| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Milija Anthony Aleksic[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1951-04-14)14 April 1951[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle-under-Lyme, England[1] | ||
| Date of death | 17 October 2012(2012-10-17) (aged 61)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Johannesburg, South Africa[2] | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1968–1969 | Port Vale | 0 | (0) |
| Eastwood | |||
| Stafford Rangers | |||
| 1973–1976 | Plymouth Argyle | 32 | (0) |
| 1976 | →Oxford United (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 1976 | →Ipswich Town (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 1976–1979 | Luton Town | 77 | (0) |
| 1979–1982 | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 | (0) |
| 1982 | →Luton Town (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1982–1983 | Barnet | 0 | (0) |
| 1983–1984 | Wits University | ||
| 1985–1987 | Durban City | ||
| Total | 138+ | (0) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Milija Anthony Aleksic (14 April 1951 – 17 October 2012) was an English professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper, making 138 appearances in theFootball League.[3]
Released byPort Vale in 1969, he played forEastwood before lifting theFA Trophy withStafford Rangers in 1972. The next year he returned to the Football League withPlymouth Argyle before he was signed byLuton Town in December 1976, followingloan spells withOxford United andIpswich Town. Three years later, he moved on toTottenham Hotspur and played in the club'sFA Cup victory in1981. In 1982, he was loaned back to Luton Town before he went back intonon-League football withBarnet. He later migrated to South Africa and played forWits University.
Agoalkeeper born to aYugoslav father, he grew up in a smallSerbian community inChesterton, Staffordshire; he was a childhood friend of futureEngland internationalMike Pejic.[4] His career started withGordon Lee'sPort Vale.[1] He played twoFA Cup games for the "Valiants" as a 17-year-old in the1968–69 season, bothFirst round games withShrewsbury Town in which he conceded one goal in both the original game and thereplay atVale Park.[1] An emergency replacement for the injuredStuart Sharratt, he was so keen that he used to iron his bootlaces before playing.[1] He was given afree transfer in May 1969 and moved intonon-League football withEastwood, and thenStafford Rangers.[1] With Rangers he was a member of the 1972FA Trophy winning team, following a 3–0 win overBarnet atWembley Stadium.[5]
In 1973, he returned to theFootball League, signing forTony Waiters'sPlymouth Argyle. He played againstPelé in afriendly againstSantos in March 1973, which Plymouth won 3–2.[6] The "Pilgrims" posted a 17th-place finish in theThird Division in1973–74, before winningpromotion with a second-place finish in1974–75 (they finished one point behind championsBlackburn Rovers). They then held their own in theSecond Division, finishing in 16th place in1975–76. In August 1976, he played two games onloan atOxford United; both games wereLeague Cup clashes withCambridge United.[7] He was then loaned out toIpswich Town.[5] Aleksic leftHome Park permanently when he was moved on to league rivalsLuton Town in November 1976, who were managed byHarry Haslam.[8] The "Hatters" finished sixth in1976–77, four points behind promotedNottingham Forest. Luton then dropped to 13th in1977–78 under new bossDavid Pleat, and then finished 18th in1978–79. He played 77 league games in his three years atKenilworth Road.
Aleksic was signed byFirst Division sideTottenham Hotspur in December 1978 for a fee of £100,000.[9] The club posted a 14th-place finish in the1979–80 season under the stewardship ofKeith Burkinshaw. He faced competition between the sticks fromBarry Daines andMark Kendall.[10] In one tie againstManchester United, notorious 'hard man'Joe Jordanbroke his jaw in what was officially described as an 'accidental collision'.[10] The injury left midfielderGlenn Hoddle to take Aleksic's place in goal for the rest of the match; despite this setback, Hoddle was untroubled in goal, and Spurs won 1–0 withOsvaldo Ardiles scoring the winning goal.[11] TheWhite Hart Lane club made a top ten finish in1980–81, and also lifted the FA Cup with a3–2 victory overManchester City at Wembley. Aleksic featured in both the original tie and the replay, which was won with a brace fromRicardo Villa and a scruffy goal fromGarth Crooks.[12] However, he soon lost his first-team place toRay Clemence,[10] and was on the bench for the1981 FA Charity Shield draw withAston Villa. Spurs finished fourth in1981–82. Despite being an FA Cup-winning goalkeeper just one year previously, he dropped back into non-League football withBarry Fry'sAlliance Premier League side Barnet in 1982, following a brief loan spell at former club Luton Town. He later emigrated to South Africa and played forWits University before taking up employment at the Golfer's Club inJohannesburg.[11]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Port Vale | 1968–69 | Fourth Division | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Plymouth Argyle | 1973–74 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1974–75 | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1975–76 | Second Division | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
| Total | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 0 | ||
| Oxford United (loan) | 1976–77 | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ipswich Town (loan) | 1976–77 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luton Town | 1976–77 | Second Division | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| 1977–78 | Second Division | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 44 | 0 | |
| 1978–79 | Second Division | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| Total | 77 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 88 | 0 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1978–79 | First Division | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 1979–80 | First Division | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1980–81 | First Division | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| 1981–82 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||
| Luton Town (loan) | 1981–82 | Second Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Career total | 138 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 165 | 0 | ||
Stafford Rangers
Plymouth Argyle
Tottenham Hotspur