Alex Young (footballer, Born 1937)
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Alexander Young (3 February 1937 – 27 February 2017) was a Scottish international
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 ...
. He played as a creative forward for Heart of Midlothian and Everton. He won league championship and cup titles with both clubs where he was also a regular goal scorer. Young later played for
Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...
and Stockport County. Internationally he played for the Scottish League and the
Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA ...
. In football folklore he has become known as 'The Golden Vision'.


Early years

Young was born in Loanhead,
Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...
. He described himself as shy from an understandably over-watchful mother having to cope with the death of a son five years older than Alex being fatally hit by a car. Young later said that as a youngster he grew up supporting the same team as his father,
Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
. Young first played for Newtongrange Star in Midlothian, while he also worked as a
colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...
apprentice.


Playing career


Heart of Midlothian

He joined Tommy Walker's Hearts in 1955 making his debut aged 18. This particular Hearts side had won their breakthrough tournament the year before winning the 1954 Scottish League Cup Final. With Young they next won the 1956 Scottish Cup Final. With Hearts' 'Terrible Trio' forward line of Jimmy Wardhaugh, Willie Bauld and Alfie Conn, Sr at their peak, Young played at right wing. Hearts led the Scottish League for most of the 1956–57 season. The title hinged on Rangers visit to Tynecastle on 13 April. A capacity crowd watched a tense game in which Rangers keeper, George Niven, was man of the match. Hearts could not beat him and the only goal came from Simpson of Rangers who scored on the break in 35 minutes. Rangers had games in hand which they won to overtake Hearts and lift the trophy. Young helped Hearts win the Scottish league championship in 1957–58, as part of a new Hearts goal scoring trinity with Wardhaugh and Jimmy Murray. In a crucial October visit to Ibrox, Young scored to transform a 2–0 deficit into a 3–2 win. On 12 April 1958 Hearts won 3–2 at St Mirren to clinch the title with Young scoring the winner. Wardhaugh was the League's top marksman with 28 strikes. This was one ahead of Jimmy Murray's 27 and four more than Young's 24. Hearts won that League title in 1957–58 with record-breaking points, goals scored and goal difference. Their record from 34 league games of 62 points out of a maximum possible 68 was 13 more than their nearest rival. They scored 132 goals (still the Scottish top tier record) with only 29 against for a record net difference of +103. Young missed out on Hearts' October 1958 Scottish League Cup Final win. They led the league championship in December but with injuries taking their toll they lost 6–0 in a visit to Ibrox Park. This began a poor run of only two wins from the next seven games.
Dave Mackay David Craig Mackay (14 November 1934 – 2 March 2015) was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961 an ...
was sold in March to
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 ...
, but Hearts fought back into contention when they won 2–0 against Rangers in April. Rangers went into the last day of the season two points clear and needing a point to clinch the title. Rangers lost 2–1 at home to Aberdeen, giving Hearts a chance to win the title, but they also lost 2–1. In 1959/60 he scored 23 goals as Hearts won the league title again. In the New Year derby away to Hibs, Young's hat-trick inspired a 5–1 win. He played that season alongside his boyhood hero, Gordon Smith, who had joined Hearts that season. They also won the 1959 Scottish League Cup Final that season. Young playing at centre forward scored the winner for a second career goal to clinch a title. Between 1955 and 1960, Young made 194 appearances for Heart of Midlothian in all competitions, scoring 103 goals. Young was inducted to the club's
hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
in 2007.


