Alexander Higgins (7 November 1863 – 17 April 1920) was 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 lea ...

who played for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

and the Scotland national team.

Career

Higgins was born in

, originally working as a coal-miner, and began his career in his hometown with

.Kilmarnock player Higgins (Sr), Sandy
FitbaStats He won his only

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

while at the club on 14 March 1885. Despite scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in an 8–2 win over

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, he was never selected again for his country; James B. Niven, later of Chelsea, also gained his only cap in that game (only Scotland-based players were considered until

1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...

). Higgins joined English club

in August 1888 and made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 8 September 1888, playing at

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, at

Pike's Lane Pike's Lane was a football ground in Bolton, England. It was the home ground of Bolton Wanderers between 1880 and 1895, and the venue of the first goal scored in league football anywhere in the world. History Pike's Lane opened in 1880, with t ...

, the then home of

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. Derby defeated the home team 6–3. He scored his maiden League goal on 22 September at the County Ground, the then home of Derby County, when the visitors were

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

– the match ended as a 1–1 draw and Higgins scored the Derby goal. He appeared in 21 of the 22 League matches played by Derby County in season 1888–89 and scored 11 league goals, which made him the top scorer for that season; of those goals, six came in two matches. He became the first Derby County player to score four in one league match when he scored four against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

at the County Ground on 9 March 1889. Higgins left Derby in 1890 and joined

, where he remained until 1894, when he returned to Scotland and Kilmarnock for a short unsuccessful bid for the Scottish Cup.

Personal life

Higgins died on 17 April 1920, the same day his first club Kilmarnock won the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Alex Higgins, Jr., also a Scottish international, was a registered Kilmarnock player at this point, although he did not play in the final.

References

External links

* 1863 births 1920 deaths Scottish men's footballers Kilmarnock F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Footballers from Kilmarnock Place of death missing English Football League players Men's association football forwards 19th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-forward-1860s-stub

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links