Alexander MacFarlane (1878 – 22 December 1945) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Dundee in 1910. As a manager, he won the
Third Division South
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...
with
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 ...
in 1929.
Playing career
MacFarlane first played in Scotland for Airdrieonians before moving south to join Woolwich Arsenal in 1896. He only made seven appearances for Arsenal, his debut coming against
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
on 28 November 1896, and returned to Airdrie the following year. His second move south of the border was more successful, joining
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
and becoming their first-choice inside-left. In three seasons in the north-east, MacFarlane made eighty-four First Division appearances, scoring seventeen goals in three consecutive top six finishes, as well as two
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
appearances.
He returned to Scotland to play for Dundee in 1901. During his twelve years there, he won a
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1909–10 and made five appearances for
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 ...
between 1904 and 1911, scoring once in a 5–0 victory over
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in 1913, but only played sporadically and retired from playing in 1914.
Managerial career
MacFarlane returned to Dundee in 1919 and spent six years in charge of the club, during which time they reached another Scottish Cup final in 1924–25. That summer,
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 ...
tempted him to move south. In January 1928 he returned to Dundee, but only lasted seven months before returning to Charlton. In his first full season back at the club, he led Charlton to the 1928–29
Third Division South
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...
title.
He ledt Charlton in 1932 and a year later joined Blackpool on a two-year contract. At Blackpool, he dismantled ''the Seasiders'' squad, allowing nine players to leave
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...
as he brought in fresh faces. One player he signed, Peter Doherty, cost £1,000 but was sold on to Manchester City in 1936 for ten times that amount. At the end of the 1934–35 season, Blackpool sat in fourth position in the Division Two table, just missing out on a return to the top flight.
Blackpool was MacFarlane's last appointment, and he drifted out of football at the age of 57. He died in
Preston, Lancashire
Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...
, in December 1945.
Honours
As a player
Dundee
*
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1910
Events
January
* January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...
As manager
Charlton Athletic
*
Third Division South
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...
:
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
Individual
*Dundee FC Heritage Award: 2015
*Dundee FC Hall of Fame: 2015