Way back in the dim and distant past Falkirk FC had a centre-forward by the name of Alex Ferguson, as centre-forward his job was to put the ball in the goal.
Those of you who have read this blog before will know that I could never write about the anybody from so modern an era as the 1970 - no, this is about the original Alex 'Sandy' Ferguson of the 1870s-1880s.
Like nearly everyone in the very early teams, Sandy was a Bairn and lived in Meeks Road, which must have been handy on a match day at Brockville. He was among the first scorers for the club I have ever found, scoring v Bathgate (A) on the 14th of June 1879 [along with Thomas Hamilton & Thomas Taylor] in a 3-1 victory.
His career is blighted by the same problem as everyone who played in this era, newspaper coverage was just so poor in comparison with today. But he scored more than any other in his period at Falkirk [then again he was CF]
After he retired he became the groundsman at Brockville Pk [again Meeks Rd would have helped], but then it gets a bit murky. The Falkirk Herald reported that he had moved to Colorado to live with his sister due to an 'ailment' then about a year later it reported he had died, in Falkirk. I don't know maybe both are true, maybe he went then came back. I just don't know.
Sandy Ferguson 1880
Alexander Ferguson
b 8th May 1859, Falkirk, Stirlingshire
d 1st December 1892, Falkirk, Stirlingshire
Debut – Saturday June 14th 1879 v Bathgate (A) Friendly
Positions – Centre-Forward, Inside-Left, Outside-Left
Representative Honours – Stirlingshire v Lanarkshire 1883/84
Club Honours – Stirlingshire Cup W 1883/84, Falkirk District Charity Cup RU 1885/86
Scottish Cup Matches /Goals [11/2]
Minor Cup Matches/Goals [11/7]
Other Matches/Goals [62/19]
Total Matches/Goals [84/28]
Hat-Tricks – 1 [Falkirk District Charity Cup [1]]
Known Career – Falkirk [1878/79-1885/86]
Notes-
Played for Falkirk District XI v Rangers, Benefit Match at Brockville Pk, Falkirk, 30th May 1885
Brother of William Ferguson [Falkirk 1879/80-1882/83, 1885/86]
Oh, and there was another Alex Ferguson who played in 1938/39.