Alec Stock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alec Stock (30 March 1917 - 16 April 2001) was an English footballer and manager.
Alec Stock was born in Peasedown St John and played as an inside-forward for Tottenham Hotspur, Charlton Athletic and QPR before the Second World War and guested for several other clubs during the hostilities. He joined Yeovil Town in 1946.
He came to prominence as the player/manager of Yeovil Town during a historic F.A.Cup run in 1949. They had thrilling victories over Bury and Sunderland, before losing to Manchester United in the fifth round. He later managed Leyton Orient (1949-1959), AS Roma, QPR (1959-1965) (general manager 1965-1968), Luton Town (1968-1972), Fulham (1972-1976) and AFC Bournemouth (1979-1980). He was also the assistant manager of Arsenal for 53 days during the 1955/1956 season and was a director of QPR (1977-1979).
It was perhaps Alec's time as manager of Queens Park Rangers where he is most fondly remembered. It was during his spell in the 1960's that coincided with the development of the club with chairman Jim Gregory. The team enjoyed unprecedented success in 1967 and 1968 winning consecutive promotions with the club reaching the First Division for the first time and becoming the first Third Division team to win the Football League Cup in 1967 beating then First Division West Brom 3-2 in a come from behind win. Stock had a focus on youth bringing many of the team through the clubs youth system (including Frank Sibley, Tony Hazell, Roger Morgan, Ian Morgan and Mick Leach) as well as blending characters such as Rodney Marsh and Mark Lazarus into the set up.With internal pressures mounting in the club following the 1967/68 season however, Stock resigned.He later had success with Luton Town who he helped to promotion from the Third Division and also with Fulham when he led them to the 1975 F.A Cup Final.
He was the inspiration for the famous and hugely popular character, "Ron Manager", who was featured in the BBC comedy programme The Fast Show. Ron was developed and played by the comedian and actor Paul Whitehouse. The origin of Ron's style of speech, characterised by such sentences as, 'small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts, you know, wasn't it?' stems directly from Stock's idiosynchratic syntax.
| Preceded by: ' |
Yeovil Town Manager 1946-1949 |
Succeeded by: ' |
| Preceded by: Neil McBain |
Leyton Orient Manager 1949-1956 |
Succeeded by: ' |
| Preceded by: ' |
Leyton Orient Manager 1956-1957 |
Succeeded by: ' |
| Preceded by: Giuseppe Viani |
AS Roma Coach 1957 |
Succeeded by: Gunnar Nordahl |
| Preceded by: ' |
Leyton Orient Manager 1957-1959 |
Succeeded by: Johnny Carey |
| Preceded by: Jack Taylor |
QPR Manager 1959-1965 |
Succeeded by: Jimmy Andrews |
| Preceded by: Jimmy Andrews |
QPR Manager 1965-1968 |
Succeeded by: Tommy Docherty |
| Preceded by: Allan Brown |
Luton Town Manager 1968-1972 |
Succeeded by: Harry Haslam |
| Preceded by: Bill Dodgin, Jr. |
Fulham Manager 1972-1976 |
Succeeded by: Bobby Campbell |
| Preceded by: Frank Sibley |
QPR Caretaker Manager 1978 |
Succeeded by: Steve Burtenshaw |
| Preceded by: John Benson |
Bournemouth Manager 1979-1980 |
Succeeded by: David Webb |
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Categories: 1917 births | 2001 deaths | English footballers | English football managers | Charlton Athletic F.C. players | Queens Park Rangers F.C. players | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players | Yeovil Town F.C. players | A.F.C. Bournemouth managers | Fulham F.C. managers | A.S. Roma managers | Serie A managers | Leyton Orient F.C. managers | Luton Town F.C. managers | Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers | Yeovil Town F.C. managers
