Alan Willey (born October 18, 1956 at Houghton-le-Spring, England) was a soccer player originally from England who spent most of his playing career in the United States. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
The second-leading goal scorer in the history of the NASL (North American Soccer League), Alan played most of his career with the Minnesota Kicks and was inducted to the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.
Willey began his career with English football club, Middlesbrough in 1974. In the NASL he played for the Minnesota Kicks (1976 to 1981), the Montreal Manic (1981 to 1983) and the Minnesota Strikers (1984).
He finished his NASL career with 129 goals in 238 games and an additional 13 goals in 26 play-off games. He memorably scored five goals in a play-off game against the New York Cosmos in 1978. His nickname was 'The Artful Dodger'.
Famous quotes containing the word alan:
“It is very considerably smaller than Australia and British Somaliland put together. As things stand at present there is nothing much the Texans can do about this, and ... they are inclined to shy away from the subject in ordinary conversation, muttering defensively about the size of oranges.”
—Alex Atkinson, British humor writer. repr. In Present Laughter, ed. Alan Coren (1982)