Alex Forbes

Alex Forbes
Personnel
Surname	Alexander Rooney Forbes
birthday	January 21, 1925
place of birth	Dundee ,  Scotland
date of death	July 28, 2014
Place of death	Johannesburg ,  South Africa
position	Outrunner
Juniors
Years	station
	Dundee North End
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1944-1948	Sheffield United	61 0(6)
1948-1956	Arsenal FC	217 (20)
1956-1957	Leyton Orient	8 0(0)
1957-1958	Fulham FC	4 0(0)
1958–?	Gravesend & Northfleet
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1947-1952	Scotland	14 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Alexander Rooney "Alex" Forbes (born January 21, 1925 in Dundee , Scotland , † July 28, 2014 in Johannesburg , South Africa ) was a Scottish football player .

Private life

Forbes grew up in Dundee with his two younger brothers. He lost his parents during the Second World War and therefore had to take responsibility for his siblings. He worked at the port of Dundee and made a little extra income as a casual worker playing ice hockey games.

Before Forbes decided to pursue a professional football career, he was active as an ice hockey player for his hometown club Dundee Tigers and even made it to the Scottish national team.

Forbes had a son (Bobby) and daughter (Jen) with his wife Peggy and was a grandfather of two. He died of complications from prostate cancer.

Football career

As a player

Forbes began his football career in the youth of Dundee North End. He signed a contract with the English professional club Sheffield United in 1944 and became a regular player there when competitive sport was resumed after the end of World War II. Due to his good performance at Sheffield United, Forbes played in the circle of the Scottish national team and made his debut there on April 12, 1947 in a 1-1 draw against England.

Two years later he signed a contract with Arsenal . The Gunners paid £ 15,000 to Sheffield. He made his debut on March 6, 1948 against Wolverhampton Wanderers . "Red" - as he was called because of his red hair - who was known for his tough tackles, won an English championship title in the very first year. Forbes experienced the most successful phase of his football career at Arsenal, as he won the English championship title in addition to the FA Cup in 1950 and 1953.

After a knee operation , he could no longer build on old successful times, so he moved to Leyton Orient for one season and in 1957 ended his career at Fulham FC and the lower-class club Gravesend & Northfleet .

As a trainer

After Forbes ended his playing career, he was still a youth coach and coach of the Arsenal second team in London. After a few years as a coach, he emigrated to Johannesburg in South Africa in 1964, where he worked as a youth coach at a football boarding school and was chairman of the FC Arsenal fan club of South Africa. In 1975 he became manager of the Orlando Pirates football club and then trained a. a. Highlands Park FC (South Africa), Western Tigers FC (Guyana) and Maccabi Haifa (Israel). He was instrumental in making football in South Africa accessible to the citizens of South Africa who were excluded by apartheid by coaching gold miners and teams from townships , among other things .

successes

• 2 × English champions with Arsenal FC (1948, 1953)
• 1 × English cup winner with Arsenal FC (1950)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ barryhugmansfootballers.com: Profile - Alex Forbes , accessed June 25, 2020
2. ↑ ^{a b} Matthew Vallance: Alex "Red" Forbes. July 31, 2014, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Alex Forbes: Indomitable wing-half who starred in the potent league and cup-winning Arsenal teams of the 1950s. August 15, 2014, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
4. ↑ International match between England and Scotland. Weltfußball.com, July 31, 2014, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
5. ^ RIP - Alex Forbes 1925-2014. July 31, 2014, accessed October 21, 2019 .  (English)
6. ↑ ^{a b} Alex Forbes 1925-2014. arsenal.com, July 28, 2014, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Profile of Arsenal FC, London. Weltfußball.de, accessed on October 21, 2019 .