Full name Eric Young 1979–1982 Slough Town 1978–1979 Southall Height 1.88 m | Years Team Role Footballer Place of birth Singapore Name Eric Young | |
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Date of birth (1960-03-25) 25 March 1960 (age 55) | ||
Eric Young (born 25 March 1960 in Singapore) is a retired footballer, who was a strong, commanding centre-half, nicknamed "Ninja" due to his ever-present brown headband.
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Young started his career at non-league Southall and then moved to Slough Town where his commanding style was noticed by a number of league clubs; he played for Slough for 3 seasons (Slough Town also produced the former Chelsea centre half Micky Droy). Young was eventually signed by Brighton & Hove Albion in 1982. During the period in non-league football Young continued with his accountancy training. He made his league debut in the first match of the 1982–83 season and went on to make 126 appearances for the club, scoring 10 goals before transferring to Wimbledon for £70,000 on the eve of the 1987–88 season.
He became a firm favourite at Wimbledon and had a formidable central defensive partnership with Andy Thorn, playing in their famous victory over Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup Final. After 99 appearances and 9 goals for the club he was sold to Crystal Palace for £850,000 (at the time a huge fee for a 30-year-old). At Palace he played some of the best football of his career, and resumed the Thorn/Young defensive partnership that had been so successful with Wimbledon. Eric was a mainstay in the team that finished third in the old first division (now the Premiership) and kept his place in the side until a public fall out with manager Alan Smith at the beginning of the ill-fated 1994–95 season that saw him dropped until the final five matches of that campaign.
After 161 appearances and 15 goals for Palace he then joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, on a free transfer. He spent two seasons at Wolves before completing his professional career, briefly returning to Palace in 1997 without playing a senior game, but continued to play non-league football for another four seasons before finally hanging up his boots at the age of 41 at Egham Town.
He is now working as an accountant in a construction based company in Heathrow.
International career
As a British citizen who was born abroad, FIFA eligibility rules at the time of Young's first international selection entitled him to represent any of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom at international level. He opted for Wales, despite having no family connection to that country.
He made his début for Wales, aged 30 versus Costa Rica in a friendly game at Ninian Park in 1990, alongside fellow débutantes Gary Speed and Paul Bodin. Despite his late start, Eric won 21 caps for Wales.