Julian Mark Alsop is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 retired footballer born in Nuneaton

Nuneaton

Nuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...

. A tall, strong striker, Alsop first came to prominence with Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

 before joining Swansea City

Swansea City A.F.C.

Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...

 in 1998 for £30,000 immediately following a loan deal.

He signed for Cheltenham Town

Cheltenham Town F.C.

Cheltenham Town Football Club is an English football club playing in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Founded in 1887, the team has played at four different grounds, namely Agg-Gardner's Recreation Ground, Carter's Field and now the Abbey Business Stadium, although it is more...

 from Swansea and was less than prolific in his first season, but his second year with the club proved to be a revelation. His partnership with Tony Naylor led to Alsop scoring 26 goals, including the second goal as Cheltenham beat Rushden and Diamonds 3–1 in the Division Three play-off final. His third and final season with the club was beset by injuries and he left Cheltenham for Oxford United

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

 at the end of 2002-03.

. When the season was over he signed for Nationwide Conference side Forest Green Rovers

Forest Green Rovers F.C.

Forest Green Rovers Football Club is an English football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, currently the longest-serving members of the Conference National. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA.-Early years:...

. After a brief spell at fellow Conference team Tamworth

Tamworth F.C.

Tamworth Football Club are an English semi-professional football club based in the town of Tamworth, Staffordshire. Nicknamed 'The Lambs', they are currently members of the Conference National, the fifth highest tier in the English league system....

 he returned to Forest Green Rovers.

He signed for Conference South

Conference South

Conference South is one of the second divisions of the Football Conference in England, taking its place immediately below the Conference National...

 team Newport County

Newport County A.F.C.

Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...

 in July 2006 after being released from his contract at Forest Green. During his time at Newport they twice narrowly missed out on the promotion play-offs and twice appeared in the FAW Premier Cup

FAW Premier Cup

The FAW Premier Cup is a defunct Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008...

 final, winning the 2008 final. Alsop was released by Newport at the end of the 2007-08 season.

Other clubs include Halesowen

Halesowen Town F.C.

Halesowen Town is an English association football club formed in 1873, since 2011 playing in the Southern League Division One South & West]]. The team is nicknamed "The Yeltz".-History:...

 and Northampton Town

Northampton Town F.C.

Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

.

Alsop signed for Cirencester Town

Cirencester Town F.C.

Cirencester Town is an English football club based in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. The club are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division and play at the Corinium Stadium...

 after being released from Newport County on a free transfer but left the side after several months to sign for Bishops Cleeve.

On 20 July 2009, Alsop signed a non-contract, month-by month agreement with Cheltenham Town, after playing in the first three pre-season friendlies for the club.

He came off the bench on 18 August away at Rochdale

Rochdale A.F.C.

Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...

 to score a 90th minute winning goal in a 1–0 victory for Cheltenham Town. He is now targeting the club's all time football league goal scorers record.
Alsop also has one of the best known and funniest football chants sung about him. It refers to an incident that took place while he was at Oxford involving a banana and a youth team player.

He is also famous for the quickest hat trick in history which occurred in 1995 for Tamworth while playing against Armitage. His three goals were timed at just over a minute.

He was released by the club along with seven other players in May 2010. In July 2010, he returned to Bishops Cleeve. Alsop announced that he was set to retire from football on the 25 April 2011.

International career

Alsop represented the England C national football team on five occasions between 1999 and 2005, starting all five of the matches in which he featured, playing against the amateur sides of Belgium, France

France national football team

The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

, Norway

Norway national football team

The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...

, Croatia

Croatia national football team

The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country, and has been managed since 2006 by former player Slaven Bilić...

 and Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

. He failed to score, although he did provide seven assists in the process.

External links