Alex Elder

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Alex Elder
Personal information
Full name Alexander Russell Elder
Date of birth (1941-04-25) 25 April 1941 (age 83)
Place of birth Lisburn, Northern Ireland
Height 5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (1.79 m)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1956–1959 Glentoran 11 (0)
1959–1967 Burnley 271 (15)
1967–1973 Stoke City 83 (1)
1973–1975 Leek Town
Total 365 (16)
International career
1960–1969 Northern Ireland 40 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alexander Russell Elder (born 25 April 1941) is a Northern Irish former footballer who played for Burnley and Stoke City as well as the Northern Ireland national team.[1][2]

He was said to play a very mature game for someone with so little experience of top-class football. Although not quick on the turn, he timed his tackles well and invariably made good use of the ball.[3]

Career

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Burnley

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Elder was the very last piece in Harry Potts Championship jigsaw, signing aged 17 in January 1959 for £5,000 from Irish League club Glentoran.[4] He spent the remainder of the 1958–59 season in the Burnley reserves, remaining there when the 1959–60 season began. By the eighth game of that season he made his first team debut against Preston and the great Tom Finney. Despite a 1–0 defeat Elder played well enough to retain his place and played in all but one of the remaining games that season.[4] The 1959–60 season brought Burnley its second, and to date last, league championship. After a tense run-in with Wolves and Spurs, the other main title contenders, Burnley clinched the championship at Maine Road with a 2–1 victory on 2 May 1960. Elder admitted that he was fortunate as a young player to come into a side that included so many great players – including Jimmy Adamson and Jimmy McIlroy.[5] Elder played in Burnley's European Cup campaign the following season and then in the FA Cup Final Wembley side of 1962. He forged a formidable full back partnership with John Angus[4] and the two were only separated when Elder broke an ankle in pre-season training in 1963. In July 1965, Elder succeeded Brian Miller as club captain.[4] Elder was just 26 when in August 1967 Burnley accepted £50,000 from Stoke City after making 330 appearances for the "Clarets" scoring 17 goals. While he was reluctant to leave, he admitted that his face did not fit in with the new coach, former teammate Jimmy Adamson.[5] As a young Burnley player Elder was featured on the 'Look at Life' documentary series in the episode called 'The Ball at His Feet'. The programme covered the activities of apprentice footballers.[6]

Stoke City

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Elder made an unfortunate start to his Stoke career as in pre-season training for 1967–68 it took him until the end of October to make his debut and failed to reach the heights he set at Turf Moor and is considered to be one of Tony Waddington's worst signings.[2] He played 44 games in 1968–69 and over the next four seasons he made 27 appearances and was released by the club after playing exactly 100 matches.[2]

International career

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In April 1960 Elder made his international debut for Northern Ireland in a Home International Championship game in Wrexham against Wales. He won 34 caps while at Burnley and a further six after he transferred to Stoke. He also represented Northern Ireland at B, Under 23 and Schooboy level.[7]

Career statistics

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Club

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Source:[8]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Burnley 1959–60 First Division 34 0 8 0 0 0 — 42 0
1960–61 First Division 36 0 7 0 5 0 5[a] 0 42 0
1961–62 First Division 41 0 8 1 0 0 — 49 1
1962–63 First Division 41 1 3 1 0 0 — 44 1
1963–64 First Division 19 1 5 0 0 0 — 24 1
1964–65 First Division 34 4 5 0 0 0 — 39 4
1965–66 First Division 39 6 3 0 4 0 — 46 6
1966–67 First Division 27 3 0 0 6 0 — 33 3
Total 271 15 39 2 15 0 5 0 330 17
Stoke City 1967–68 First Division 24 0 2 0 3 0 — 29 0
1968–69 First Division 38 1 4 0 2 0 — 44 1
1969–70 First Division 9 0 0 0 1 0 — 10 0
1970–71 First Division 5 0 3 0 0 0 1[b] 0 9 0
1971–72 First Division 6 0 2 0 0 0 3[b] 0 11 0
1972–73 First Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 83 1 11 0 6 0 4 0 104 1
Career total 354 16 50 2 21 0 9 0 434 18
  1. ^ One appearances FA Charity Shield and four in European Cup
  2. ^ a b Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup

International

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Source:[9]

National team Year Apps Goals
Northern Ireland 1960 4 0
1961 6 0
1962 4 0
1963 2 0
1964 6 0
1965 7 0
1966 4 1
1967 2 0
1968 1 0
1969 4 0
Total 40 1

Honours

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Burnley

References

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  1. ^ Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.
  2. ^ a b c Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  3. ^ "1960s Burnley FC". Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d Tony Scholes (10 March 2010). "Alex Elder: Burnley career stats and player profile". claretsmad.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Elder interview". Archived from the original on 20 October 2009.
  6. ^ Shown on Talking Pictures TV at 04:40 on 6 September 2022
  7. ^ NI greats
  8. ^ Alex Elder at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  9. ^ Elder, Alex at National-Football-Teams.com
  10. ^ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 490. ISBN 0354 09018 6.
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