Alan Roper

Alan Roper (born May 1939 in Tipton, Staffordshire, England) is a retired professional footballer.

He began his career in the youth team at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the mid 1950s but was unable to break into the first team, beginning his career when Wolves were one of the top club sides in England, and signed for Walsall in 1962. He made his debut in September of that year in a 3-2 win over Middlesbrough in the Football League Second Division at Fellows Park, and spent three years with the club, making 60 league and cup appearances mostly as a full-back, scoring twice. He remained there until the end of the 1964-65 season.

After retiring from football, Roper was the landlord of The Union public house in his hometown Tipton.

He has been married to Valerie since 1964 and they have two children, Lesley (born 1966) and Steven (born 1970). Lesley was seriously injured in a car crash in 1982 at the age of 16 in Dudley, which claimed the lives of two other teenage girls.

He still lives in Tipton but now suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

He is not related to Ian Roper, who played nearly 400 games for Walsall between 1995 and 2008.

References: