Alfred Common (25 May 1880 – 3 April 1946) was an English footballer who played at inside forward or centre forward. 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.
Club career Common played for South Hylton and Jarrow in North East England before joining Sunderland in 1900. Sunderland finished Division One runners-up in 1900–01, after which Common transferred to Sheffield United in October 1901 for £325. Neither Sunderland nor Sheffield United had cause to regret the deal in the sense that Sunderland finished as Division One Champions in 1901–02, and Common scored the first goal in United's 1902 FA Cup Final win over Southampton.
Common became a regular member of Sheffield United teams, and won the first of his three international caps in 1904, 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'.A Sensational Transfer. Sheffield United matchday programme. 21 September 1985. United failed to persuade Common to change his mind and in the summer of 1904, he returned to Sunderland. The deal also took United's reserve goalkeeper Albert Lewis in return for a new record fee of around £520.
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. He played 168 league games for Boro and scored 58 goals.
At the age of 30, Common moved to Woolwich Arsenal in 1910. He made his debut on 1 September 1910 against Manchester United. 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 goals in 1911–12, missing just two league games. However, he didn't score a single goal in the first half of the Gunners' 1912–13 season, before he was sold to Preston North End in December 1912 for £250. Altogether he played 80 times and scored a sum of 23 goals for Arsenal.
At Preston, he helped the club to win the Division Two title that season, although they were relegated the following 1913–14 season.
Common retired from football in 1914, and went on to run pubs in Darlington until 1943. He died in 1946 aged 65.
In 1998, he was selected as one of the Football League's 100 Football League Legends. His keepsakes, England caps and cup winners medals etc. were auctioned by Graham Budd Auctions in London in November 2011.
International career Common won his first England cap against Wales on 29 February 1904. In all he won three caps, scoring two goals.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSunderland1900–01Division One144001441901–02Division One420042Total18600186Sheffield United1901–02Division One206932991902–03Division One188001881903–04Division One29830328Total67221237925Sunderland1904–05Division One20621227Middlesbrough1904–05Division One104001041905–06Division One36195541241906–07Division One29122131131907–08Division One349103591908–09Division One33101034101909–10Division One26411275Total1685810717865Woolwich Arsenal1910–11Division One296203161911–12Division One36171037171912–13Division One12000120Total7723308023Preston North End1912–13Division Two217102271913–14Division One14200142Total35910369Career total3851242811413135
Honours Sunderland Football League Division One Runners Up Medal: 1900–01
Sheffield United FA Cup: 1902
Preston North End Second Division: 1913
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