Alex Binnie
Alex Binnie
Alex Binnie
● Alex Binnie, 1924 (SD)

born in Scotland

Alexander Binnie was born on Wednesday, 27th March, 1901, in Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire.

The goalkeeper signed for George Easton's Thistle on Friday, 2nd May, 1924, having most recently been with Kilsyth Rangers.

Aged 22, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 14th February, 1925, in a 2-1 win at home to Kilmarnock in the SFL First Division.

Alex kept his first clean-sheet on Monday, 5th April, 1926, in a 0-0 draw at home to Celtic in the SFL First Division.

He kept his second and last clean-sheet on Wednesday, 21st April, 1926, in a 1-0 win away to Dumbarton Select in a Benefit match.

He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 1st May, 1926, in a 2-1 defeat at home to Celtic in the Glasgow Charity Cup, having appeared as a Jag on 10 occasions.

His club-list included Kilsyth Rovers, Kilsyth Rangers, Partick Thistle, Port Vale and Hamilton Academical.

Alex died on Sunday, 1st May, 1988, in Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, aged 87.

Bio Extra

Son of James Binnie (coal miner) and Mary Binnie (nÊe Grindlay). It's commonly reported that Alex was born in 1905 but, thanks to his granddaughter Karen, we've been able to clarify that he was actually born in 1901.

Alex played for his Kilsyth hometown teams, Rovers & Rangers, before making the step up to the senior grade with Thistle in his early 20s. His time at Firhill was mainly confined to reserves football, with Joe Ramsay being the #1 custodian at the time. However, Alex did get a run of 6-in-a-row in the first team in April 1926, which included an extremely satisfying top-flight clean-sheet against Celtic. In front of 25,000 at Firhill, Alex was in excellent form as Thistle battled for a hard-earned nil nil draw. Perhaps the plan at this time was to put Alex in the shop window, and within a few weeks the arrival of Johnny Jackson was a sure sign to Alex that he might need to consider a move elsewhere should he wish to see more regular first class action.

Sure enough, in September 1926, a trial period was arranged down at Port Vale of the English Second Division. He kept a clean sheet in his debut in a draw away to Hull City, and turned out in three other Second Division games. It was a familiar story, though; with competition from George Holdcroft and Tom Fern, Alex was deemed surplus to requirements. After just over a month in Staffordshire, Alex was back up the road, landing at Hamilton, where he finally settled as the regular goalie for a couple of seasons, before departing early in 1929. Alex kept goal for the Accies twice at Firhill in 1927, being on the winning side once (3-2 in January) and on the losing side once (5-2 in September).

As a fitba' man, his true love was Kilsyth Rangers. He was a lifelong supporter, and served many years on the committee. Very much like Thistle, 'The Wee Rangers' had a very rich decade of success in the 1950s, the undoubted highlight of which was winning their first Scottish Junior Cup in 1955. Karen was kind enough to supply a brilliant photie (see the gallery tab) taken after the Hampden replay in which Kilsyth Rangers triumphed by 4 to 1 over Duntocher Hibs. The bold Alex is behind the steering wheel and he's pictured with Alex Querrie (with bottle), the hero of the hour who bagged a haul of four. Almost 100,000 watched the two games!

Aul' Sanny, as he was affectionately known, passed away at the Cottage Hospital in Kilsyth, at the grand old age of 87.

(WS)



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