| Alex Stewart [i] |
 Alex Stewart is thought to have been born in Perth, although his date of birth remains unknown to us. * The goalkeeper signed for George Easton's Thistle on Thursday, 15th August, 1918, having most recently been with Falkirk. He made his debut appearance on Saturday, 17th August, 1918, in a 1-1 draw away to Airdrieonians in the Scottish Football League. Alex kept his first clean-sheet on Saturday, 31st August, 1918, in a 1-0 win away to Ayr United in the Scottish Football League. He registered the last of his 8 clean-sheets on Monday, 21st April, 1919, in a 2-0 win at home to Hibernian in the Scottish Football League. Alex played his last game for the club on Saturday, 1st May, 1920, in a 1-1 draw away to Dumbarton in the Scottish Football League, having appeared as a Jag on 39 occasions. His club list included Perth Roselea, Falkirk, Heart of Midlothian, Cowdenbeath, Partick Thistle, Vale of Atholl, St Johnstone and Arbroath. We don't know where or when Alex died. *
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![Alex Stewart [i]](http://thethistlearchive.wdfiles.com/local--files/images/alex-stewart-i.jpg "Alex Stewart [i]")
 Alex joined the Jags just before the end of World War 1, and was a stalwart in the Thistle team for the 1918/19 season, the Jags ending the season 4th placed in the league. Thistle gained 41 points with 17 wins, 7 draws and 10 defeats. Celtic took the title with 58 points. For the season Alex played 34 times, being on the winning side on 17 occasions. When Alex was away on duty with the Scottish League team, on 22 February 1919 he was temporarily replaced in the Thistle team by Kenny Campbell, who was a Liverpool player at that time, and was in the armed forces. Kenny engineered temporary leave to return to Glasgow on the back of a “family illness”, and turned out in a defeat away to Celtic at Parkhead in the league. Kenny later returned to Firhill and was the goalkeeper in the Jags team in the 1921 Scottish Cup Final win over Rangers. The Scottish League side were beaten 3-1 by England at St Andrews, Birmingham, but Alex had a good game. According to the Courier newspaper, of 24 February 1919, “Stewart was the saviour of the side on many occasions…” In 1919, a special one off tournament was played in Scotland, the Victory Cup, to celebrate victory in the war. Thistle got to the quarter finals, where they were defeated 2-0 by Hearts. Hearts got to the final, where they were defeated by St Mirren. Alex started his career with the Junior side Roselea. In 1907, he was capped for the Scottish Junior League side in the first of the three “Hawthorns Series” games between a Scottish Junior select and a Birmingham & District F A side. These were a series of three games between the Associations, all played at the Hawthorns in 1908, 1925 and 1935. They were billed as “England versus Scotland”. Although the Scottish side lost 4-0 in the 1908 game, Alex played so well that scouts from senior sides wanted to sign him, and Falkirk won his signature. (For an account of the Hawthorn Series, including player biographies, the story is told in “The Hawthorn Series ” by R. Bradley and D. Gorman). Alex went on to play for Falkirk on 287 occasions, between 1908 and 1917, including Falkirk’s 1913 Scottish Cup 2-0 victory over Raith Rovers.
For the latter part of his Firhill career, Alex suffered a long injury, and on leaving Thistle in 1920, Alex played for St Johnstone and Arbroath, where he ended his playing career in 1927. According to the Evening Telegraph, Alex became the proprietor of the Gayfield Bar in Arbroath, and was an excellent billiards player! His two sons, Alex and Jimmy followed their father into professional football, with Alex having a distinguished career. |
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