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"Sandy Hair" redirects here. For the human hair colour, see Blond.

Alexander Hair (9 March 1898 – 31 May 1970)[1] was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre forward.

Career

Born in Glasgow and nicknamed 'Sandy', he joined Partick Thistle in 1923[2] from local Junior club Strathclyde, where he had become a prolific goalscorer. By that time he was 25 years of age, relatively old to join a senior club; however, many sources record his birth date as 9 March 1902, and contemporary documents also show a younger age than he truly was, suggesting the player himself may have been aware of this inaccuracy.[1] After loan spells in lower divisions at Queen of the South, Third Lanark, Alloa Athletic and Bo'ness[1] he established himself with the Jags, scoring 41 goals in 36 Scottish Football League appearances during the 1926–27 season[1][2] (however, Jimmy McGrory of Celtic scored 48 to claim the top scorer award – neither Partick nor Celtic challenged for the league title), plus another five goals in a Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup final victory against Rangers at the end of that campaign.[3][1]

Hair joined Preston North End for the 1928–29 season for a £2,200 transfer fee.[1] He scored 19 goals in his first season at Deepdale, but lost his first team place and was placed on the 'open to transfer' list, meaning a new club within Britain would have to pay Preston's desired fee of £1000.[1] After moving to Irish football where the regulation did not apply, in the 1930–31 season Hair set the record for most league goals scored by a Shelbourne player in one season with a tally of twenty-nine in just twenty-two matches.[4] This prolific scoring helped Shelbourne win their third League of Ireland title.

Hair returned to Britain to play for Colwyn Bay United of the Birmingham and District League,[1] and then served Worcester City as player-manager, Burton Town as a player and Shirley Town as manager.[1] He later worked as an engineer in Scotland, including at Sir William Arrol & Co.[1]

Honours

Partick Thistle

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup: 1926–27[1]

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Douglas Gorman (13 October 2019). "Goals wherever he went: The Alex Hair Story" (PDF). Scottish Sport History. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Rout of the Rangers in the Charity Cup Final, The Sunday Post, 15 May 1927 (via Partick Thistle History Archive)
  4. ^ Honours at shelbournefc.ie
  5. ^ "Ireland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
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