Alfred "Alfie" Conn (2 October 1926 – 7 January 2009) was a Scottish 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 ...

, most commonly remembered as part of the ''Terrible Trio'' of the Heart of Midlothian side of the 1950s, along with

Willie Bauld William Russell Logan Bauld (24 January 1928 – 11 March 1977) was a footballer who played for Newtongrange Star, Heart of Midlothian, Edinburgh City and the Scotland national team. Heart of Midlothian Bauld was born in Newcraighall, Edi ...

and

Jimmy Wardhaugh James Alexander Douglas Wardhaugh (21 March 1929 – 2 January 1978) was a Scottish professional footballer, most fondly remembered as part of the ''Terrible Trio'' Heart of Midlothian forward line of the 1950s, alongside Willie Bauld and Alfie ...

Heart of Midlothian

Conn was born in

Prestonpans Prestonpans ( gd, Baile an t-Sagairt, Scots language, Scots: ''The Pans'') is a small mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the Council area of East Lothian. The population as of is. It is near the si ...

, East Lothian. He joined Hearts from Inveresk Athletic in 1944, making his debut later that year in a 4–0 win over

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

in a wartime Southern League match. He established himself in the first team in the 1948–49 season, when first combined with Bauld and Wardhaugh. Conn's energetic, tenacious style and powerful shooting complemented the cerebral play of Bauld and the dribbling skills of Wardhaugh. Their first match as a forward trio resulted in a 6–1 victory over East Fife. The ''Terrible Trio'' continued to score freely in the following 5 seasons, Conn notching 102 goals. Hearts became regular top four finishers yet defensive inconsistency ensured they failed to collect any silverware. Conn eventually won his first medal in the 1954–55 season, when Hearts defeated Motherwell 4–2 in the 1954 Scottish League Cup Final. The following season, Conn scored as Hearts defeated

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 ...

3–1 in the

1956 Scottish Cup Final The 1956 Scottish Cup Final in association football was played on 21 April 1956 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 71st staging of the Scottish Cup. Heart of Midlothian F.C., Hearts and Celtic F.C., Celtic contested the match. T ...

, their first triumph in that competition for 50 years. He ended that 1955-56 season at the peak of his powers aged 29 with a career best 29 goals from 41 games. Two weeks after the cup win Conn attained his only

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

cap on 2 May 1956 at Hampden Park. He put his side ahead after 12 minutes in a 1–1 draw with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Conn suffered a serious ankle injury and was to never be the same player again. In the league he made only 10 appearances in 1956-57 and only five when Hearts won the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

in 1957–58. He scored 221 goals in 408 games for Hearts.Hearts FC Hall of Fame
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Raith Rovers

Conn transferred to

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

in search of regular first team football. Over two seasons he scored 15 times in the 34 league games he played. He retired from playing in 1960.

After playing

Conn had a brief spell as manager of both

Gala Fairydean Gala Fairydean Rovers Football Club are a Scottish association football club based in the town of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. The club competes in the , after joining from the East of Scotland Football League in 2013. At the same tim ...

and Raith Rovers. Conn watched his son, Alfie Conn Jr., establish a successful footballing career of his own, notably with both Rangers and

. Conn Sr. died on 7 January 2009, at the age of 82.Scotsman.com Obituary
/ref>

References

;Sources *

External links

at londonhearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Conn, Alfie Sr. Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Raith Rovers F.C. players Scottish football managers Raith Rovers F.C. managers People from Prestonpans 1926 births 2009 deaths Scottish Football League representative players Footballers from East Lothian Scottish Football League managers Association football inside forwards