Alan enjoyed his years studying History at Hull University while continuing to play football regularly for the Uni team. Only subsequently did it emerge that during his late teenage years he had been scouted by one of the major northern teams (one of the Uniteds) but his mother had not told him of the invitation for a trial as she insisted he had to get his qualifications in order to pursue a proper professional career - as a teacher as it turned out. He was a great footballer, so who knows what could have been!