So many lovable Alberts from cover star to money maker to charming rogue

I've been fond of quite a few Alberts. Albert Finney, Albert McCann, Albert Stubbins, Able Albert, Albert Argyle, Albert Davison . . . the list goes on.

Some of them have won me money. That was true of Able Albert in the 1984 Ayr Gold Cup, though the payout would have been quite something if Alakh and Pat Eddery had held on. Albert McCann was a hard-working Portsmouth inside-forward with the bandiest legs you ever saw, his appearance in Southampton v Pompey matches invariably prompting enquiries as to the whereabouts of his horse. I backed the draw when he scored a memorable equaliser at The Dell in 1965.

It's hard to make money over the Liverpool centre-forward Albert Stubbins, unless you risk asking people what he has in common with Oscar Wilde, Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe. If they happen to know he's the only footballer on the cover of the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper LP, you've given a few quid back (nothing new in that, of course).