Alan Philpott

Philpott was born in Stoke-on-Trent and joined Stoke City's youth ranks in 1960.[1] He made his debut for the "Potters" on the final day of the 1960–61 season against Liverpool at the Victoria Ground.[1] He was a regular in the reserves and in the first team he played twice in 1961–62 and once in 1962–63 but failed to make an appearance in 1963–64.[1] He showed useful versatility in 1964–65 where he played 17 games in a number of positions, scoring once against Nottingham Forest.[1] Philpott made three appearances in 1965–66 scoring in a League Cup match against Chesterfield.[1] He broke into the first team in 1966–67 making 27 appearances but found himself back in the reserves in 1967–68 and was sold to Oldham Athletic by Tony Waddington.[1] He joined up with a number of former Stoke players at Boundary Park including manager Jimmy McIlroy where he spent two seasons making 33 appearances scoring once in his second to last game against Barrow. He returned to Staffordshire and played for non-league Stafford Rangers and Eastwood Hanley before having a spell as youth coach at Port Vale. He later became a cricket umpire in North Staffordshire and was umpiring a game when he suffered a fatal heart attack on 26 May 2009.[2]