Everton

Young was transferred in November 1960 to Everton, along with
George Thomson George Thomson may refer to: Government and politics * George Thomson (MP for Southwark) (c. 1607–1691), English merchant and Parliamentarian soldier, official and politician * George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1921–2008), Scottish p ...
, for £55,000. A partnership with
Roy Vernon Thomas Royston Vernon (14 April 1937 – 4 December 1993) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a forward for Blackburn Rovers, Everton and Stoke City. Vernon won 32 caps for Wales, scoring eight goals in total, and representing h ...
soon developed. Young scored 22 league goals in the 42 league games and made many other goals in Everton's 1962–63 league championship winning season. His elegant touch earned him the nickname of 'The Golden Vision', a title coined by
Danny Blanchflower Robert Dennis Blanchflower (10 February 1926 – 9 December 1993) was a Northern Ireland footballer, football manager and journalist who played for and captained Tottenham Hotspur, including during their double-winning season of 1960–61. H ...
– ''"...the view every Saturday that we have of a more perfect world, a world that has got a pattern and is finite. And that's Alex – the Golden Vision."'' In addition to the championship, Young won an
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 ...
winners medal in Everton's comeback win in the
1966 FA Cup Final The 1966 FA Cup final was a football match played on 14 May 1966. It was contested by Everton and Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. Everton were the first team since Bury in 1903 to reach an FA Cup Final without conceding a goal, while Sheffield ...
. Young scored 89 goals in 275 appearances in all competitions for Everton. Young was at his prime when aged 23 – 26 when at Everton before being troubled by a knee injury. He also had career long issues with blistered feet that affected his performances.


Glentoran and Stockport County

Young was sold to
Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...
in 1968 for £10,000, and briefly managed the club before his failing hearing forced him to step down. Young later played briefly for Stockport County for 23 games before a knee injury forced his retirement aged 31.


Scotland

His full international debut for
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 ...
came in April 1960, in a 1–1 draw against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
attended by 129,193 fans at
Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
. By November that year he had six caps, playing alongside an Everton player in each of his last two caps ( Jimmy Gabriel and Alex Parker). He moved to Everton before the end of the month of the latter of those two internationals.Scotland - International Matches 1956-1960, RSSSF
/ref> Young played one international game in 1961, a 3–0 win against the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
, scoring twice. He didn't play another full international again for five years, including his championship winning season at Everton. Young was recalled to the national squad in summer 1966, after his FA Cup win. He was
capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...
a total of eight times by Scotland,Alex Young SFA profile
/ref> scoring five goals. He also scored 2 goals in 2 appearances for the Scottish League.


After playing

After football Young ran his family's business wholesaling soft furnishings in
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 ...
before retiring. His son,
Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...
, became a professional footballer in the 1990s but could not match his famous father's prowess, and spent his career mostly in the Scottish lower divisions. Young was included in the Football League's "100 Legends of the 20th Century" in 1999, and in August 2001 Everton gave him a
testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whe ...
at Goodison Park, which over 20,000 fans attended. He was also named as a member of Gwladys Street's Hall of Fame.


Personal life

Young married Nancy in 1957, and had three children: Jane, Alex Jnr and
Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...
. Young died at the age of 80 on 27 February 2017 after a short illness. He was survived by wife Nancy who died on 28 October 2023, and their three children.


In popular culture

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...
's 1968 docu-drama, ''The Golden Vision'', concerned a group of Everton fans and was named after Young, who also appears on-screen.


Honours

Hearts *
Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...
: 1957–58, 1959–60 *
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1955–56 *
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
: 1959–60 Everton *
Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...
: 1962–63 *
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 ...
: 1965–66 *
FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...
:
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
Individual Young was named as one of the
Football League 100 Legends The Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Football League and Premier League football. The players were selected in 1998 by a panel of journ ...
of the 20th Century in May 1999.


References


External links

*
Alex Young page
at www.evertonfc.com
Hall of Fame: Young, Alex ("Golden Vision")
from www.toffeeweb.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Alex 1937 births 2017 deaths People from Loanhead Men's association football forwards Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Everton F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players NIFL Premiership players Scottish football managers Glentoran F.C. managers Scottish Football League representative players Scottish Junior Football Association players Newtongrange Star F.C. players Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Footballers from Midlothian 20th-century Scottish sportsmen NIFL Premiership managers Men's association football player-managers