Alexander Mathie (born 20 December 1968) is a Scottish football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, former 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 ...

and sports radio co-commentator. He made over 200 appearances as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

in a career that lasted from 1987 until 2007, notably playing in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, and in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and Dundee United. During his career he also played for

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

before finishing his professional career with York City. He became

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Spennymoor United Spennymoor United Association Football Club was an association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. History Spennymoor United Association Football Club was formed in 1904 as an amalgamation of Spennymoor Town and Weardale ...

in 2003 but this job lasted only a few months, before he briefly returned to playing with non-League

Pickering Town Pickering Town Football Club is an English football club based in Pickering, North Yorkshire. The club was founded in 1888 and are currently members of the . History Pickering Town Football Club were first established in 1888, for many yea ...

and then took over as player-manager of West Auckland Town. In 2004, he took the vacant managerial position at former club Pickering, and remained in this position until 2007.

Club career

Celtic

Mathie graduated from

Celtic Boys Club St Patrick's Sports Academy is a youth football and sports club based in Motherwell, near Glasgow in Scotland. It operates football teams in age groups from under-9 to under-19. Formerly Celtic Boys Club, it helped more than 50 players towards p ...

to turn professional with

in May 1987. He made his first-team debut in a 2–1 home defeat to

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

on 11 February 1989. He made eleven appearances in the Premier Division in four seasons at Celtic Park. Under the stewardship of Billy McNeill, the "Bhoys" won the league title in 1987–88, before falling behind

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

rivals

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

in 1988–89, 1989–90, and 1990–91.

Morton

Mathie joined

Allan McGraw Allan McGraw (29 July 1939 – 1 March 2023) was a Scottish football player and manager, most associated with Greenock Morton. Playing career McGraw started his playing career with Greenock Morton. Playing in Division Two he set a Scottish rec ...

in the First Division in August 1991 in a £100,000 deal. He scored 23 goals in 1991–92 and 21 goals in 1992–93, to become the club's top-scorer for two consecutive seasons. He also played in the 1992 final of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Love Street, which ended in a 3–2 defeat to Hamilton Academical. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

on 4 August 1992, and another hat-trick in a Scottish Challenge Cup match against

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

on 29 September. He went on to have a short

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

spell with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

of the

English 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 Engl ...

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He made three appearances in April 1993, all of them as a substitute, and did not feature as John Rudge's "Valiants" went on to win promotion out of the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Newcastle United

In July 1993, Mathie moved from

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

in a deal worth £250,000. He scored a "world class" goal on his debut in a 4–2 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

at St James' Park on 13 September. Unable to dislodge

Peter Beardsley Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder between 1979 and 1999. In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his coun ...

and

Andrew Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Briti ...

from the starting line-up, he went on to make a further 15

appearances in 1993–94, all from the bench, and scored in wins over

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 ...

and West Ham United. He started just four games in 1994–95, and scored another goal against West Ham, before he was sold on to George Burley's

in February 1995 for £500,000.

Ipswich Town

Mathie scored on his Ipswich debut in a 2–1 win against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, one of only seven league wins that season as the "Blues" went on to be relegated out of the top-flight in 1994–95. Mathie played in the club's famous 9–0 defeat to

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 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

on 4 March 1995. He scored 19 goals in 1995–96 to become the club's joint top-scorer (with Ian Marshall). His 18 First Division goals also made him the division's sixth highest scorer. This tally included a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

at Portman Road on 2 September. He hit nine goals in 17 appearances in 1996–97, but did not feature after picking up an injury in October. Mathie scored 16 goals in 45 games in the 1997–98 season, and hit a hat-trick in a 5–0 win over

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Norwich City on 21 February. The "Tractor Boys" reached the play-offs, but were beaten over two legs by

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. Mathie scored twice in the opening ten games of the 1998–99 season, before he was sold on to Paul Sturrock's Dundee United for around £700,000 in October 1998.

Dundee United

He replaced the outgoing Robbie Winters, who had moved on to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

for around the same fee (plus Billy Dodds) a few weeks previously. Mathie scored just two goals in 28 games in the 1998–99 season, and ended the season on the transfer list. He was loaned out to

for the early part of the 1999–2000 season. He scored four goals in 18 league and cup games during a three-month stay at Deepdale.

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

David Moyes David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manches ...

went on to lead the "Lillywhites" to the Second Division title at the end of the campaign. After returning to Dundee United, Mathie scored his first goal and only at Tannadice Park on 30 January 2000, in a 4–1 defeat of

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,that season, though this still left him fifth in the club's scoring charts. He played four games of the 2000–01 season; a 2–1 defeat to Celtic, 3–0 loss at Hibernian, 1–1 draw with

and 2–1 defeat by

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

. He left the

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

in September 2000 after being released by new boss

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 20 ...

. Chairman Jim McLean later said that Mathie was "a complete disaster... a dreadful buy". Mathie in turn said that McLean's resignation "could be the best thing ever to happen to United", and that

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Jason de Vos Jason Richard de Vos (born January 2, 1974) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a central defender. An international for Canada, de Vos played in Canada and the United Kingdom – most notably with Wigan Athletic and Ips ...

could not be trusted, and also bemoaned the influx of foreign players at Tannadice.

Later career

Mathie joined Terry Dolan's York City on a free transfer in the English

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in September 2000. He scored twice in 24 appearances in 2000–01, and scored twice in 26 appearances in 2001–02. He featured ten times in 2002–03, without finding the net, and left both Bootham Crescent when his

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

was cancelled in March 2003.

International career

Mathie was a squad member for Scotland at the

1987 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Chile from 10 to 25 October 1987. The 1987 championship was the 6th contested and won for the first time by Yugoslavia. Remarkably, in the course of the tournament the Yugoslavs defeated each of ...

. However, he remained on the bench for Scotland's four games of the tournament.

Managerial career

In 2003, he spent time as

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side

, before moving on to

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

club West Auckland Town. In 2004, he became player-manager of Northern League side

, before resigning in January 2007.

Personal life

In July 2008, Mathie began working for BBC Radio Suffolk to provide match commentary and analysis for former side Ipswich, joining former players such as

Bryan Hamilton Bryan Hamilton (born 21 December 1946) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and manager. He gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980, and later managed the national team for four years. He later became Techn ...

and John Wark. Mathie has also played football for charity in his retirement. He later worked for

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

, as a delivery office manager in the

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

area.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Morton *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathie, Alex 1968 births Living people People from Bathgate Footballers from West Lothian Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Celtic F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players York City F.C. players Spennymoor United A.F.C. players Pickering Town F.C. players West Auckland Town F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players Men's association football player-managers Scottish football managers Northern Premier League managers