Alan West playing in the US, above left (number 10), and marking his 70th birthday.,,,
A former top-level footballer swapped passing for pastoring, and is about to celebrate netting 50 years in his adopted home town.
Midfielder Alan West joined Luton Town in 1973 for £100,000, spending nine years with the Hatters and gaining promotion to what would now be the Premier League.
“I spent my best days with Luton Town,” says West. “I became captain of the club and I became a Christian.”
After three years in the US with Minnesota Kicks, two seasons with Millwall and a stint as player-manager of Hitchin Town, West was left considering his next steps.
Then came an unexpected question from his church, Luton Christian Fellowship: would he consider going into ministry?
“I was shocked. I’d been thinking I’d become a football coach or manager, but I also had a passion for the local church and for people. I applied to Elim and became the assistant pastor at Luton.”
For a while, he kept a foot in both camps.
“I was still playing semi-pro football while pastoring. The church was small and didn’t have a lot of resources, so continuing to play meant we could live comfortably and church didn’t have to pay me very much, which meant we had more resources for outreach and community work.”
Community work was a huge focus for West. He got involved with Churches Together in Luton, Christians in Sport and football chaplaincy, and used his fame from Luton Town to organise local events such as a carol concert at his former club for 12,000 people.
His original goal with this local work was based on the church in Acts 2: a church that touched its community.
“That passage talks about how they devoted themselves to these things and God added to their numbers.”
West saw this for himself as his church of 50 had grown to 400 by the time he retired five years ago.
“I came to Luton from Burnley thinking I’d only be here a couple of years. But I became a Christian, and here I am 50 years later – still in Luton and still part of the church.
“It was extremely hard work, but a great adventure.”
