Alexander Bell (20 October 1882 – 30 November 1934) was a

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 as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. His professional career was mostly spent in England, where he won trophies with

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. Born in South Africa, he was largely raised in Scotland and made one appearance for the Scottish national team.

Club career

Born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, to Scottish parents, Bell began his professional football career as a centre-forward with various clubs in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

, including Ayr Spring Vale, Ayr Westerlea and Ayr Parkhouse. While with Ayr Parkhouse (then still to join the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

), Bell was spotted by former Newton Heath half-back

Will Davidson William R. Davidson was a Scottish footballer. His regular position was as a half back. He played for Annbank and Manchester United. When Davidson joined the team in 1893, Manchester United was still known as Newton Heath Football Club and s ...

, who reported his findings back to

. United paid Ayr Parkhouse £700 for Bell in January 1903. At this stage, it was less than a year since United's formation in place of the bankrupt Newton Heath club, and they were still in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

, from which they won promotion in 1906. He struggled to make an impact in the Manchester United first team as a centre-forward, making just 11 appearances in his first two years at the club. However, United suffered an injury crisis at half-back in 1904, and Bell was called upon to step in. As it happened, Bell excelled in his new position, and became the club's regular left-half, forming an unbreakable trio with

Charlie Roberts Charles Roberts (6 April 1883 – 7 August 1939) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-half in the Football League for Grimsby Town, Manchester United and Oldham Athletic. He spent nine years at United, where he was capta ...

and Dick Duckworth. After scoring 10 goals in 309 appearances, and winning two First Division titles ( 1907–08 and 1910–11) and one

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

(

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

), Bell was sold to

for a fee of £1,000 in July 1913. He played only a few matches for Blackburn before the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and signed for

Clackmannan Clackmannan ( ; gd, Clach Mhanainn, perhaps meaning "Stone of Manau"), is a small town and civil parish set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated within the Forth Valley, Clackmannan is south-east of Alloa and south of Tillicoultry. Th ...

in 1921. He played there for two seasons and spent one with Royal Albert, before retiring as a player and joining the coaching staff at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. His last job in football was 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 ...

, where he was employed as coach and trainer from 1925 until his death in November 1934 at the age of 52. Bell's name was immortalised by former Manchester United teammate Charlie Roberts, who became a tobacconist after retiring from football, naming a brand of cigarette "Ducrobel" after United's famous half-back trio of Duckworth, Roberts and Bell.

International career

On 16 March 1912, Bell played for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in a 4–1 win against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was his only international cap and he was the first

player to represent Scotland.

Honours

Manchester United *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1907–08, 1910–11 *

Blackburn Rovers *

: 1913–14

References

External links

*
Scotland profile
at LondonHearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Alex Soccer players from Cape Town Footballers from Ayr Cape Colony people Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Men's association football wing halves Association football coaches Manchester United F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Scottish men's footballers Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff South African men's soccer players South African people of Scottish descent Ayr Parkhouse F.C. players Clackmannan F.C. players Royal Albert F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Coventry City F.C. non-playing staff 1882 births 1934 deaths

Club career

International career

Honours

See also

References

External links