Alexander Wallace (1872–1950) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in the Football League for

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 ...

and Small Heath. He played as an outside left.

Career

Wallace was born in Darwen, Lancashire. He played for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

before making his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut for

in the 1893–94 season. In 1894 he, together with teammates Mitchell Calvey,

Archibald Ferguson Archibald Ferguson was a Scottish footballer who played in the English Football League for Manchester City and Derby County. Archibald Ferguson' first known football club was Hearts, from where Ferguson was born, Edinburgh. 1887–88 season wa ...

and Tommy Little, left Ardwick, by then renamed Manchester City, to play for Baltimore Orioles F.C. in the newly formed American League of Professional Football. Most of the teams in the league, formed by owners of the National Baseball League in competition with the American Football Association, featured coaches, if not players, from their associated baseball team. Baltimore Orioles brought in a soccer coach, , whose team of imported professionals won their opening games comprehensively, thus upsetting the other owners. The U.S. government threatened to investigate the use of foreign professionals, and in face of this threat and the owners' reluctance to subsidise poorly attended matches, the league soon folded. On the players' return to England, Little was forgiven by his former employers and restored to Manchester City's team. Wallace, on the other hand, was unable to find another footballing employment until he signed for Small Heath in 1897. He played only twice in the league for Small Heath: his "three years of inactivity showed", and after a few months he dropped into

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Hereford Thistle. Wallace died in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1950, aged about 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Alec 1872 births 1950 deaths Footballers from Darwen English men's footballers Men's association football outside forwards Blackpool F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Baltimore Orioles F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Hereford Thistle F.C. players English Football League players Date of birth missing Date of death missing English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers