Alan Durban
William Alan Durban (* July 7, 1941 in Bridgend ) is a former Welsh football player and coach, as a player with Derby County won the English championship in 1972. In 1979, he led Stoke City as a coach in the first division.
- 2.1 Shrewsbury Town
- 2.2 Stoke City
- 2.3 AFC Sunderland
- 2.4 Cardiff City
Playing career
Cardiff City
Alan Durban began his playing career in 1959 at the Welsh club Cardiff City, who played at this time in the English Second Division. In the 1959/60 season with Cardiff to Durban rose in the first English League and reached the Football League First Division 1960/61, with his team through the 15th place in the league. However, early in the following 1961/62 season the club was relegated as a table next to last again in the second division.
Derby County
In July 1963 Alan Durban changed hands for £ 10,000 to Derby County. His new club played in the season 1963/64, also in the Second Division and spent the next few years in the second English top flight. Only with the arrival of new coach Brian Clough and assistant coach Peter Taylor at the beginning of the 1967/68 season the most successful period in their history was begun. Also for Alan Durban stepped through the coaching change, a change. Rather than as a winger, he acted in the following period as an attacking midfielder behind the strikers Kevin Hector and John O'Hare. In the Second Division in 1968/69 Derby succeeded after 16 years to return to the First Division. The start in the English top flight began in the season 1969/70 with fourth place very successfully. After a ninth place 1970/71 Derby County won the Football League First Division 1971/72 the first league title in club history. Alan Durban played in the Champions League season 31 games and scored 6 goals. In the 1972/73 season County was unable to repeat this success with 7th place, but the team managed to Ron Webster, Archie Gemmill, Alan Hinton, Roy McFarland and Durban the semi-finals of the European Cup of Champions 1972/73. After inter alia, in the 2nd round, Benfica was defeated, was waiting in the semifinals of the Italian champions Juventus. After a 1-3 defeat in Turin, Derby retired after a 0-0 home from the competition, favoring and so missed the final against Ajax Amsterdam.
With 112 official matches gates Alan Durban occupies the seventh place in the all-time best list of Derby County. In December 2009 he was also elected to the All Star Team of the association.
Welsh national team
Between 1966 and 1972, denied Alan Durban 27 appearances for the Welsh national team. His debut, he played on 18 May 1966 in a friendly against Brazil. His 27th and final international match was played against Northern Ireland on 27 May 1972.
Coaching career
Shrewsbury Town
In 1973, Alan Durban from Derby County to the third division side Shrewsbury Town. With his new club, he took over the post of assistant coach and was also still active as a player. On 1 February 1974 he took over the position of head coach, but increased at the end of the season with his team from the fourth league. Already in the following season 1974/75 he led his team, however, by a second place behind Mansfield Town back into the Football League Third Division. After two midfield positions in the following two years, Alan Durban left on 13 February 1978 after 4 years of Shrewsbury and took over the coaching job at second division Stoke City.
Stoke City
With his new team, he finished the season 1977/78 on the seventh place in the Football League Second Division. In the following season 1978/79 Alan Durban rose with Stoke City in third place in the first division. There the climbers reached the league as Achtzehnter the Football League First Division 1979/80. in the 1980/81 season he improved this result and ended the First Division in eleventh.
Sunderland AFC
After the 1980/81 season Durban left after three years and took over the Erstligakonkurrenten Stoke Sunderland AFC. With Sunderland he spent the 1981/82 season predominantly in the relegation battle, reaching relegation only due to two points ahead of Leeds United. After finishing 16th in the First Division 1982/83 Alan Durban was first released on March 2, 1984 in his coaching career.
Cardiff City
After a short period at the amateur club FC Willington he resigned on September 23, 1984 at his hometown club Cardiff City its next coach position at. The former first division team played at this time only in the second league and entered with the new coach Alan Durban at the end of the 1984/85 season, even in the Third Division from. This, however, the low point was not yet reached in the 1985/86 season, the team was back in a relegation battle and rose at end of the season even starting in the fourth league. Durban was released shortly before the season ends on April 28, 1986. After this failure Alan Durban was only in 1998 still working for five games as interim coach at his former club Stoke City.
After the end of his coaching activity took Alan Durban various positions as a scout and the newcomers last in July 2011 at Stoke City.