Alec Logan

Alexander Logan (1882 – 10 October 1918) was a Scottish footballer, who played for clubs including Hibernian, Aston Villa, Falkirk (two spells), Bristol City and Kilmarnock.

For the politician, see Alexander Logan.

Alec Logan
Personal information
Full name Alexander Logan
Date of birth 1882[1]
Place of birth Barrhead, Scotland
Date of death 10 October 1918(1918-10-10) (aged 35–36)
Place of death Cambrai, France
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
–1902 Barrhead Fereneze
1902–1906 Hibernian 2 (0)
1903 → Airdrieonians (loan)
1903–1905 → Arthurlie (loan) 34 (18)
1906–1907 Falkirk 25 (14)
1907–1909 Aston Villa 24 (11)
1909–1910 Falkirk 45 (22)
1910–1912 Bristol City 37 (9)
1912–1913 Kilmarnock 23 (6)
1913–1914 Partick Thistle
International career
1907–1910 Scottish League XI 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Born in Barrhead,[1] Logan began his senior career with local club Barrhead Fereneze before signing for Hibernian, one of the leading clubs in Scotland, in 1902.[2] He was a member of the squad which won the 1902–03 Scottish Division One championship title, although he only featured in two league matches[3][4] and had been loaned to Airdrieonians in January 1903 until the end of the campaign;[2] the Lanarkshire club won the lower division and gained promotion, but the extent of his involvement is uncertain.

He went out on loan again for the next two seasons to hometown club Arthurlie, also of the second tier.[2] He remained with Hibernian for 1905–06 but did not appear in any competitive fixtures for the Leith side and moved on permanently to Falkirk in summer 1906.[2][5] His form at the Brockville Park club took an immediate upturn (14 goals in 25 league matches)[2] which was such that he came into contention for international selection, and after less than a full season with the Bairns before he was signed by top English club Aston Villa, where his younger brother James[6] had already been playing in the defence for two years.[7][8]

Logan was involved for two-and-a-half seasons at Villa Park (the club finished runners-up in 1907–08) but despite a decent scoring record he was unable to secure a regular place in the team, and returned to Falkirk in the summer of 1909.[2] Once again, he performed well for the club and in 1909–10 they missed out on the Scottish League title by two points (meanwhile in England his former club Aston Villa and brother James did win the championship).

Falkirk then signed another younger Logan brother, Tommy,[6] although the siblings were teammates only for a matter of months before Alec's form again attracted the attention of English clubs, this time moving to Bristol City in December 1910.[2] The club suffered relegation from the top tier at the end of his first season, and midway through the second he transferred back to Scotland with Kilmarnock.[2] After a year in Ayrshire,[9][10] he again moved on during the winter, this time to Partick Thistle.[2]

International

Logan was never selected for the full Scotland team. He represented the Scottish Football League XI twice: a goalless draw against the English League at Ibrox Park in March 1907[11][lower-alpha 1] and a 3–1 win over the Irish League, in which he scored, in October 1910 at Belfast. The call-ups came during each of his brief but effective spells at Falkirk.[14]

Wartime and death

The outbreak of World War I ended Logan's professional football career aged 32. His military service included time with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders for whose regimental football team he was selected in November 1914.[15] He was serving with the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders when he died of wounds at No. 30 Casualty Clearing Station on 10 October 1918 during the Second Battle of Cambrai.[16][17]

Honours

Aston Villa

Falkirk

Notes
  1. Several sources[11][12][13] attribute the 1907 Scottish League appearance to Alec Logan's brother Tommy, but this is extremely unlikely as he was a teenager with no top level experience at the time of the fixture in question; by contrast, Alec was an established forward at Falkirk and it can be assumed that he was the player involved, with records of 'Logan, Falkirk' being linked to Tommy in error after he became a prominent member of the same team within a few years.

References
  1. "SurnameLOGAN ForenameALEXANDER GenderM Year1882 Ref572/2 269 RD NameBarrhead and Levern [Census search return]". ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. "Alexander Logan (Alex Logan or Alec Logan)". Play Up Liverpool. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  3. Alan Brown (21 October 2001). "Scotland 1902/03". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  4. "Hibernian player Alex Logan". FitbaStats. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  5. "Falkirk FC 1906/07". Falkirk Football Historian. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. "1891 LOGAN, JAMES (Census 572/2 10/ 35) Page 35 of 44 [Census return extract]". ScotlandsPeople. 1891. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  7. "Logan, Alec". Aston Villa Player Database. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  8. "Sport, Football, Aston Villa F,C, 1908-1909". Getty Images. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  9. "Kilmarnock player A. Logan". FitbaStats. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  10. "Kilmarnock player '? Logan' [comparison with other sources confirms this profile also relates to Alec Logan]". FitbaStats. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  11. "Scottish League player Thomas Logan". London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  12. "Scottish League vs English League 0-0". 2 March 1907. Retrieved 14 November 2018 – via Play Up Liverpool.
  13. "Died in bus: Passing of former noted Falkirk F.C. player". Falkirk Herald. 8 April 1944. Retrieved 14 November 2018 – via Falkirk Football Historian.
  14. "Scottish League player Alec Logan". London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  15. "Player Representative Honours". Partick Thistle History Archive. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  16. "1918 LOGAN, ALEXANDER (Statutory registers Deaths 114/AF 74) Death report extract]". ScotlandsPeople. 1918. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  17. "South & Levern Parish Church Barrhead". The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
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