| Alfie Briggs | |
| Fullname: | Alfred Ernest Briggs |
| Birth Date: | 4 February 1888 |
| Birth Place: | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Death Place: | Scotland |
| Position: | Wing half |
| Years1: | –1912 |
| Clubs1: | Clydebank Juniors |
| Years2: | 1912–1917 |
| Clubs2: | Heart of Midlothian |
| Caps2: | 58 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 1912 |
| Nationalteam1: | Scotland Juniors |
| Nationalcaps1: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
Alfred Ernest Briggs (4 February 1888 – 18 March 1950) was a Scottish professional footballer who played in the Scottish League for Heart of Midlothian as a wing half.[1] [2] He later scouted for Partick Thistle.
Briggs began his career with junior club Clydebank Juniors.[3] After being capped by the Scotland junior team in 1912, he was signed by Heart of Midlothian manager John McCartney.[4] Briggs made 70 appearances for the club between 1912 and 1917 and was forced to retire due to wounds sustained during the First World War.[5] He later returned to play in Peter Nellies' testimonial match in April 1921.[6]
After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Briggs enlisted as a corporal in McCrae's Battalion of the Royal Scots.[7] He was badly wounded near La Boisselle on the first day of the Somme, being "hit by four machine gun bullets; one in his leg, another in his left foot and through his arm, another in his right ankle, coming out above the knee and another winging his forehead, knocking him out".[8] He sought refuge in a shell hole and was returned to an advanced dressing station near Bécourt, where he was expected to die, but made a recovery before being returned to Britain.
Prior to becoming a professional footballer, Briggs worked as a machine builder for the Singer Corporation in Clydebank. He later returned to work after the war as a boilermaker. At the time of his death in 1950, Briggs still had two German bullets lodged in his back.
Heart of Midlothian
| Season | League | Scottish Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Heart of Midlothian | 1912–13 | Scottish First Division | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[10] | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 1913–14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[11] | 0 | 7 | 0 | |||
| 1914–15 | 38 | 0 | — | 6[12] | 0 | 44 | 0 | ||||
| 1915–16 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 1917–18 | 6 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 70 | 0 | |||