Alex Leake Explained

Alex Leake
Fullname:Alexander Leake
Birth Date:11 July 1871
Birth Place:Birmingham, England
Death Place:Birmingham, England
Position:Half back
Years1:
Clubs1:Hoskins & Sewell
Years2:
Clubs2:Kings Heath Albion
Years3:
Clubs3:Saltley Gas Works
Years4:
Years5:
Clubs5:Hoskins & Sewell
Years6:1892–1894
Clubs6:Old Hill Wanderers
Years7:1894–1902
Caps7:199
Goals7:21
Years8:1902–1907
Caps8:127
Goals8:7
Years9:1907–1910
Clubs9:Burnley
Caps9:81
Goals9:2
Years10:1910–1911
Clubs10:Wednesbury Old Athletic
Nationalyears1:1904–1905
Nationalcaps1:5
Nationalgoals1:0

Alexander Leake (11 July 1871 – 29 March 1938) was an English professional footballer who won five caps for his country and made 407 appearances in the Football League playing as a half back for Small Heath, Aston Villa and Burnley. After retiring from playing he took up coaching, both with professional clubs and at school level. He was a cousin of fellow Small Heath and England forward Jimmy Windridge.

Biography

Leake was born in Small Heath, Birmingham. After leaving school he trained as a blacksmith with Hoskins & Sewell, manufacturers of metal bedsteads, in the Bordesley district of Birmingham, and played for the works football team. He later helped Old Hill Wanderers win the championship of the Birmingham & District League in the 1893–94 season. His success with Old Hill did not go unnoticed, and he signed for Small Heath, newly promoted to the Football League First Division, in July 1894.

Leake made his Small Heath debut in October 1895 at left half, but from midway through that season (in which the club were relegated) for the following four years he rarely missed a game at centre-half. He was soon appointed captain. When he did suffer an injury early in the 1899–1900 season, inside forward Walter Wigmore was tried at centre-half, and by the time Leake regained fitness, his position was taken. He played the remainder of his Small Heath career at left-half or occasionally inside-left. He helped the club gain promotion back to the First Division in 1901, but left at the end of the 1901–02 season when they were relegated again. During this season he played in an England trial match and with clubmate Sid Wharton played for an England XI in an unofficial international against Germany. In a 1901 profile of the Small Heath club and players in the Daily Express, C.B. Fry wrote:[1]

He joined Aston Villa in July 1902, when he was 31, and stayed five years. In his first season the club were runners-up in the First Division, and in 1905 he played in their 1905 FA Cup final team which beat Newcastle United 2–0. While with Aston Villa Leake won five official caps for England, making his international debut at the age of 32 on 12 March 1904 in a 3–1 win against Ireland in Belfast.

Leake found himself unwittingly at the centre of one of the great scandals of English football. In the last League game of the 1904–05 season, Manchester City needed to beat Aston Villa to win the title. It was a spiteful game, and he had been involved in confrontations, both physical and verbal, with opponents. Afterwards Leake, who had captained the side, claimed that City's Billy Meredith had offered him a bribe of £10 for his team to throw the match. Meredith was found guilty by the Football Association, fined, and suspended from all football for 18 months. Because his club refused to help him financially, Meredith made public the illegal payments Manchester City were making to their players. An FA investigation resulted in life bans for directors, long suspensions for players, and the club being forced to sell its playing staff.[2]

An Aston Villa match programme of 1906 describes him as:[3]

Burnley manager Spen Whittaker took him to the club in December 1907, by which time he was 36 years old. He stayed with them a further two and a half years, playing a significant part in building a team for the future. His arrival has been described thus:[4]

When Burnley were promoted to the First Division in 1913, Leake was long gone, but he played his part. At the celebration dinner, the club chairman commented that:[5]

In 1910 he returned to the Midlands and played for one season with Wednesbury Old Athletic, newly elected to the Birmingham & District League. He then took up posts as trainer with Crystal Palace, Merthyr Town, and Walsall, and also coached at school level.

Leake died in his native Birmingham at the age of 66.

Honours

Old Hill Wanderers

Small Heath

Aston Villa

Wednesbury Old Athletic

References

General

Specific

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Fry . C.B. . C.B. Fry . Football Gossip. The Small Heath Club and its members. How they play . Daily Express . 26 October 1901 . 8.
  2. Encyclopedia: Football and Trade Unionism . The Encyclopedia of British Football . Spartacus Educational . 24 August 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930031331/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FtuPFA.htm . 30 September 2007 . dead .
  3. The Villa News and Record (1 September 1906), quoted at Web site: Leake, Alexander . Aston Villa Players Database . Jörn Mårtensson . 29 July 2011.
  4. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20081122092852/http://www.park-road.u-net.com/qmh1.htm . Quietly Making History: John Haworth and Burnley Football Club Part One: 1903–1911 . Whalley . Phil . Nothing to Write Home About . London Clarets . November 2000 . 22 November 2008.
  5. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20081122094632/http://www.park-road.u-net.com/qmh2.htm . Quietly Making History: John Haworth and Burnley Football Club Part Two: 1911–1915 . Whalley . Phil . Nothing to Write Home About . London Clarets . January 2001 . 22 November 2008.