Albert Edward Burns Alexander Sr. (21 Sep 1867 - 14 Oct 1953) was a figure in early 20th century English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

who held a number of roles at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

Biography

Born in Hulme, Alexander was one of four sons involved in the coach proprietorship business. He lived in

Ardwick Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250. Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from ...

from 1871 to at least the 1920s, having married a storekeeper's daughter, Evelyn Bridge, in St Matthew's there in June 1891. Alexander's connections with Manchester City go back to at least 1904. That year Manchester City reached the FA Cup final for the first time. The club directors hired a horse-drawn carriage to make the journey to London, with Alexander as the driver. By the 1920s, Alexander was the club's vice-chairman, and had also formed and coached the "A" team, the club's first youth development side. In 1925 manager David Ashworth resigned. Unable to find a suitable replacement, the directors selected the team by committee. Alexander led the panel with assistance from figures including

Lawrence Furniss Lawrence Furniss (1862–1941) was an English football player, manager and chairman who was the first ever manager of Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is ...

and

Wilf Wild Wilfred Wild (1893 – 12 December 1950) was a British football manager who served as manager of Manchester City from 1932 to 1946. Wild first joined Manchester City in 1920 as an assistant to Ernest Mangnall, primarily assisting in administrat ...

. Under the Alexander-led committee the club achieved a record 6–1 Manchester derby win, and reached the

1926 FA Cup Final The 1926 FA Cup Final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City on 24 April 1926 at Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (bett ...

, though City were defeated 1–0 by

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. On 26 April 1926, Peter Hodge was appointed manager, and Alexander's period in charge came to an end. Alexander's son, Albert Victor, was Manchester City chairman in the 1960s, and through Albert Jr. and his son Eric the Alexander family had a presence on the club board until 1972.

References

English football managers Manchester City F.C. directors and chairmen Manchester City F.C. managers 1867 births 1953 deaths {{England-footy-manager-stub