Full name Adrian Alston 1968–1969 South Coast United Place of birth Preston, England Name Adrian Alston | Playing position Role Football player Years Team Position Forward | |
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Date of birth (1949-02-06) 6 February 1949 (age 66) | ||
The Alston Turn 5 days before Johan Cruyff
Adrian Alston (born 6 February 1949) is an English-born Australian former professional football (soccer) player. His brother Alex was also a professional footballer.
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Career
Born in Preston, Alston was playing as an apprentice at his hometown club Preston North End when he was offered a chance by South Coast United in Australia and quickly settled in the country. His performances in the 1974 World Cup saw Alston receive offers from a number of clubs in Germany, including Hertha Berlin, Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt. Alston agreed a deal with Hertha that would include a $40,000 signing-on fee and a temporary apartment until he was able to secure his own living accommodation and a fee was agreed between Hertha and Safeway United but Alston received a late offer from Luton Town in The Football League who had tracked Alston following his performance against the side during a tour of England by the Australian national side.> The club had achieved promotion to the First Division, the highest tier in English football, the previous season and Alston decided to join the Hatters in order to help his wife settle and the lack of a language barrier.
In his debut season, Alston finished as the club's joint top goalscorer, along with Ron Futcher, in the league as the club suffered relegation. However, Alston spent just one season at Kenilworth Road as the club began to experience financial difficulties resulting in Alston not being paid at times. Alston later described his decision to reject offers from Germany and return to England with Luton as "the biggest mistake I ever made". Cardiff City manager Jimmy Andrews paid £20,000 to take him to Ninian Park with the club also agreeing to pay Alston the wages owed to him by Luton. He scored twice on his debut in a 4–3 win over Chesterfield and later went on to become the first post-war Cardiff player to score a hat-trick in the FA Cup in a 6–2 win over Exeter City. After helping the club win promotion to Division Two, he struggled to reproduce his form the following year and left Cardiff to play in the NASL for Tampa Bay Rowdies.
International career
He was a member of the Australian 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany. Prior to the Australia side meeting West Germany in the group stage, German manager Helmut Schoen stated
In total he represented Australia between 1969 and 1977 in 43 official matches, scoring 7 goals. Alston represented New South Wales in 1974 as a player and led the selection of the Illawarra region as coach in 2004.