An England youth team defender in the late 1960s, Alan Merrick played 156 times for West Bromwich Albion in the English First Division (now the Premier League) and other competitions before moving to the United States when a transfer to Southampton fell through and he was, in his own words “blackballed” by West Brom.  Taking a vacation in Minnesota with his family, he liked it so much he decided to stay, and enjoyed two spells with the Minnesota Kicks in the NASL, making 115 appearances in all.

He also played for the San Jose Earthquakes, the LA Aztecs, the Toronto Blizzard, and the ill-fated Team America. It was during his spell with the experimental, DC-based proto-National Team that he picked up his single US cap, a 2-0 victory in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in April 1983.

Merrick retired in 1983 and coached the Minnesota Strikers of the Major Indoor Soccer League for six years. A holder of the USSF ‘A’ license and the English FA Coaching Badge, Merrick runs his own soccer academy and is head coach of the University of Minnesota Men’s Soccer Club team.