A long way from Cowie

Alex Smith was a keen footballer from a young age and captained his school team – Cowie Junior Secondary School.

He also turned out for his local boys’brigade side, Dollar U21s and Gowanhill United where he played with close friend and former Scotland captain Billy Bremner.

He joined Stenhousemuir in the late 1950s and played there for three seasons before joining the Binos in 1962.

The forward later turned out for East Stirlingshire and Albion Rovers before finishing his playing career with Stenny in 1969 and becoming their manager.

After five seasons there he was contacted by the legendary Bob Shankly, older brother of former Liverpool manager Bill, and asked if he wanted to join the Binos.

During this 12 years as boss at Annfield he built a successful team and won promotion to the First Division where they remained before being relegated in 1981.

Gaining a reputation as one of the country’s finest coaches, he moved to manage St Mirren where he won the Scottish Cup in 1987 before joining Aberdeen where he co-managed with Jocky Scott.

They won a Scottish Cup and League Cup double in 1990 end endured heartbreak the following season when they lost the league to Rangers on the last day of the season.

He later coached Clyde, Dundee United and Ross County and has been at Falkirk FC for the last three years.

In addition to a successful career in club football, Alex has also been involved with the national team at various age groups.

He coached the Under 21s for a period and took charge of a Scotland-B side for one match nine years ago.

Spells working with youth teams – the U17s, U18s and U19s – saw Alex work with young players such as Paul Lambert, Scott Booth and Eoin Jess.

Alex also helped Sir Alex Ferguson during the 1986 Mexico World Cup and joined the national team at a number of other major tournaments before we stopped qualifying 18 years ago.