said:
“I had three jobs in three months and got sacked from every one of them.
“I think the youth employment place was a bit fed up of seeing me.”
After many tries, Alan finally found a job as a street mason which involved him laying flags and kerbs for the Bradford Corporation.
For two weeks, he was told to sit in a shed armed with a lump hammer and a chisel learning how to chip away at stones.
“As you can imagine, I probably hit my hand more times than I did the chisel.”
While Alan was working on building sites and laying flags, he pursued a passion for football.
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He played in the Yorkshire league for Salts FC at Saltaire, as well as Bradford Minors.
Alan caught the eye of local coaches as a player and went on to play Leeds FA in the West Riding FA Cup final for Bradford Minors.
In a sign of things to come, Alan says on the day of the game, he read about a new signing for Leeds in the local Telegraph & Argus paper.
“I read in the paper that Leeds United have just signed another Scottish schoolboy international called Edwin Gray.
“It’s ironic how your life pans out and 30 years on, the amount of hours I would spend with Eddie.”
Despite his dream, Alan did not go on to have a football career as a player.
He turned down an opportunity to sign as an apprentice for Bradford Park Avenue after impressing their manager, Jimmy Scoular.
From Canada to Leeds
After saving up money working in the building trade, Alan headed off to Canada in 1967 to pursue more work.
He returned to England in 1968 after making enough money and worked in the building trade while taking his coaching badges.
While helping coach young players at Bradford City, he opted to learn physiotherapy and take on an FA Management and Treatment of Sports Injuries diploma at Lilleshall.
Alan with his First Division title medal
His big break came in July 1981, when Halifax Town FC hired him on £50 a week.
Alan went on to pass his diploma and took up a role at Mansfield Rugby League, before going on to Halifax Rugby League in 1985 where he would get his first taste of silverwear.
Despite the success in rugby league, Alan’s career would take a different path in another part of West Yorkshire.
In August 1986, Leeds United physio Geoff Ladley called Alan.
Geoff had decided to leave the club after 10 years to take up a new job at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.
He asked Alan if he would be interested in taking over as physio and if he would meet with Leeds manager and club legend Billy Bremner.
The initial interview did not go to plan though.
“I’ve gone through to see Billy.
“But I’m still on a roll from winning the championship with Halifax and I’m not exactly the most positive person when I’m talking to him.”
Alan went back to his part-time job with Halifax Town, but was confronted about his interview by manager Mick Jones.
“He asks: ‘how did you get on with Billy?’ And I said ‘yeah alright’.
“He just looked at me in the eye and said: ‘Listen, you just cannot turn down Leeds United.’”
Alan called Geoff back up and asked for another chance, which he was given. Fortunately for him, Billy asked when he could start.
Success with Leeds United
Leeds missed out on promotion and reached the 1987 FA Cup semi final in Alan’s first season.
He describes his workplace as “mayhem” as the club’s physio.
“I had 40 people from kids to the squad to look after. Also, on a match day, I was kit man as well as physio.
“What I loved about Billy was he would come into the treatment room, he would sit down crossing his legs, smoking a fag and start telling all the stories.”
But Billy’s tenure wouldn’t last and a new manager would come in in 1989 and spark a “culture change”, as Alan describes it.
Howard Wilkinson arrived from Sheffield Wednesday and led an overhaul of the club.
The 1989/90 season saw Leeds promoted back to the First Division.
For Alan, who saw it firsthand, part of the reason for the success was recruitment and the type of players that were brought in.
“I get asked loads of times about who was the best player in my near 30 years at Leeds United.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, in those early days it was Gordon Strachan. He was like the manager on the field.
“We were still in the culture where everyone was drinking. He started to change all that.”
Leeds United’s 1992 squad, which were the last team to win the First Division before it became the Premier League. Alan can be seen in the blue jumper with an “AS” logo.
Strachan would be pivotal in that promotion season and more so two years later when Leeds won their first title since 1974 – and became the last team to win it before the Premier League.
The championship was clinched n April 26, 1992, after a chaotic game at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United.
Alan, who still has his First Division medal, recalls the aftermath of that game in Sheffield and finding out that they had clinched the title on the drive home on the radio.
During the drive, Liverpool were playing Manchester United at Anfield. A victory for the home side would secure Leeds the championship.
“I got my nephew to pick me up and take me to my sisters in Bradford.
“While we were driving, Liverpool had gone one-nil up. I’m half asleep and Mark Walters had got the second goal with about three minutes to go.
“My nephew said: ‘Uncle Alan, I think you have just won the championship.'”
Alan would get his hands on the title at the Norwich game at Elland Road the following weekend.
Today, he keeps a picture of him with his wife Shirley, his son Miles and daughter Adele on the pitch, with the trophy in his home.
‘It gets under your skin’
Alan left Leeds in 2014 after 37 years of service.
When asked to sum up his career, he is thoughtful and takes time to reflect on his achievements.
Alan with current Leeds United captain Liam Cooper.
Much of his thoughts on his career are in his book, the proceeds of which go to two of his chosen charities: Sarcoma UK and the Gary Kelly Cancer Centre in Drogheda, Ireland.
For the most part, Alan reflects on how much Leeds managed to get to him throughout the past three decades.
“When someone asks me if I’m a Leeds United supporter, I say no.
“Leeds United became far deeper. It becomes your life. Eddie Howe was talking about Newcastle the other day. He said: ‘This place gets under your skin’. That was Leeds United.”
Alan’s book ‘My Journey: Pavement to Premier League’ is available now here. All proceeds go to Sarcoma UK and the Gary Kelly Cancer Centre.
This is the first article in a series of Sporting Spotlight interviews. If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured, contact [email protected].
