Alex Mathie

Alexander Mathie (born 20 December 1968) is a Scottish former footballer and manager, who made over 200 appearances as a striker in a career that lasted from 1987 until 2007.

Alex Mathie
Personal information
Full name Alexander Mathie[1]
Date of birth (1968-12-20) 20 December 1968[1]
Place of birth Bathgate, Scotland[1]
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position(s) Forward
Youth career
1981–1987 Celtic Boys Club
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1991 Celtic 11 (0)
1991–1993 Greenock Morton 74 (31)
1993 → Port Vale (loan) 3 (0)
1993–1995 Newcastle United 25 (4)
1995–1998 Ipswich Town 109 (38)
1998–2000 Dundee United 38 (5)
1999 → Preston North End (loan) 12 (2)
2000–2003 York City 52 (3)
2003 Spennymoor
2003 Pickering Town
2003–2004 West Auckland Town
2004–2007 Pickering Town
Total 324 (83)
Teams managed
2003 Spennymoor United
2003–2004 West Auckland Town
2004–2007 Pickering Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He notably played for English Premier League clubs Newcastle United and Ipswich Town, and in the Scottish Premier League for Celtic and Dundee United. During his career he also played for Greenock Morton and Preston North End before finishing his professional career with York City. He became player-manager of Spennymoor United in 2003 but this job lasted only a few months, before he briefly returned to playing with non-league Pickering Town and then took over as player-manager of West Auckland Town. In 2004, he took the vacant managerial position at former club Pickering, and remained in this position until 2007.

Club career

Celtic

Mathie graduated from Celtic Boys Club to turn professional with Celtic in May 1987. He made his first-team debut in a 2–1 home defeat to Motherwell on 11 February 1989.[2] He made eleven appearances in the Premier Division in four seasons at Celtic Park.[2] Under the stewardship of Billy McNeill, the "Bhoys" won the league title in 1987–88, before falling behind Old Firm rivals Rangers in 1988–89, 1989–90, and 1990–91.

Greenock Morton

Mathie joined Allan McGraw's Greenock Morton in the First Division in August 1991 in a £100,000 deal. He scored 23 goals in 1991–92 and 21 goals in 1992–93, to become the club's top-scorer for two consecutive seasons. He also played in the 1992 final of the Scottish Challenge Cup at Love Street, which ended in a 3–2 defeat to Hamilton Academical. He scored a hat-trick against Clydebank on 4 August 1992, and another hat-trick in a Scottish Challenge Cup match against Forfar Athletic on 29 September.[3] He went on to have a short loan spell with Port Vale of the English Football League's Second Division.[1] He made three appearances in April 1993, all of them as a substitute, and did not feature as John Rudge's "Valiants" went on to win promotion out of the play-offs.[1]

Newcastle United

In July 1993, Mathie moved from Cappielow to Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United in a deal worth £250,000.[4] He scored a "world class" goal on his debut in a 4–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday at St James' Park on 13 September.[5] Unable to dislodge Peter Beardsley and Andrew Cole from the starting line-up,[5] he went on to make a further 15 Premier League appearances in 1993–94, all from the bench, and scored in wins over Coventry City and West Ham United. He started just four games in 1994–95, and scored another goal against West Ham, before he was sold on to George Burley's Ipswich Town in February 1995 for £500,000.[4]

Ipswich Town

He scored a hat-trick against Sunderland on his Ipswich debut.[4] The "Blues" went on to be relegated out of the top-flight in 1994–95. Mathie played in the club's famous 9–0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford on 4 March 1995.[6] He scored 19 goals in 1995–96 to become the club's joint top-scorer (with Ian Marshall). His 18 First Division goals also made him the division's sixth highest scorer. This tally included a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Sunderland at Portman Road on 2 September. He hit nine goals in 17 appearances in 1996–97, but did not feature after picking up an injury in October. Mathie scored 16 goals in 45 games in the 1997–98 season, and hit a hat-trick in a 5–0 win over rivals Norwich City on 21 February.[7] The "Tractor Boys" reached the play-offs, but were beaten over two legs by Charlton Athletic. Mathie scored twice in the opening ten games of the 1998–99 season, before he was sold on to Paul Sturrock's Dundee United for around £700,000 in October 1998.

Dundee United

He replaced the outgoing Robbie Winters, who had moved on to Aberdeen for around the same fee (plus Billy Dodds) a few weeks previously. Mathie scored just two goals in 28 games in the 1998–99 season, and ended the season on the transfer list.[8] He was loaned out to Preston North End for the early part of the 1999–2000 season. He scored four goals in 18 league and cup games during a three-month stay at Deepdale. Manager David Moyes went on to lead the "Lillywhites" to the Second Division title at the end of the campaign.

