Journalist who led his football club invincibles
EMBARKING on a journey then ending up where you started 50 years later doesn’t sound like an extraordinary life. But my cousin Alex Main loved every minute of it.
Early on, he lost his parents Flora and George. But it gave him the determination to succeed and he became one of the most respected journalists in Scotland.
Alex was an old-school newspaper man. He never lost sight of what he believed was his role – to inform and educate. Most of all, he was a perfectionist, using the shorthand he learned in the RAF.
Alex was born on May 3, 1932, in Inverness. He played for Highland League rivals Clachnacuddin and Caledonian but his football career was cut short in the 1950s by a knee injury. By this time, he had married Isabella, or Ella as she prefers, and had moved into journalism. He began, as a teenager, as a junior reporter with the Inverness Courier. It was the perfect foundation, so it was no surprise the Press and Journal recruited him before the Daily Mail came calling in the 60s.
He spent many years as the eyes and ears of the paper in the Highlands before moving to the Daily Express. His penultimate job was on The Scotsman, then it was back to where he started, the Courier.
When he retired in 1997, leading politicians attended a tribute dinner. Alex’s thank-you speech was a long one – he didn’t do short!
His sons Alan and Richard carved out careers in the IT and hotel industries and he was immensely proud of his grandchildren Nicholas and Leah and his daughters-inlaw Lorraine and Kerry.
Away from work, his passion was golf and football, becoming manager of Caley. He led them to many trophies and notably an unbeaten season in 1982-83, earning him the congratulations of Sir Alex Ferguson, then Aberdeen manager.
Alex MAin, born May 3, 1932, died September 10, 2018, aged 86.