Alec William Alfred Stock (30 March 1917 – 16 April 2001) was an Englishfootball player and manager. He briefly managedAS Roma, between long spells atLeyton Orient andQueens Park Rangers. At QPR, he won successive promotions, leading the club to theFirst Division for the first time, and winning theLeague Cup. Among managers for whom accurate statistics exist, he is the fourthmost experienced manager of all time.

Alec Stock was born inPeasedown St John, Somerset, and played as an inside-forward forCharlton Athletic andQueens Park Rangers beforeWorld War II and guested for several other clubs during the hostilities. During the war he was a Captain in the Tank Corps and in 1944 was wounded in Normandy. He rejoined Queens Park Rangers in 1945 and later joined Yeovil Town in 1946.

He came to prominence as the player/manager ofYeovil Town during a historicFA Cup run in 1949. They had thrilling victories overBury andSunderland, before losing toManchester United in the fifth round. He later managedLeyton Orient (1949–1959),AS Roma,Queens Park Rangers (1959–1965) (general manager 1965–1968),Luton Town (1968–1972),Fulham (1972–1976) andAFC Bournemouth (1979–1980). He was also the assistant manager ofArsenal for 53 days during the 1955–56 season and was a director of Queens Park Rangers (1977–1979). He was asked to manage theThird Division South team against the North in 1955–56.

It was perhaps Stock's time as manager of Queens Park Rangers where he is most fondly remembered. It was during his spell in the 1960s that coincided with the development of the club with chairmanJim Gregory. The team enjoyed unprecedented success in 1967 and 1968 winning consecutive promotions with the club reaching theFirst Division for the first time and becoming the firstThird Division team to win theFootball League Cup in1967 beating thenFirst DivisionWest Bromwich Albion 3–2 in a come from behind win.^[1][2] Stock had a focus on youth bringing many of the team through the club's youth system (includingFrank Sibley,Tony Hazell,Roger Morgan,Ian Morgan andMick Leach) as well as blending characters such asRodney Marsh andMark Lazarus into the set up.

With internal pressures mounting in the club following the 1967–68 season however, Stock was absent for three months, suffering from asthma.^[3] In his bookA Little Thing Called Pride, Stock tells howJim Gregory sacked him in 1968 for being ill, just as he thought he was about to return to the helm and save Rangers from relegation.^[4] He later had success withLuton Town who he helped to promotion from the Third Division and also withFulham when he led them to the1975 FA Cup final. He briefly returned to be a Director at Queens Park Rangers in the 1977/8 season.

Ron Manager, a character inBBC comedy sketch showThe Fast Show is based on Stock, told byGeorge Best in his autobiography. This was also confirmed by comedy actorPaul Whitehouse, who played Ron Manager, in the documentary,Suits You Sir – The Inside Leg of the Fast Show.^[5][6]

• 1917 births
• 2001 deaths
• English men's footballers
• English football managers
• English expatriate football managers
• People from Bath and North East Somerset
• Footballers from Somerset
• Charlton Athletic F.C. players
• Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
• Yeovil Town F.C. players
• AFC Bournemouth managers
• Fulham F.C. managers
• AS Roma managers
• Leyton Orient F.C. managers
• Luton Town F.C. managers
• Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers
• Yeovil Town F.C. managers
• Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
• Serie A managers
• Expatriate football managers in Italy
• English expatriate sportspeople in Italy
• Men's association football forwards
• 20th-century English sportsmen

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