Alec Cheyne

Alexander George Cheyne (28 April 1907 – 5 July 1983) was a Scottish footballer who played as an inside forward. He is reputed to have been responsible for the Hampden Roar following his goal in the 'Cheyne International' of 1929.^[3]

Alec Cheyne

Personal information
Full name	Alexander George Cheyne
Date of birth	(1907-04-28)28 April 1907
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death	5 July 1983(1983-07-05) (aged 76)
Place of death	Arbroath, Scotland
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s)	Inside forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
–	Shettleston Juniors
1925–1930	Aberdeen	126	(49)
1930–1932	Chelsea	53	(10)
1932–1934	Nîmes	??	(??)
1934–1936	Chelsea	9	(2)
1937–1939	Colchester United	64	(35)
Total		252+	(96+)
International career
1929–1930	Scotland	5	(4)
1929	Scottish League XI[2]	1	(0)
Managerial career
1949–1955	Arbroath
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Aberdeen

Cheyne began as a professional for Aberdeen, signing in 1925 from Shettleston Juniors. During his time at Pittodrie he became an idol of the locals, and his goals helped improve the team from regular mid-table finishes to third place in his final season.^[4][1]

Chelsea and Nîmes

Cheyne joined David Calderhead's Chelsea in 1930 for a club record fee of £6,000 but, despite playing alongside other talented forwards such as Hughie Gallacher and Alex Jackson,^[5] he struggled to settle.

He joined French club Nîmes Olympique in 1932. He returned to Chelsea two years later, finally leaving in 1936.^[6]

International

Cheyne won five caps for the Scotland national team, scoring four goals, including a hat-trick against Norway and a goal direct from a corner – a feat which was only legalised the season before – against England. This last is credited with starting the 'Hampden Roar': as Scotland were playing with only ten players and there was less than a minute remaining of the game, the crowd of over 110,000 took up a roar of encouragement, which continued until well after the final whistle and subsequently became a common sound at Scotland home games. Cheyne is reported to have made scoring from corners something of a speciality, having performed the feat twice more for his club side the following season.^[3]

Coaching and managerial career

Upon retiring Cheyne moved into coaching, initially with Chelmsford City winning trophies in the Southern Football League. He then became manager of Arbroath, though without success.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[7][8][9]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aberdeen	1925–26	Scottish Division One	3	0	0	0	-	-	3	0
	1926–27		23	7	2	1	-	-	25	8
	1927–28		31	9	1	0	-	-	32	9
	1928–29		35	18	4	2	-	-	39	20
	1929–30		34	15	4	4	-	-	38	19
	Total		126	49	11	7	-	-	137	56
Chelsea	1930–31	First Division	34	9	5	1	-	-	39	10
	1931–32		19	1	2	0	-	-	21	1
	Total		53	10	7	1	-	-	60	11
Nîmes Olympique	1932–33	Ligue 1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	1933–34		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Total		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chelsea	1934–35	First Division	3	1	0	0	-	-	3	1
	1935–36		6	1	0	0	-	-	6	1
	1936–37		0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	Total		9	2	0	0	-	-	9	2
Colchester United	1937–38	Southern Football League	32	19	-	-	22	16	54	35
	1938–39		29	14	2	0	9	7	40	21
	1939–40		3	2	-	-	-	-	3	2
	Total		64	35	2	0	31	23	97	58
Career total			252+	96+	20+	8+	31+	23+	303+	127+

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland	1929	4	4
	1930	1	0
Total		5	4

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cheyne goal^[10]

List of international goals scored by Alec Cheyne

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	13 April 1929	Hampden Park, Glasgow	England	1–0	1–0	1928–29 British Home Championship
2	26 May 1929	Brann Stadion, Bergen	Norway	3–1	7–3	Friendly
3				6–2
4				7–2

Managerial record

^[11]

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	L	D	Win %
Arbroath	1949	1955	255	58	120	47	25.78%
Total			255	58	120	47	25.78%

Honours

Colchester United^[12][13]

• Southern Football League: 1938–39
• Southern Football League Cup: 1937–38

See also

• List of Scotland national football team hat-tricks

References

1. Alec Cheyne, AFC Heritage Trust
2. (SFL player) A;ec Cheyne, London Hearts Supporters Club
3. Webster, Jack (2003). The First 100 Years of The Dons: the official history of Aberdeen Football Club 1903–2003. Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-340-82344-5.
4. Smith, Paul (2007). The Legends of Aberdeen. Breedon Books. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-85983-575-3.
5. Hughie Gallacher profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website Archived 26 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
6. Chelsea FC Player Profile: Alec Cheyne, Stamford-Bridge.com
7. "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
8. "Alec Cheyne Player Profile on Stamford-Bridge.com". stamford-bridge.com. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
9. "Alec Cheyne - Players - Colchester United". www.coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
10. Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (8 January 2023). "Scotland - International Matches 1921-1930". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
11. "Arbroath Manager Alex Cheyne Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
12. "Southern League Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
13. "Southern League Cup Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

External links

• Alec Cheyne at Colchester United Archive Database