| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Victor Nelmes[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1948-10-20)20 October 1948 (age 77) | ||
| Place of birth | Hackney, England | ||
| Position(s) | Defender,wing half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1965–1967 | Chelsea | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1967–1976 | Brentford | 316 | (2) |
| 1976–1977 | Hillingdon Borough | ||
| 1977–1978 | Hayes | ||
| Southall | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alan Victor Nelmes (born 20 October 1948) is an English retired professionalfootballer who made over 300 appearances as adefender in theFootball League forBrentford. He was inducted into the club'sHall of Fame in November 2014.
Nelmes was born inHackney, but moved toSouth London and attendedIngram High School, nearSelhurst Park.[2] Nelmes began his career atFirst Division clubChelsea and signed his first professional contract in October 1965.[3] He failed to make an appearance for the first team and was released at the end of the1966–67 season.[3]
Nelmes turned down offers fromAldershot andColchester United to sign forFourth Division clubBrentford in July 1967.[1][4] Operating initially as aright back, he went on to be a vital cog in a threadbare Brentford team, missing only three games between 1968 and 1972 and is one of a few Bees players to make 100 consecutive appearances.[3] ManagerJimmy Sirrel assembled a small squad ofversatile players and Nelmes was picked to playup front versusNotts County on 2 March 1968,[2] scoring one of his only two goals for the club.[5] He played in five different positions during the1967–68 season.[4]
Adept anywhere across theback four and as asweeper,[4] Nelmes' performances garnered him the Brentford Players' Player of the Year award for the1970–71 season.[6] Known as 'Spider',[7] he helped Brentford achieve promotion to theThird Division in the1971–72 season, though the club were relegated straight back to the Fourth Division the following year.[5] After a succession of injuries took a toll on his body,[4] Nelmes was released at the end of the1975–76 season,[8] having made 350 appearances for the club.[3] Despite being what he described as "quite a physical player", Nelmes was neversent off during his career.[2] He was given atestimonial versus former club Chelsea in 1978, which finished 8–2 to theStamford Bridge club.[9] Nelmes earned a then-club record £7,000 from the match.[10] In recognition of his performances for the club, Nelmes was inducted into the BrentfordHall of Fame in November 2014.[11]
After his release from Brentford, Nelmes played out his career with spells atSouthern League clubHillingdon Borough andIsthmian League clubsHayes (managed by former Brentford teammateBobby Ross) andSouthall, before retiring due to acartilage injury.[2][3][7]
Nelmes is married to Norma and has two sons, Martin and Stuart.[12] Stuart has playedcricket for Sussex County League club Middleton since 2005.[13][14] During the 1970s, Nelmes lived inIsleworth and worked at theWatneys brewery inMortlake.[7] He spent time running a business inBognor Regis in the 1970s and in the 1990s and 2000s,[4] he was worked insecurity atGatwick Airport.[2] As of 2015, Nelmes was living inMiddleton-on-Sea.[12]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1967–68[5] | Fourth Division | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| 1968–69[5] | 44 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 1 | ||
| 1969–70[5] | 45 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 50 | 0 | ||
| 1970–71[5] | 46 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 0 | ||
| 1971–72[5] | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||
| 1972–73[5] | Third Division | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| 1973–74[5] | Fourth Division | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 | |
| 1974–75[5] | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| 1975–76[5] | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 316 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 350 | 2 | ||
Brentford
Individual