After returning to Dundee United, Mathie scored his first goal and only at Tannadice Park on 30 January 2000, in a 4–1 defeat of Airdrieonians in the Scottish Cup. As United's No. 9 he hit the net a total of four times in seventeen games that season, though this still left him fifth in the club's scoring charts. He played four games of the 2000–01 season; a 2–1 defeat to Celtic,[9] 3–0 loss at Hibernian,[10] 1–1 draw with Motherwell[11] and 2–1 defeat by St Johnstone.[12] He left the SPL in September 2000 after being released by new boss Alex Smith.[13] Chairman Jim McLean later said that Mathie was "a complete disaster... a dreadful buy".[14] Mathie in turn said that McLean's resignation "could be the best thing ever to happen to United", and that captain Jason de Vos could not be trusted, and also bemoaned the influx of foreign players at Tannadice.[15]

Later career

Mathie joined Terry Dolan's York City on a free transfer in the English Third Division in September 2000.[16] He scored twice in 24 appearances in 2000–01, and scored twice in 26 appearances in 2001–02. He featured ten times in 2002–03, without finding the net, and left both Bootham Crescent when his contract was cancelled in March 2003.[4]

International career

Mathie was a squad member for Scotland at the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship. However, he remained on the bench for Scotland's four games of the tournament.

Managerial career

In 2003, he spent time as Northern Premier League side Spennymoor United's player-manager, before moving on to Northern League club West Auckland Town. In 2004, he became player-manager of Northern League side Pickering Town, before resigning in January 2007.

Personal life

In July 2008, Mathie began working for BBC Radio Suffolk to provide match commentary and analysis for former side Ipswich, joining former players such as Bryan Hamilton and John Wark.[17] Mathie has also played football for charity in his retirement.[18][19] He later worked for Royal Mail, as a delivery office manager in the York and Leeds area.[20]

Career statistics

Source:[21][22][2][23]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season Division League National Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Celtic 1987–88 Scottish Premier Division 0000000000
1988–89 Scottish Premier Division 1000000010
1989–90 Scottish Premier Division 6010000070
1990–91 Scottish Premier Division 4000000040
Total 110100000120
Greenock Morton 1991–92 Scottish First Division 42184310224923
1992–93 Scottish First Division 32131011573921
Total 74315321798844
Port Vale (loan) 1992–93 Second Division 3000000030
Newcastle United 1993–94 Premier League 1630010—170
1994–95 Premier League 91003000121
Total 254004000294
Ipswich Town 1994–95 Premier League 1320000—132
1995–96 First Division 391820104[lower-alpha 1]14619
1996–97 First Division 124005500179
1997–98 First Division 371320522[lower-alpha 2]04615
1998–99 First Division 81002100102
Total 10938401386114248
Dundee United 1998–99 Scottish Premier League 2226000—282
1999–2000 Scottish Premier League 1233120—174
2000–01 Scottish Premier League 400010—50
Total 385913000506
Preston North End (loan) 1999–2000 Second Division 12230221[lower-alpha 3]0184
York City 2000–01 Third Division 19141001[lower-alpha 3]0242
2001–02 Third Division 23220001[lower-alpha 3]0262
2002–03 Third Division 100000000100
Total 523610020604
Career total 324832852411161039299
  1. Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup
  2. Appearances in First Division Play-offs
  3. Appearance in Football League Trophy

Honours
Greenock Morton
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gollark: Macron uses infinite cyclic reference counting.
gollark: Oh, one of the times that comes up it is asking about the universe Int Act, which restricts its floating point throughout. You should have turned it off.

References
  1. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 186. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. "Celtic Player Alex Mathie Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. "Morton Hattrick List". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. Scott, Kenneth H. "Player Details | Alexander Mathie | toon1892". toon1892.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  5. "Alex is in Toon with Magpies". Evening Chronicle. 23 November 2003. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  6. "MANCHESTER UNITED (3) 9 – 0 (0) IPSWICH TOWN". tmwmtt.com. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  7. "Mathie tips Ipswich for derby win". BBC Sport. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  8. Orr, Ian (21 May 1999). "Football: MISFIT MATHIE GETS THE BOOT; United cut losses on pounds mstriker". Daily Record. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  9. "Celtic new boys off to winning start". BBC Sport. 30 July 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  10. "Three and easy for Hibs". BBC Sport. 5 August 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  11. "United and 'Well share the spoils". BBC Sport. 12 August 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  12. "Saints hold on for Tannadice win". BBC Sport. 19 August 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  13. "Mathie is released by United". BBC Sport. 25 September 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  14. McLean, Jim (26 April 2002). "My biggest mistake as chairman was not interfering enough". Daily Record. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  15. Mcarthur, Euan (20 October 2000). "TRAITOR DE VOS SHOULD FOLLOW McLEAN OUT OF UNITED; Mathie claims 'cliping' skipper isn't trusted by his team-mates". Daily Record. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  16. "Mathie joins Minstermen". BBC Sport. 27 September 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  17. "Ipswich Town's famous five take to the airwaves". BBC. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  18. "Jim: Lisbie is Natural Born Goalscorer". ClubFanzine.com. 19 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  19. Footballers to join forces to help William Rhodes, The Press, 2 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  20. "Alex Mathie". Premier League Archive. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  21. Alex Mathie at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  22. Alex Mathie at Soccerbase
  23. "Morton Player Alex Mathie Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
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