Jock Wallace recruited Alan for tartan squad
Leicester City have been in preparing for the new season by using a training camp at Evian in France.
Perhaps it’s a sign of the times that Brendan Rodgers doesn’t have a single Scot in his squad.
The Foxes are a club with a long tradition of recruiting players from north of the border.
Their successful side of the 1960s contained men like Frank Mclintock, David Gibson, John Sjoberg, Bobby Roberts and Ian King.
When Leicester found themselves outside the top flight in 1978, they turned to a formidable Scottish boss to turn things round.
Jock Wallace was lured from Rangers to take over at Filbert Street.
And within a year, he’d signed no fewer than a dozen Scots.
Among the players reporting for pre- season training 40 years ago was winger Alan Lee. There were no fancy trips abroad. Wallace was famous for running the Rangers players through Gullane sand dunes and found a venue for gruelling sessions at Wanlip quarry.
Alan took an unusual route to follow his old manager from Ibrox to England.
His journey in life after football hasn’t been run-of-the-mill either.
The records show he was born in 1960 at an RAF base in West Germany, but his family returned to Scotland when he was only two years old.
He recalled: “I’d been at Rangers since I was 14, but it was clear I wasn’t going to make a quick breakthrough because Davie Cooper was playing in my position.
“I went to play in America with Philadelphia Fury when I was still 17.
“For a young guy from East Kilbride, it was a bit of a culture shock. We got a flat, a free car and the chance to travel all over the USA.
“The term legend is overused in football, but I was in a squad that included Alan Ball, Peter Osgood and Johnny Giles.
“The NASL was full of real superstars from other countries, like Beckenbauer and Cruyff.
“Just walking past these players at matches was a slightly surreal experience.
“I was supposed to be going back to Rangers, but that changed when Jock Wallace resigned and took over at Leicester.
“He set about getting rid of English players and signing lads from Scotland. “Within a year, there were 12 of us. “Being part of this Scottish colony certainly made it easy to settle at the club.
“There were a lot of lasting friendships made during the two years I spent there.”
By the summer of 1979, Wallace had taken Alan and Martin Henderson from Rangers, along with Gregor Stevens of Motherwell and Bobby Smith from Hibs.
Other young Scots to join were Andy and Paul Geddes, Ian Wilson, Frank Cole, Steve Hamilton, Pat Mcshane and John Stalker.
And Kirkcaldy- born Alan Young was bought for £150,000 from Oldham.
Alan made his first- team debut against Fulham at Craven Cottage, with Gary Lineker as his striking partner.
A game against Sheffield United saw City field the youngest team in their history.
Alan said: “Jock Wallace was a great man. Everyone respected him, even if they didn’t always agree with the tactics.
“Gary Lineker was a nice lad and went on to exceed everyone’s expectations as a player.
“Jock stabilised the club during my first season, and then we won promotion back to the First Division.”
That was the end of Alan’s football career. He explained: “I trained with Kidderminster Harriers, but didn’t sign for them.
“I went to university and then became an osteopath.
“I’d had lots of injuries during my time in football, so it was something I was interested in. “I also studied neurology.
“These days I still work as an osteopath, and also have a clinic in Glasgow which deals with the brain and conditions like Alzheimer’s.”