Alexander Simpson Young (23 June 1880 – 17 September 1959) 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 lea ...

who played for St Mirren,

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, Everton,

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, South Liverpool and represented

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 ...

at international level.

Football career

He is the all-time fourth highest scorer for English club Everton and scored the only goal to win the 1906 FA Cup Final. Some attribute to him a total of 110 league goals for Everton, which would put him in second spot behind Dixie Dean. He was also the

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 ...

's top scorer in 1906–07. In 1911 he moved South to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and joined

. Young scored on his ''Lilywhites'' debut in a 2-2 draw against his old club Everton at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

in September 1911 in the old First Division. Alex would score three goals in five appearances for the ''Spurs''. After leaving

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

, Young went on to play for Manchester City before ending his playing career at South Liverpool.

Post-playing life

Young was convicted of the

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

of his brother in Australia in June 1916 and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.The Australian Manslaughter Case. Verdict Against Well-known Footballer.
The Scotsman, 22 June 1916. Scan via London Hearts Supporters Club At times it was rumoured that he was hanged for sheep- rustling in Australia. Young, who was considered mentally unstable, died in an

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

asylum on 17 September 1959 and is buried in Seafield Cemetery between

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

and Portobello. Everton FC, which supported Young throughout his life with occasional cash assistance, unveiled a new headstone in Edinburgh's Seafield cemetery on 3 September 2014. Everton Heritage Society chairman Paul Wharton said at the ceremony: "This is an Everton legend from 100 years ago that Evertonians will talk about in another 100 years. We had to honour the man and we're made up with how well it's gone. The Club are proud and so are we."

Honours

Everton *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

**Runner-up:

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

Sources

Alex "Sandy" Young at Stats section of Everton F.C. website
from the

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

.
Young's trial and conviction
from the Melbourne Argus
Everton FC minute-book
text of telegram sent to Everton FC that reports Young's conviction. * David Prentice:
Sandy Young goes ahead of Graeme Sharp in the Everton FC all-time League goalscoring table – 100 years on
',

, 2013-01-23. * Simon Burnton:
The forgotten story of … Alex 'Sandy' Young
',

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, 2013-10-08.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Alex 1880 births 1959 deaths Footballers from Falkirk (council area) Men's association football inside forwards Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Everton F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers British expatriates in Australia British people convicted of manslaughter 20th-century Scottish criminals South Liverpool F.C. players Fratricides Deaths in mental institutions