Alfred Common (25 May 1880 in Millfield (Sunderland) – 3 April 1946 in Darlington) 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.
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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. 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 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
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
! rowspan="2" |Club
! rowspan="2" |Season
!colspan=3|League
!colspan=2|FA Cup
!colspan=2|Total
|-
!Division
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
|-
| rowspan="3" |Sunderland
|1900–01
|Division One
|14
|4
|0
|0
|14
|4
|-
|1901–02
|Division One
|4
|2
|0
|0
|4
|2
|-
! colspan="2" |Total
!18
!6
!0
!0
!18
!6
|-
| rowspan="4" |Sheffield United
| 1901–02
| Division One
| 20
| 6
| 9
| 3
| 29
| 9
|-
| 1902–03
| Division One
| 18
| 8
| 0
| 0
| 18
| 8
|-
| 1903–04
| Division One
| 29
| 8
| 3
| 0
| 32
| 8
|-
! colspan="2" align="right" |Total
! 67
! 22
! 12
! 3
! 79
! 25
|-
|Sunderland
|1904–05
|Division One
|20
|6
|2
|1
|22
|7
|-
| rowspan="7" |Middlesbrough
| 1904–05
| Division One
| 10
| 4
| 0
| 0
| 10
| 4
|-
| 1905–06
| Division One
| 36
| 19
| 5
| 5
| 41
| 24
|-
| 1906–07
| Division One
| 29
| 12
| 2
| 1
| 31
| 13
|-
| 1907–08
| Division One
| 34
| 9
| 1
| 0
| 35
| 9
|-
| 1908–09
| Division One
| 33
| 10
| 1
| 0
| 34
| 10
|-
| 1909–10
| Division One
| 26
| 4
| 1
| 1
| 27
| 5
|-
! colspan="2" align="right" |Total
! 168
! 58
! 10
! 7
! 178
! 65
|-
| rowspan="4" |Woolwich Arsenal
| align="right" |1910–11
|Division One
| 29
| 6
| 2
| 0
| 31
| 6
|-
|1911–12
|Division One
|36
|17
|1
|0
|37
|17
|-
|1912–13
|Division One
|12
|0
|0
|0
|12
|0
|-
! colspan="2" |Total
!77
!23
!3
!0
!80
!23
|-
| rowspan="3" |Preston North End
|1912–13
|Division Two
|21
|7
|1
|0
|22
|7
|-
|1913–14
|Division One
|14
|2
|0
|0
|14
|2
|-
! colspan="2" |Total
!35
!9
!1
!0
!36
!9
|-
! colspan="3" |Career total
!385
!124
!28
!11
!413
!135
|}
Honours
;Sunderland
- FA Cup: 1902
;Preston North End