After all, Merrington is the man who moulded Alan Shearer, Matthew Le Tissier, Rodney and Raymond Wallace, as well as the likes of Neil Maddison and Tommy Widdrington.

BBC: Saints find faith in Phillips

The original purpose of pleats was to allow more fabric for when a man sat down, according to Alan Flusser, author of menswear guidebook "Dressing The Man" and a custom tailor whose credits include Michael Douglas' wardrobe in the original "Wall Street" movie.

WSJ: The Pleats Plea: Wear These

The missing man's parents Alan Vaughan and Mary Lucas have said they believe witnesses were "too scared to come forward".

BBC: Kyle Vaughan

Baron Sugar of Clapton, ne Alan Sugar, is a billionaire entrepreneur and the man who tells hopeful contestants "You're Fired!"

BBC: British sangfroid: An outdated stereotype

Alan Greenspan, the Fed's chairman, and a man with a somewhat Panglossian view of the world, thinks that all these fears are overdone.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

Anyone who's anyone has been throwing in their two-halfpennies' worth on what's wrong with the National Health Service, what should be done about it and so on, and the papers are full of the National Health Service this morning and I'm joined now by the man who runs the department, the man in charge is the Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

BBC: News | BREAKFAST WITH FROST | Interview with Alan Milburn