Alexander Watson (1864 – 12 July 1931) was secretary-manager of Birmingham Football Club from 1908 to 1911.

Life and career

Alexander Watson was born in 1864 in

Patterdale Patterdale (Saint Patrick's Dale) is a small village and civil parish in the eastern part of the English Lake District in the Eden District of Cumbria, in the traditional county of Westmorland, and the long valley in which they are found, also ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, to Scottish parents, John Watson, a

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

miner, and his wife, Helen. By the time of the 1871 Census, the family had moved to Monkwearmouth Shore, in Sunderland, County Durham, where John Watson had worked in the coal mines. Watson became a schoolteacher, a career he followed alongside his involvement with football. He was joint secretary of

Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six t ...

from 1894 to 1900, and remained on the administrative staff thereafter. At the time of the McCombie benefit case in 1904, when courts and the Football Association ruled and overruled on whether the player

Andy McCombie Andrew McCombie (30 June 1876 – 28 March 1952) was a Scottish international footballer who played at right back for North East England rival clubs Sunderland and Newcastle United. He won the Football League championship with both clubs, and ...

had to repay £100 lent him by the club to start up a business, Watson was financial secretary, and was one of eight Sunderland officials suspended from football for varying periodsin his case 18 monthsover irregularities in the club's financial arrangements. The '' Sunderland Daily Echo'' opinion was that the removal of Watson from involvement with local football in the area would be detrimental to those organisations with which he worked. In 1908,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from the First Division of the Football League, and their long-serving secretary-manager, Alf Jones, retired. There were 135 applications for the vacancy, four candidates were interviewed, and Watson was appointed. The team finished bottom of the 1909–10 Second Division, and their application for

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

to the League was successful. Watson resigned as secretary-manager at the end of the next season, and the club decided to split the role:

Bob McRoberts Robert McRoberts (12 July 1874 – 27 February 1959) was a Scottish professional association football player and manager. He played as a centre forward. McRoberts was born in Coatbridge, Scotland. He started his football career at Airdrieonia ...

was appointed as team manager, with no secretarial duties, and Watson's former assistant, Frank Richards, took over as secretary. Watson, who was married with a daughter, returned to Sunderland and resumed his teaching career, from which he retired towards the end of the 1920s. He had been a

chorister A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

at St Andrew's Church, Roker, since it was built in the 1900s, and was secretary of the parochial church council. On 12 July 1931, he was at the church preparing for the morning service when he collapsed and died.

Notes

Published sources, including Tony Matthews' ''Birmingham City Complete Record'' books, give 1910 as the date of Watson's departure from Birmingham and McRoberts' arrival. However, the contemporary newspaper reports cited here, as well as the 1911 UK Census returns, in which Watson describes himself as "Secretary-Manager Football Club" and Richards describes himself as "Assistant Secretary Football Club", confirm 1911 as the correct year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Alex 1864 births 1931 deaths People from Eden District Sportspeople from Cumbria English football managers Birmingham City F.C. managers Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Sportspeople from Sunderland English people of Scottish descent