Alexander McLaren (25 December 1910 – 5 February 1960) was a Scottish

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 ...

, who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. Born in

Tibbermore Tibbermore is a small village situated about west of Perth, Scotland. Its parish extends to Aberuthven; however, the church building is now only used occasionally for weddings and funerals. Previously known as Tippermuir, it was the site o ...

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nor ...

, McLaren played club football for

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km so ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He earned five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

in 1929 and 1932, and remains St Johnstone's most capped player for Scotland, as well as the joint-first to debut (

Willie Imrie William Noble Imrie (4 March 1908 – 26 December 1944) was a Scottish footballer who played as a right half. Career Born in Methil, Imrie played club football for St Johnstone, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United, Swansea Town and Swindon Tow ...

played in the same match – they were the only serving players from the club to be selected until Murray Davidson in 2012). McLaren was one of only four 18-year-olds to play for Scotland during the 20th century, the others being

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

Paul McStay Paul Michael Lyons McStay, , nicknamed The Maestro, (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer who spent his entire career with Celtic, making his senior debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained both Scotland an ...

and

Willie Henderson William Henderson (born 24 January 1944) is a Scottish retired footballer. He played most of his career for Rangers, and spent the latter part of his career with Sheffield Wednesday, in Hong Kong with Hong Kong Rangers and with Airdrieonians. ...

. He remains the youngest

to play for Scotland, as he made his debut aged 18 years and 152 days.Sun 26 May 1929 Norway 3 Scotland 7
London Hearts Supporters Club

References

;Sources * *

External links

*
FilbertStreet.net profile
1910 births 1960 deaths Footballers from Perth and Kinross Scottish footballers Association football goalkeepers Scotland international footballers St Johnstone F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) wartime guest players Greenock Morton F.C. wartime guest players St Johnstone F.C. wartime guest players Scottish Football League players English Football League players {{Scotland-footy-goalkeeper-stub