Alex Linwood

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Alex Linwood

● Alex Linwood, c1950 (BDV) Alexander Bryce Linwood was born on Saturday, 13th March, 1920, in Drumsmudden, East Ayrshire. The 5' 9 (11st 7lbs) forward signed for Donald Turner's Thistle on Thursday, 23rd May, 1940 (after a trial game), having most recently been with St Mirren. Aged 20, he made his debut appearance on Tuesday, 21st May, 1940, in a 2-1 defeat away to Clyde in the Glasgow Charity Cup. There were no goals for Alex during his spell at Thistle. He played his second and last game for the club on Saturday, 25th May, 1940, in a 3-1 defeat at home to Rangers in the Regional League, Western Division. His club-list included Muirkirk, St Mirren, Partick Thistle, Middlesbrough, Hibernian, Clyde and Morton. Alex died on Thursday, 23rd October, 2003, in Renfrew, Renfrewshire, aged 83.

Bio Extra

Alex (aged 20) joined Thistle on a wartime loan from St Mirren in May 1940. The forward (alongside fellow loan player Donald Twells) made his debut in a Glasgow Charity Cup defeat by Clyde on 21 May 1940. His 2nd and final outing was in a 3-1 defeat by Rangers in the Western Regional League on 25 May 1940. Alex was a miner and started work in the pits as a 14-year-old. He joined St Mirren from Muirkirk Juniors in 1938. As a miner, when war broke out, Alex continued working in the mines. In a question and answer exchange with the “Clyde View” Alex spoke of his career: I eventually signed for St Mirren in 1938 when I was 18, but when the war broke out, although I continued to play, I had to go back down the pit as part of the war effort. I was transferred to Middlesborough in 1946, but I didn’t do very well down there, although my cause wasn’t helped by the fact that I still had to work as a miner as recovery began, when all the other players were full time. Alex moved on to Hibernian, where he was in the Scottish Division A Championship-winning side in season 1947-48, and then joined Clyde for £8,000 in 1948. Alex was a Bully Wee player for 3 years, and played in the Scottish Cup runners-up team in season 1948-49. He moved on to Morton in 1951. He stayed with Morton until 1955 when, aged 35, he retired from playing. Alex played in a wartime international against England in 1940. An 8-0 pasting. Let’s gloss over that for now, although Alex joked that he got to kick the ball 9 times, because as centre forward he kicked off for one half, and did the same after every England goal. He also played in Scottish League victories against the Irish League in 1949, and the Welsh League in 1950. When he played with Clyde Alex had an unofficial job with CIS Insurance, to bring in extra income. In his later years, Alex was often seen at Love Street, and when he passed away in October 2003, Bob Crampsey, in his Glasgow Herald obituary, said that he was a Buddies fan. He wasn’t. In his “Clyde View” article Alex confessed to following his local childhood team, Ayr United.

(DMAC)