Alexander Hair (9 March 1898 – 31 May 1970) was a Scottish

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 ...

who played as a centre forward.

Career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and nicknamed 'Sandy', he joined Partick Thistle in 1923 from local

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

club

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

, where he had become a prolific goalscorer. By that time he was 25 years of age, relatively old to join a senior club; however, many sources record his birth date as 9 March 1902, and contemporary documents also show a younger age than he truly was, suggesting the player himself may have been aware of this inaccuracy. After loan spells in lower divisions at Queen of the South,

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

and

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Fal ...

he established himself with the ''Jags'', scoring 41 goals in 36 Scottish Football League appearances during the 1926–27 season (however,

Jimmy McGrory James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second Wor ...

of Celtic scored 48 to claim the top scorer award – neither Partick nor Celtic challenged for the league title), plus another five goals in a

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cu ...

final victory against Rangers at the end of that campaign. Hair joined Preston North End for the 1928–29 season for a £2,200 transfer fee. He scored 19 goals in his first season at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

, but lost his first team place and was placed on the 'open to transfer' list, meaning a new club within Britain would have to pay Preston's desired fee of £1000. After moving to Irish football where the regulation did not apply, in the 1930–31 season Hair set the record for most league goals scored by a Shelbourne player in one season with a tally of twenty-nine in just twenty-two matches.Honours
at shelbournefc.ie This prolific scoring helped Shelbourne win their third

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

title. Hair returned to Britain to play for Colwyn Bay United of the Birmingham and District League, and then served

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

as player-manager, Burton Town as a player and Shirley Town as manager. He later worked as an engineer in Scotland, including at Sir William Arrol & Co.

Honours

;Partick Thistle

: 1926–27 ;Individual *

League of Ireland Top Scorer A list of League of Ireland top scorers. A Division ;Notes Premier Division First Division ;Notes All–Time ;Notes References {{League of Ireland Top Ireland Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulst ...

1930–31 Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hair, Alex Partick Thistle F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players League of Ireland players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Scottish expatriate footballers Worcester City F.C. players Worcester City F.C. managers 1898 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Glasgow People from Bridgeton, Glasgow Scottish footballers Colwyn Bay F.C. players Strathclyde F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Third Lanark A.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Bo'ness F.C. players Scottish football managers Association football player-managers Association football forwards Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Burton Town F.C. players