The Thistle Archive

Alex began his football career in 1967 as a member of the Arsenal ground staff. However, he was released at the end of the season and returned to Scotland, where he signed for Partick Thistle. In 1971, Alex was a member of the Thistle team that won both the Scottish First Division and the Scottish League Cup, beating Celtic 4–1 in THAT final on 23 October 1971. His performances during the 1971–72 season earned him a selection for the Scottish League XI for their game against The Football League XI on 15 March 1972, and also attracted the eye of Scotland manager Tommy Docherty, who gave Alex his first cap against Yugoslavia on 29 June 1972, at the “mini World Cup” in Brazil. Some neat Partick Thistle history was made that night as Alex (20y,4m,24d) became the youngest ever to be capped whilst a Jag (he still is). At half-time, he was replaced by John Hansen, and the Jag for Jag sub remains a unique occurrence in our international story.

Alex played in all three of the Brazil Independence Cup matches and, after another draw with Czechoslavakia, a point would've been enough in the last game on 5th July 1972. The only trouble was, it was against the World Champions in the Maracanã, and they needed a result too! Pelé had recently retired from the international stage, but with the likes of Tostão, Jairzinho, Rivellino & Gérson in their team, it was scarcely a relief. Scotland frustrated them and were in it until the death, but a flying header from Jairzinho late on broke the resistance. Alex did his reputation no harm that night and, as we all know, went to have a fine career with Man Utd and others. There'd be 10 Scottish caps in all and, strangely, an U23s cap against Wales in '74 in the middle of all that - a surefire reminder that he'd been flying high as a youngster.

When Manchester United hired Docherty to replace Frank O'Farrell as their manager in December 1972, Alex was one of several Scottish players signed by Docherty, costing the club £100,000. He made his debut at left-back in a 3–1 defeat away to his former club, Arsenal, on 6 January 1973. He then played in a further eight consecutive matches – including a 1–0 away defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the FA Cup – before losing his place to Steve James following a 3–1 loss to Birmingham City on 10 March. Alex made only sporadic appearances in the first half of the 1973–74 season, but became a regular in the team from the middle of January 1974, mostly playing at right-back. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–3 home draw with Burnley on 3 April 1974, but he was unable to prevent the team from finishing second from the bottom of the First Division and suffering relegation to the Second Division. He continued as a regular in the first team in 1974–75, missing only six matches all season as the team won the Second Division and regained their place in the top flight, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup. His only goal of the season came in a 3–0 away win over Blackpool on 19 October.

The emergence of Jimmy Nicholl at right-back in 1975–76 meant that Alex missed all of September, October and November 1975, but he regained his place in the team from December onwards, playing in every game until the end of the season, including Manchester United's run to the 1976 FA Cup Final. He scored three times during the 1975–76 season, the first two in consecutive 3–1 home wins at the end of January (in the FA Cup against Peterborough United and in the league against Birmingham City) and the other in a 4–0 home win over West Ham United at the end of February. Despite this consistent run in the team, Alex was dropped to the reserves in place of Nicholl for the start of the 1976–77 season, and he made just five appearances all season, including a three-game spell between 27 November and 18 December 1976. He then came on as a substitute in a 4–0 away defeat to Queens Park Rangers on 19 April 1977 before finishing his season by starting in a 1–0 away defeat to Liverpool on 3 May. He made only four appearances in 1977–78, and at the end of the season, he was allowed to join Rangers, initially on loan before the transfer was made permanent in August 1979. He later played for Motherwell, Hamilton Academical and Queen of the South, before ending his career with Scottish Junior Football Association club Blantyre Victoria.

Alex is included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists →

1971 - SFL SECOND DIVISION

1971 - LEAGUE CUP

1972 - JULY CUP