Player #388 for Aston Villa, Alan Wakeman, played as a goalkeeper for the club. Alan played for Villa between 1938-39 and 1949-50 making 20 appearances.

As a boy Alan Wakeman had a single ambition - to play for his team, the Villa. Before his debut however he achieved another of his goals - working as a clerk from the age of 16 in the Villa offices.

Alan was born in Leamore, Walsall, just 11 miles from Villa Park, on 20 November 1920 and made his debut appearance for Villa on the 10 December 1938 aged 18.

Villa had signed Alan from Bloxwich Strollers in August 1937 and he became the 46th custodian of the Villa goal in professional football.

A product of local football in Walsall Alan made a few appearances as an amateur for Villa before his dream came closer to realisation when he joined the club as a professional in December 1937 and was finally realised when making his first team bow in the 1938-39 season.

There followed a series of outstanding displays of goalkeeping and but for the misfortune of being Villa’s back up ‘keeper in the era of Joe Rutherford would have gone on to earn many more appearances for his boyhood team. As a strong kicker of the ball it was often mooted that Alan wouldn’t look out of place in many a team’s forward line, and as if to prove the point he had scored a 30 yard free kick for the Central League team. Alan didn’t get to show off his striking abilities in the first team however his goalkeeping credentials meant he remained with the club as vying for the number one spot for six successive seasons.

The bulk of Alan’s appearances came in the 1945-46 interim regional league that was constructed after the end of World War Two. Although only 8 of those games came in the FA Cup which were the only professional fixtures of the campaign. He did however make 12 appearances in League football proper across 5 campaigns as he vied with Joe Rutherford, Ken Jones and Fred Biddlestone for the number one jersey. During his 12 league appearances, Alan conceded 22 goals at a rate of 1.83 per game.

An intrepid and fearless goalkeeper, like team-mate Reg Lowe, despite playing professionally for Villa, Alan retained his job as a miner and still worked down the put, training at Villa Park in the evenings long into his footballing career.

Alan played his final game for Villa on 27 December 1949, 11 years after his debut before moving on to Doncaster Rovers.

Alan played under managers Jimmy Hogan and Alex Massie.

Alan passed away in Stafford on 15th December 2002 aged 82.