Keith Stott joined Crewe Alexandra in 1964 from the
Lancashire side, Atherton LR. He played his last game for the Alex against
Chesterfield on the night that the Spireites secured the Fourth Division
Championship. Stotty was originally
brought to Crewe by Jimmy McGuigan, his former Gresty Road boss, and was on Jim's shopping list from the
moment he took over at Chesterfield.
Having spent two seasons trying to sign him, McGuigan kept him waiting eight games for his
debut; when he did come into the side, he didn't miss a match for two years.
Keith was an archetypal English centre-half, dominant and
reliable, committed and strong in the tackle but, in common with the best
English centre-halves, he lacked a little pace and tended not to indulge in
pretty passing and fancy-Dan stuff. His consistency was his greatest asset,
although, when he did have the occasional stinker, he did it in fine
style. One such game was, sadly for
Keith, his last for the Spireites when, against Brighton in March '75, he was
booked and substituted after two mistakes gifted them the game. Such incidents are remembered only because
they are untypical of the generally high standard of Keith's play.
Keith will be remembered for netting a few spectacular own goals in his time: indeed, he scored his first goal for Chesterfield while wearing a Crewe shirt, in October '65. Thirty-one appearances into his Chesterfield career, he had actually scored more goals against the club (by virtue of having put two in his own net against Brighton) than he had for them! His efforts in the correct goal were rare, but one is memorable: a rocket of a shot from all of two yards against Rotherham in 1971, that would have concussed fans on the Cross Street terrace had the net not been there to stop it.
After leaving Chesterfield Keith signed for Matlock Town and
became a caretaker at St. Mary's School, in Chesterfield. After a long battle against illness Keith passed away in March 2012.
For Chesterfield: 140+1 FL appearances, 4 goals.
