Players who have appeared for PNE and Middlesbrough.
Mick Baxter; David Brown; Sandy Brown; Ken Cameron; Alf Common; Ian Davidson; Andrew Davies; Fred Griffiths; Craig Harrison; Jack Jennings; John Kay; Harry Mattinson; Jim McClelland; Hugh McIlmoyle; Carlo Nash; Kelham O’Hanlon; Don O’Riorden; Gary Parkinson; Michael Ricketts; Sean St.Ledger; Nobby Stiles; Charlie Wayman.
Player Profile – Alf Common
Alf Common was born on 25 May 1880 in Millfield and died 3 April 1946 in Darlington. He played at inside forward or centre forward positions. He is most famous for being the first player to be transferred for a fee of £1,000 on his transfer to Middlesbrough from Sunderland in 1905.
Common played for South Hylton and Jarrow in North East England before joining Sunderland in 1900. He made his Sunderland debut in a 2-2 draw on 15 September and his first goal came on his sixth appearance in a 6-1 home win over Stoke on 17 November. Common scored 4 goals as Sunderland finished Division One runners-up in 1900/01 His first match in the 1901/02 season saw Common scored a brace in a 3-1 home win over Sheffield United on 2 September, after 6 goals in 18 matches Common transferred to Sheffield United in October 1901 for £325.
Common made his Blades debut in a 1-0 defeat at local rivals Wednesday on 2 November, his first goals came on his third appearance with a brace in a 5-0 win at home to Manchester City on 23 November. Common scored 6 goals in 20 league matches and scored the first goal in the Blades FA Cup final win of 1902 over Southampton.
Common became a regular member of Sheffield United teams, and won the first international cap in against Wales on 29 February 1904. In total Common won three caps, scoring two goals. But in May of that year he refused to re-sign for United because he wished to return to Sunderland where he was reported to have 'business interests'. Blades failed to persuade Common to change his mind and in the summer of 1904, he returned to Sunderland after netting 23 goals in 67 league appearances. The deal also took United's reserve goalkeeper Albert Lewis in return for a new record fee of around £520.
His first match on his return to Sunderland was a 3-1 defeat at Preston on 3 September but scored a brace two days later in a 5-0 home victory over Notts County.
In February 1905, little more than six months after this move, he broke the transfer record again by moving to Middlesbrough for £1,000. Middlesbrough had purchased Common in an attempt to avoid relegation to the Second Division. His first game for Middlesbrough was on 25 February 1905, away to his former club Sheffield United. Middlesbrough won 1–0, with Common scoring from a penalty after 50 minutes, it was their first away win for nearly two years. Consequently the team, who had so far been battling against relegation that season, survived the drop with Common scoring 4 goals from 10 league matches.
The 1905/06 season was his most successful with 19 league goals from 36 matches. Although most of his goals came in the second half of the season with 13 goals from the last 16 league matches. In April 1906 Common netted 9 goals in 5 matches including a hat-trick against Stoke in a 5=0 win on 7 April and two braces. Common also scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 FA Cup win over Brighton.
The following season saw Common score one hat-trick in a 4-2 win at Liverpool on 17 April and a brace on two occasions including both in a 2-1 home win over PNE on 16 February. In total he scored 12 goals from 29 league matches.
Common scored 9 goals from 34 matches in 1907/08 and netted his 50th league goal for Boro in the 1908/09 campaign with a brace in a 5-0 win at home to Manchester United on 9 January. For the season Common scored 10 goals in 33 matches.
His final Boro match was a 2-2 home draw to Liverpool on 23 April 1910, her had scored 58 goals in 168 league matches.
At the age of 30, Common moved to Woolwich Arsenal in 1910, making his debut on 1 September 1910 against Manchester United in a 2-1 home defeat. His first goal came on his 17th appearance in a 4-1 defeat at Preston on 17th December; Common scored a brace on two occasions as he finished with 6 goals from 29 appearances.
After starting out at inside forward, he took on a more attacking role in his second season and was the club's top goalscorer (with 17) in 1911/12, missing just two league games. Common scored a brace on three occasions his final goals for the club came as a brace in a 4-1 home win over PNE on 8 April.
However, he didn't score a single goal in the first half of the Gunners' 1912/13 season, before being sold to Preston North End in December 1912 for £250 after 23 goals in 77 matches.
Common made his Lilywhite’s debut in a 1-0 win at Blackpool on 21 December and scored on his home debut on Christmas Day in a 2-0 victory over Glossop. His first PNE brace came in a 5-1 home win over Bristol City on 25 January. With 7 goals in 21 league appearances he helped the club to win the Division Two title that season.
His final league season came in 1913/14 with 2 goals in 14 appearances to take his PNE tally to 9 goals from 35 appearances. His final goal came in a 2-1 home defeat to Tottenham on 1 November with his last match being a 2-2 draw at Manchester City on 20 December. Preston was relegated to Division Two at the end of the season.
After retiring from football in 1914, he went on to run pubs in Darlington until 1943. He died in 1946 aged 65.
In 1998 Alf Common was selected as one of the Football League's 100 Football League Legends. Alf Commons keepsakes, England caps and cup winners’ medals etc. were auctioned by Graham Budd Auctions in London in November 2011.