Alec Cheyne

Alec Cheyne

Personal information
Full name	Alexander George Cheyne
Date of birth	28 April 1907
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death	5 July 1983 (aged 76)
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
	Shettleston Juniors
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1925–1930	Aberdeen	127	(48)
1930–1932	Chelsea	60	(11)
1932–1934	Nîmes
1934–1936	Chelsea	9	(2)
1937–1939	Colchester United	64	(35)
National team
1929–1930	Scotland	5	(4)
1929	Scottish League XI[1]	1	(0)
Teams managed
1949–1955	Arbroath
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Alexander George 'Alec' 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.^[2]

Career

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.^[3] He joined David Calderhead's Chelsea in 1930 for a club record fee of £6000 but, despite playing alongside other talented forwards such as Hughie Gallacher and Alex Jackson,^[4] he struggled to settle and joined French club Nîmes Olympique in 1932. He returned to Chelsea two years later, finally leaving in 1936. Upon retiring Cheyne moved into coaching, initially with Chelmsford City before becoming manager of Arbroath, though without success.

Cheyne won five caps for the Scottish 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.^[2]

Honours

Club

Colchester United^[5][6]

• Southern Football League Winner (1): 1938–39
• Southern Football League Cup Winner (1): 1937–38

References

1. http://www.londonhearts.com/SFL/players/aleccheyne.html
2. 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.
3. Smith, Paul (2007). The Legends of Aberdeen. Breedon Books. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-85983-575-3.
4. Hughie Gallacher profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website
5. "Southern League Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
6. "Southern League Cup Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk.

External links

• Alec Cheyne at Coludata.co.uk