Alexander Herd (8 November 1911 – 21 August 1982) was a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. Born in Bowhill,

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, he played as a forward for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

. Herd also represented Scotland in a wartime international match.

Early life

Herd was born in Bowhill, in Fife, Scotland in 1911. His football career began at Hamilton Academicals in the Scottish League. In 1933 he transferred to the English team

who were then in the first division.

Manchester City

When Herd signed for

, the team included

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Internationals

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, Jackie Bray,

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and

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and former

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

captain

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. His debut for City came in a 1–0 defeat to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. Herd scored his first goal for City in a 2–1 victory against

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. The outside right

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scored the other goal for City. In his first season for the Manchester team Herd played in 14 league matches and scored 7 goals. He was also part of the City team which was defeated 3–0 by Everton in the 1933 FA Cup Final. In his second season at the club, the 1933–34 season, Herd was City's top scorer with 17 goals. He was also part of the City team which beat

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

2–1 in the 1934 FA Cup Final with two goals from

. In the 1934–35 football season Herd scored 14 goals and City finished fourth in the league, ten points behind champions

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Herd was City's third top scorer that season behind

who scored 18 goals and

who scored 17 goals. In the following season, Herd was Manchester City's third top scorer with 10 goals, behind

who scored 13 and

who scored 11.

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an E ...

and

had left the City team in this season but

Sam Barkas Samuel Barkas (29 December 1909 – 10 December 1989) was an English football player and manager who played at left back for Bradford City and Manchester City. Career Born in Wardley Colliery, England, Barkas had worked in the pits and farm b ...

had been brought in from

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and Peter Doherty was bought from

. Doherty had an immediate impact on the team. Doherty scored two goals, Brook scored a hat trick and Herd and Toseland each scored one goal as City defeated Bolton Wanderers 7–0 in March of that season. Herd also scored a brace in a 6–0 victory against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. In the 1936–37 football season Herd was part of the first Manchester City side to win the League. The team went on an unbeaten run after Christmas, winning 14 times and drawing 6 games. The championship was won at Maine Road with a 4–1 victory over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. Herd was City's third highest scorer that season behind Peter Doherty who scored 30 goals and

who scored 20. In the 1937–38 football season Herd was part of the City team that were relegated from the first division despite scoring more goals than any other team. Herd was again City's third highest scorer that season with 12 goals. In the 1938–39 season he was City's top scorer with 20 goals. The team finished fourth in division two that season, six points behind winners

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. The second world war interrupted Herd's football career but he continued playing afterwards and scored 11 goals for City in both the 1945–46 and 1946–47 football seasons. His final season with the Manchester team was the 1947–48 football season. His last goal for the club came in a 3–0 victory against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. In 257 league games for City Herd had scored 107 goals. He also appeared in the 3 games in season 1939–40 expunged from the records.

Stockport County

In 1948 Herd joined

on a free transfer. In 111 appearances for Stockport he scored 35 goals. He also made history by playing alongside his son, David Herd, in a 2–0 win against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

on 5 May 1951, in the 1950–51 season of the

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

. He died in Scotland in 1982 at the age of 70.

International

Herd was one of three members of his family to gain recognition for their footballing skills at national level. He played for Scotland in one of the (unofficial) ''wartime international'' matches, a 5–4 win against

in April 1942. His elder brother

Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Sandy (surname), a list of people * Sandy (Iranian music band), Iranian singer, comp ...

, a left-half with Heart of Midlothian, played for Scotland in the 1930s and his son

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, the

striker, represented Scotland five times between 1959 and 1961.

Legacy

Herd is listed as one of Manchester City's fifty greatest players in Ian Penney's book ''The Essential History of Manchester City''. p188

References

External links

*
Alec Herd
at Spartacus Educational {{DEFAULTSORT:Herd, Alec 1911 births 1982 deaths Scottish men's footballers Hamilton Academical F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Scotland men's wartime international footballers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Men's association football inside forwards Footballers from Cardenden