Alec Brady

Alec Brady
Personal information
Full name Alexander Brady
Date of birth (1870-02-09)9 February 1870
Place of birth Cathcart, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Date of death 19 October 1913(1913-10-19) (aged 43)
Place of death Renton, Dunbartonshire, Scotland
Playing position Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1886–1888 Newcastle West End ? (?)
1888 Sunderland ? (?)
1888 Gainsborough Trinity ? (?)
1888–1889 Burnley 20 (8)
1889 Sunderland ? (?)
1889–1891 Everton 34 (17)
1891–1892 Celtic 18 (4)
1892–1899 The Wednesday 158 (34)
1899–1901 Clydebank ? (?)
1901–1902 Renton ? (?)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Alexander "Alec" Brady (9 February 1870 – 19 October 1913) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside forward, on his death the Sheffield Evening Telegraph described him as being "in his day one of the best forwards in the country".

Alec started his career with his local junior side Renton Thistle before moving to Newcastle West End.

In the 1888-89 season he moved to Sunderland, then on to Gainsborough Trinity F.C. before joining Burnley during the inaugural season of the English Football League in 1888/89.

1888-1889

Alec Brady made his League and Club debut on 8 September 1888, playing as a winger, at Deepdale, the home of Preston North End. Preston North End won the match 5–2. When Alec Brady played as a winger against Preston North End on 8 September 1888 he was 18 years 211 days old; which made him, on that first weekend of League football, Burnley’ youngest player, until 22 September 1888 when Robert Duckworth made his debut.

Alec Brady scored his debut League goal on 22 September 1888 at Dudley Road, the then home of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolverhampton Wanderers won the match 4–1 and Alec Brady scored Burnley' only goal. Alec Brady appeared in 20 of the 22 League games played by Burnley in season 1888–89 and scored seven League goals. As a winger (18 appearances) he played in a Burnley midfield that achieved big (three-League-goals-or-more) wins on two separate occasions. Seven goals in a League season made Alec Brady joint Burnley top scorer with Willie McKay.[1]

1889 onwards

In August 1889 Brady had been convinced to join Everton by their captain Andrew Hannah, also from Alec's hometown of Renton. However a dispute with his player registration meant he was given a two-month suspension. After scoring twice on his debut against Stoke and a hat-trick in the 11-2 against Derby in the FA Cup, Everton's record victory they narrowly missed out on winning the league trophy to Preston North End. In his second season with Everton they were crowned English League Champions.

In the Summer of 1891 he was lured back to Scotland to play for Celtic in the 2nd Scottish Football League Championship. Despite narrowly missing out on the league title to Dumbarton, Celtic went on to win the Scottish Cup, the clubs first ever major trophy.

Brady spent just one season at Celtic before moving to The Wednesday for seven seasons. He was a part of the Wednesday side that won the FA Cup in 1896, making Brady one of the first players to win both the Scottish and English trophies at a time when they were considered the pinnacle of football competitions.

He returned to Scotland to play with Clydebank in 1899 before returning to his hometown team, Renton where he ended his playing career.

After retiring from football he stayed in Renton, where he lived with his family until his death in 1913, aged 43. He was buried in Millburn Church, Renton which was marked with a memorial headstone in April 2016 by The Celtic Graves Society and Everton Heritage Society.

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "English National Football Archive". Retrieved 2018-01-05. (registration & fee required)
  • Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (paperback).
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