Alexander John Russell (born 17 March 1973) is an English 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 ...

who played as a central

midfielder 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 father, Alex Russell played professionally for

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

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 ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

and

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tour ...

. In January 2008 Russell joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

on a one-month loan. On 31 January, Russell's loan was extended to the end of the season. He signed permanently for

on 17 June 2008 after he was released by

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

on loan in February 2009 until the end of the season with a view to a permanent deal. He signed a permanent one-year deal with

in July 2009. On 14 May 2010, it was announced that he had been released by Exeter, along with eight other players. On 4 January 2011, it was announced that a move to League One Yeovil Town had been finalised. He was informed by the club at the end of the 2010/11 season that he was one of seven players who would be re-signed, Russell later rejected this offer and returned to Bath City. But he left when Bath was relegated at the end of the 2011–12 season from the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

, Russell signed with Southern League South & West Division side Clevedon Town in the summer of 2012. On 10 March 2013, he announced on Twitter, "Officially retiring from playing! 24 yr career,not a bad effort! #greattimes". After spells coaching at Bristol City, Tranmere Rovers, Oldham Athletic and Southport, Russell came out of retirement and played for Shepton Mallet and Bristol Manor Farm before emigrating to Australia and started coaching at

Jamie Gosling Jamie Gosling (born 21 March 1982) is an English former professional football midfielder. He previously played professionally in the Football League for Yeovil Town and Torquay United. He currently lives in Australia after setting up the Jamie G ...

's football academy in Cairns while also turning out for Stratford Dolphins at the age of 46. In 2020, he moved to another FNQ Football league side Leichhardt Lions in a dual player/assistant coach role, and won the FNQ Football Men's Premier Player of the Year award in 2021 – aged 48.

Honours

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2002–03 Third Division, 2003–04 Third Division

References

External links

Alex Russell profile
at ctfc.com

at bcfc.co.uk

at ntfc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Alex 1973 births Living people People from Crosby, Merseyside English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Burscough F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Clevedon Town F.C. players Southport F.C. players Bristol Manor Farm F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players