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Rowan Alexander

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Rowan Alexander
Personal information
Full name Rowan Samuel Alexander[1]
Date of birth (1961-01-28) 28 January 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth Ayr, Scotland
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1976-1978 Annan Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1983 Queen of the South 136 (69)
1983–1984 St Mirren 18 (3)
1984–1986 Brentford 47 (6)
1986–1995 Greenock Morton 310 (98)
1995–1998 Queen of the South 18 (2)
2002–2003 Gretna 2 (1)
Total 531 (179)
International career
Scotland Semi-Pro
Managerial career
1996–1999 Queen of the South
2000–2007 Gretna
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rowan Samuel Alexander (born 28 January 1961) is a former Scottish football player and manager. Alexander was a prolific goal-scoring striker for Queen of the South and Greenock Morton. Alexander also played for St Mirren, Brentford and Gretna. Alexander later went into management with both the Doonhamers and the Anvils.

Playing career

Queen of the South (1st spell)

After spending his youth career at Annan Athletic, Alexander signed for Dumfries club Queen of the South at the start of the 1978-79 season, where he remained for five years. Whilst at Palmerston Park, Alexander won promotion from the third to second tier of Scottish football at the end of the 1980-81 season, as the Doonhamers finished runners-up to the Spiders in the SFL Second Division. Queens had players such as Allan Ball, Iain McChesney, Crawford Boyd and Jimmy Robertson playing for the club at this time. [2][3] Ted McMinn, who later joined Alexander at Queens described him as being one of the best players he had the pleasure to play with at the Dumfries club. [4][5]

After Alexander departed from the Doonhamers he returned to make guest appearances in:-

In his first spell at the Doonhamers, Alexander played in 136 league matches and scored 69 goals.

St Mirren

Alexander then played for Paisley club St Mirren at Love Street for the 1983-84 season and played in 18 league matches and scored three goals.

Brentford

Alexander then moved to England at the start of the 1984-85 season to play for Greater London club Brenford where he remained for two years. Alexander played in 47 league matches and scored 6 goals.

Greenock Morton

Alexander then returned to Scotland to play for the Buddies Renfrewshire rivals Morton at the start of the 1986-87 season. Alexander played at Cappielow for nine years, where he played in 310 league matches and scored 98 goals. Alexander is currently 7th in the Greenock club's post-World War II league appearances list and third highest post-WW2 league goalscorer. Alexander is five goals ahead of another former Doonhamer, Peter Weatherson and trails Weatherson by

Scotland Semi-Professional

While with Greenock Morton, Alexander won caps for the Scotland Semi-Pro team.[6]

Coaching career

Rowan Alexander's first appointment as manager of a senior side saw him return to Queen of the South. With new chairman Norman Blount getting the wheels moving on the club's revival, together they took QoS to the 1997–98 Scottish Challenge Cup Final where they went down by the only goal of the game to opposition from a division above, Falkirk F.C..

He was then appointed as Mike McCartney's replacement as player-manager of Gretna with the club playing in the lower English leagues. He remained in charge following their induction to the Scottish Football League.

Following Gretna's take over by multi-millionaire Brooks Mileson, Alexander steered the club to the Scottish Third Division title in 2005 with a record-breaking 98 points. Success continued in the following season as the club clinched promotion to the Scottish First Division and earned a place in the UEFA Cup after reaching the Scottish Cup final, where they were eventually beaten 4-2 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1.

Following Gretna's success in 2005–06, Alexander signed a five-year contract with the club and stated his intention to remain with Gretna for the rest of his career. He was replaced towards the end of the 2006–07 season by his assistant, Davie Irons. He turned up for Gretna's first game in the top division of Scottish football - at Motherwell's Fir Park on 4 August 2007, only to be refused entry.[7] On 6 November 2007, it was officially announced that Alexander was sacked by Gretna.[8]

Alexander's sacking and the subsequent liquidation of Gretna meant that he was unable to receive compensation for his five-year contract. In February 2009 he claimed that he was in financial difficulties as a result and was unable to get a job in Scottish football. [1]

In January 2010, Alexander was appointed assistant manager at Scottish Junior side Glenafton Athletic FC and was at the club until August.

Honours

Player

Morton

Manager

Gretna

References

  1. ^ "Rowan Alexander". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Club History" on the official Queen of the South website
  3. ^ Allan Ball profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website
  4. ^ a b Ted McMinn profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website
  5. ^ Jimmy Robertson profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website
  6. ^ TW8: The Home Of Football - Brentford FC versus Bristol City 13/08/02. Charlton, London: The Yellow Printing Company. 2002. p. 21.
  7. ^ "Alexander refused Fir Park access". BBC Sport. 4 August 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  8. ^ SPL - Gretna finally sack Alexander - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
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