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A powerful centre forward and a leading figure in the Liverpool team that won the Championship in the first League season after the Second World War. During wartime he was a prolific marksman for his native Newcastle. He played for England in a victory international and his talents attracted a posse of clubs. It was while he was sitting in a Tyneside cinema in September 1946 that a message was flashed onto the screen asking him to report to St James' Park. He arrived to find representatives of Liverpool and Everton keen to sign him. Stubbins tossed a coin, met Liverpool chairman Billy McConnell and manager George Kay first and decided to move to Anfield there and then for a club record of £12,500. Stubbins scored on his debut against Bolton and formed a potent attacking partnership with Jack Balmer. They each scored 24 goals that season as Liverpool landed the title with a team that also included Billy Liddell and Bob Paisley. He was also on the losing side in the 1950 FA Cup Final against Arsenal. Red head Stubbins, remembered for a spectacular diving headed goal in an FA Cup hat trick against Birmingham on a frozen Anfield pitch, was saluted by the respected "Sports Spectator" who said of him: "He has long legs and pulls the ball down with the sureness of an Alex James". Albert worked in journalism after hanging up his boots and passed away, following a short illness, in his native north east aged 83 on 28 December 2002.
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