Alexander Robert Bruce (born 23 December 1952) is a Scottish

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

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 ...

for

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 ...

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

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. Born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland, Bruce began his career with

in 1971. He became a cult figure with the Preston supporters and was a prolific striker, finishing as the highest goal scorer, a club record, eight seasons out of ten during the 1970s and early 1980s. He remains to date the club's second highest all time goal scorer, only bettered by club stalwart

Sir Tom Finney Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the sp ...

. In January 1974 he joined

for a fee reported as £140,000 or £150,000. He made his debut in February 1974 in a 3–1 defeat against Southampton and scored on his home debut at St James' Park but struggled to hold a regular first team place ahead of the club's more established strikers. He made 20 league appearances and scored three goals during his 18-month spell at the club. In August 1975, he re-joined his former club when Newcastle signed John Bird from Preston in exchange for Bruce and £60,000 – a transfer which prompted the resignation of Preston manager Bobby Charlton. On his return to Preston he struck up a successful strike partnership with Mike Elwiss and under manager Nobby Stiles helped guide Preston to league promotion in 1978, Bruce winning a golden boot by finishing the season as the league's highest goal scorer. He stayed at Preston until 1983 when he joined local side

as a player and coach before retiring from football due to a knee injury in 1985. Following football, Alex forged a successful career in leisure management and finished his career as Head of Leisure at South Ribble Borough Council.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Alex 1952 births Living people Footballers from Dundee Scottish footballers Association football forwards Preston North End F.C. players English Football League players Newcastle United F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Scotland under-23 international footballers