Alec Alston 1937 - 2009

Alexander (Alec) George Alston was born in Preston and joined PNE in May 1955 from non-league Netherfield.

His debut was as a replacement for Tom Finney in the number nine shirt in a 0-0 draw at Sunderland on 19 October 1957. His second appearance which was the last for the 1957/58 season he scored in a 3-2 victory at Leeds two weeks later.

For the next two seasons he only made 17 appearances and had to wait until the 1960/61 season before he became a regular in the side scoring nine goals in 37 appearances which as Preston was relegated from the top tier. Although he scored the most league goals for Preston that season, he finished one behind Peter Thompson who had scored 12 in all competitions. Twice Alston scored a brace both in matches against Birmingham, winning 3-1 away and losing 3-2 at Deepdale.

The following season he netted 8 goals from 31 appearances including a brace in a 2-1 win at Swansea on 29 August 1961.

Alston made a total of 102 league appearances for the Lilywhites scoring 26 goals. His last game was a 4-1 home defeat to Sunderland in the FA Cup Third Round on 5 January 1962.

In March 1962, Alston joined Second Division Bury and scored once in 8 appearances for the remainder of the season. He was top scorer for Bury in 1963/64 with 10 goals from 37 appearances. Alston scored 11 in 38 appearances and finished two goals behind a young Colin Bell who later played for Manchester City and England.

In September 1965 Alston joined Fourth Division Barrow and scored 8 goals in 31 appearances in 1965/66 season. His last league season was in 1966/67 season with 5 goals from 16 appearances, helping Barrow to finish in third position and promotion to Division Three. He finished his career with non-league Fleetwood.

In his league career Alec Alston scored 61 goals from 234 appearances.