Alec Cheyne
Personal information
Full name Alexander George Cheyne
Date of birth (1907-04-28)28 April 1907
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death 5 July 1983(1983-07-05) (aged 76)
Place of death Arbroath, Scotland
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Shettleston Juniors
1925–1930 Aberdeen 126 (49)
1930–1932 Chelsea 53 (10)
1932–1934 Nîmes ?? (??)
1934–1936 Chelsea 9 (2)
1937–1939 Colchester United 64 (35)
Total 252+ (96+)
International career
1929–1930 Scotland 5 (4)
1929 Scottish League XI[2] 1 (0)
Managerial career
1949–1955 Arbroath
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alexander George Cheyne (28 April 1907 – 5 July 1983) was a Scottish footballer who played as an inside forward. He is reputed to have been responsible for the Hampden Roar following his goal in the 'Cheyne International' of 1929.[3]

Playing career

Aberdeen

Cheyne began as a professional for Aberdeen, signing in 1925 from Shettleston Juniors. During his time at Pittodrie he became an idol of the locals, and his goals helped improve the team from regular mid-table finishes to third place in his final season.[4][1]

Chelsea and Nimes

Cheyne joined David Calderhead's Chelsea in 1930 for a club record fee of £6,000 but, despite playing alongside other talented forwards such as Hughie Gallacher and Alex Jackson,[5] he struggled to settle.

He joined French club Nîmes Olympique in 1932. He returned to Chelsea two years later, finally leaving in 1936.[6]

International

Cheyne won five caps for the Scotland national team, scoring four goals, including a hat-trick against Norway and a goal direct from a corner – a feat which was only legalised the season before – against England. This last is credited with starting the 'Hampden Roar': as Scotland were playing with only ten players and there was less than a minute remaining of the game, the crowd of over 110,000 took up a roar of encouragement, which continued until well after the final whistle and subsequently became a common sound at Scotland home games. Cheyne is reported to have made scoring from corners something of a speciality, having performed the feat twice more for his club side the following season.[3]

Coaching and managerial career

Upon retiring Cheyne moved into coaching, initially with Chelmsford City winning trophies in the Southern Football League. He then became manager of Arbroath, though without success.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[7][8][9]
Club Season League National Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Aberdeen 1925–26 Scottish Division One 3 0 0 0 - - 3 0
1926–27 23 7 2 1 - - 25 8
1927–28 31 9 1 0 - - 32 9
1928–29 35 18 4 2 - - 39 20
1929–30 34 15 4 4 - - 38 19
Total 126 49 11 7 - - 137 56
Chelsea 1930–31 First Division 34 9 5 1 - - 39 10
1931–32 19 1 2 0 - - 21 1
Total 53 10 7 1 - - 60 11
Nîmes Olympique 1932–33 Ligue 1 - - - - - - - -
1933–34 - - - - - - - -
Total - - - - - - - -
Chelsea 1934–35 First Division 3 1 0 0 - - 3 1
1935–36 6 1 0 0 - - 6 1
1936–37 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0
Total 9 2 0 0 - - 9 2
Colchester United 1937–38 Southern Football League 32 19 - - 22 16 54 35
1938–39 29 14 2 0 9 7 40 21
1939–40 3 2 - - - - 3 2
Total 64 35 2 0 31 23 97 58
Career total 252+ 96+ 20+ 8+ 31+ 23+ 303+ 127+

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland 1929 4 4
1930 1 0
Total 5 4

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cheyne goal[10]

List of international goals scored by Alec Cheyne
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 13 April 1929 Hampden Park, Glasgow England 1–0 1–0 1928–29 British Home Championship
2 26 May 1929 Brann Stadion, Bergen Norway 3–1 7–3 Friendly
3 6–2
4 7–2

Managerial record

[11]

Team From To Record
P W L D Win %
Arbroath 1949 1955 255 58 120 47 25.78%
Total 255 58 120 47 25.78%

Honours

Colchester United[12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Alec Cheyne, AFC Heritage Trust
  2. ^ (SFL player) A;ec Cheyne, London Hearts Supporters Club
  3. ^ a b Webster, Jack (2003). The First 100 Years of The Dons: the official history of Aberdeen Football Club 1903–2003. Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-340-82344-5.
  4. ^ Smith, Paul (2007). The Legends of Aberdeen. Breedon Books. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-85983-575-3.
  5. ^ Hughie Gallacher profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website Archived 26 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Chelsea FC Player Profile: Alec Cheyne, Stamford-Bridge.com
  7. ^ "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Alec Cheyne Player Profile on Stamford-Bridge.com". stamford-bridge.com. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Alec Cheyne - Players - Colchester United". www.coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  10. ^ Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (8 January 2023). "Scotland - International Matches 1921-1930". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Arbroath Manager Alex Cheyne Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Southern League Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Southern League Cup Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

External links

Arbroath F.C. – managers
Categories