| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rowan Samuel Alexander[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1961-01-28)28 January 1961 (age 64) | ||
| Place of birth | Ayr, Scotland | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1976–1978 | Annan Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1978–1983 | Queen of the South | 136 | (69) |
| 1983–1984 | St Mirren | 18 | (3) |
| 1984–1986 | Brentford | 47 | (6) |
| 1986–1995 | Greenock Morton | 310 | (98) |
| 1995–1998 | Queen of the South | 18 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | Gretna | 2 | (1) |
| Total | 531 | (179) | |
| International career | |||
| Scotland Semi-Pro | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1996–1999 | Queen of the South | ||
| 2000–2007 | Gretna | ||
| 2019–2021 | Gretna 2008 | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rowan Samuel Alexander (born 28 January 1961) is a Scottish formerfootball player andmanager.
Alexander was a prolific goal-scoring striker forQueen of the South andGreenock Morton. Alexander also played forSt Mirren,Brentford andGretna. Alexander later went into management with both the Queen of the South and Gretna.
After spending his youth career atAnnan Athletic, Alexander signed forDumfries clubQueen of the South at the start of the1978–79 season, where he remained for five years. Whilst atPalmerston Park, Alexander won promotion from the third to second tier of Scottish football at the end of the1980–81 season, as theDoonhamers finished runners-up to theSpiders in theSFL Second Division. Queens had players such asAllan Ball,Iain McChesney,Crawford Boyd andJimmy Robertson playing for the club at this time.[2][3]Ted McMinn, who later joined Alexander at Queens described him as being one of the best players he had the pleasure to play with at the Dumfries club.[4][5]
After Alexander departed from the Doonhamers he returned to make guest appearances in:-
In his first spell at theDoonhamers, Alexander played in 136 league matches and scored 69 goals.
Alexander then played forPaisley clubSt Mirren atLove Street for the1983–84 season and played in 18 league matches and scored three goals.
Alexander then moved to England at the start of the1984–85 season to play forGreater London clubBrentford where he remained for two years. Alexander played in 47 league matches and scored 6 goals.
Alexander then returned to Scotland to play for theBuddiesRenfrewshire rivalsGreenock Morton at the start of the1986–87 season. Alexander played atCappielow for nine years, where he played in 310 league matches and scored 98 goals. Alexander is currently 7th in the club's post-World War II league appearances list and is also the third highest post-WW2 league goalscorer. Alexander is five goals and one place ahead of formerDoonhamer,Peter Weatherson, although he trails Weatherson by 13 appearances and one place.
Alexander also won caps for theScotland Semi-Pro team when playing for theGreenock club.[6] Throughout his nine years with Morton, Alexander commuted from his home in Dumfries, combining his part-time football career with primaryemployment, including as apig farmer and insurance salesman.[7]
After leaving Morton in the summer of 1995, Alexander returned to theDoonhamers and soon after was appointed jointplayer-manager alongsideMark Shanks. WithQueens newly appointed chairmanNorman Blount getting the wheels moving on the club's revival, Alexander and Shanks reached the1997–98 Scottish Challenge Cup Final with theDoonhamers, where they lost 1–0 toFalkirk who were playing in the tier aboveQueens. Alexander remained at the club until his sacking in January 1999, having played in 18 league matches and scored two goals during his second spell in Dumfries. Alexander is 14th highest in Queens all-time goalscoring charts with 78 goals, one behindIain McChesney. He finished the 1998–99 season playing forCumnock Juniors.
Alexander was then appointed asMike McCartney's replacement as player-manager ofGretna in November 2000, with theAnvils playing in non-league football in England. Alexander remained in-charge following the club's election into theScottish Football League. Alexander played in two league matches and scored one goal during the2002–03 season.
Following Gretna's take over by multi-millionaireBrooks Mileson, Alexander steered the club to theScottish Third Division title in the2004–05 season with a record-breaking total of 98 points. Success continued the following season as the club clinched promotion to theScottish First Division and earned a place in theUEFA Cup after reaching the2006 Scottish Cup Final, where they were eventually beaten 4–2 on penalties byHeart of Midlothian after the match ended 1-1 afterextra-time. Rowan famously wore a traditional kilt in the colours of Gretna for the final.
Following Gretna's success in the2005–06 season, Alexander signed a new five-year contract with the club and stated his intention to remain with theAnvils for the remainder of his career. Alexander was then replaced towards the end of the2006–07 season by his assistant,Davie Irons. Alexander turned up for Gretna's first league match in the top tier of Scottish footballFir Park, the home ofMotherwell on 4 August 2007 and was then refused entry to the main stand.[8] On 6 November 2007, Alexander was officially sacked by theAnvils and this was announced to the media.[9]
Alexander's sacking and the subsequent liquidation of theAnvils meant that Alexander was unable to receive compensation on his five-year contract. In February 2009, Alexander claimed that he was in financial difficulties as a result of this decision and was unable to obtain another job in Scottish football.[1]
In January 2010, Alexander was appointed assistant manager ofScottish Junior clubGlenafton Athletic inNew Cumnock and stayed at the club until August 2010. He works as a visiting football coach to primary schools based in Cumbria and the Borders.
After a long absence from coaching, Alexander returned to theAnvils, becoming manager of Gretna F.C.'s phoenix club,Gretna F.C. 2008, in December 2019.[10]
Alexander was relieved of his duties on 2 September 2021.[11]
During nine years at Morton, he never moved north, preferring to commute to Greenock, despite the fact he continued to mix football with full-time jobs ranging from pig-farmer to insurance salesman.
