Wonder goal helped Alex to finally get the big break
It’s not always easy for young footballers to keep going when it seems teams are unwilling to take a chance on them.
Alex Donnelly had a few near-misses before he kicked off his career in professional football 60 years ago.
His ability wasn’t in question but some famous managers felt he didn’t have the necessary physical stature.
He recalled: “I was playing with Pumpherston Juniors and was a provisional signing with Celtic.
“My older brother, John, played for them and was in the 1957 team that beat Rangers 7-1 in the League Cup final.
“I only got three reserve games for Celtic and I scored in two of them.
“Jimmy McGrory was the manager but Bob Kelly made all the decisions at the club.
“He said I was a bit small and they didn’t want to call me up as a full signing.
“Sean Fallon said that he would have called me up if it had been up to him.
“My dad said I was good enough and should be able to sign for another team.
“I was a very direct player. I liked to play the ball to a team-mate and then go for the return.
“That didn’t work when I played with Jimmy Johnstone. I passed to him and he then went off to beat two or three opponents.
“Jock Stein gave me a trial at Dunfermline and they wanted me to go back and train. That wasn’t really practical because of the travelling.
“I later thought I should have stuck with Stein. He might have taken me back to Celtic.
“I had also been down at Ipswich Town when I was only 17.
“I sat on the bench for a game against Spurs, who had Jimmy Greaves in their side. It was amazing to see him at close quarters.
“Unfortunately, Alf Ramsey also told me that I was a good player and very fast, but a bit too small for him at that time.”
Arbroath didn’t hesitate to snap up Alex when he played for them as a trialist against Raith Rovers in September 1963.
He said: “I ran from the halfway line, beat three players and thumped the ball into net from about 18 yards. Arbroath manager Albert Henderson signed me that evening.
“I do wonder if a bigger team would have come in for me if I’d waited a little longer, but
I did enjoy playing there. The pitch was really good and that suited my game.”
Alex became an instant favourite by scoring six goals in his first three weeks.
His second strike was again against Raith, in an 8-1 victory.
He said: “I always seemed to do well against them. I scored a header from a corner when we were battling with them for promotion in 1967.
“We won the game 1-0 but missed out on going up by one point.
“I got a bit disillusioned after that. Dundee United manager Jerry Kerr spoke to me on the train after we had played them and asked if I’d be interested in going to Tannadice.
“I told him I would love to play for them but, for whatever reason, the transfer didn’t happen.
“I hadn’t played for about six months when John Prentice signed me for Falkirk.
“I was thrown into a Scottish Cup tie against Morton that we lost 4-0.
“I wasn’t properly fit and had a stinker that day. I missed the best chance we had.
“After that, I spent a season playing with Stenhousemuir.
“Things went sour there when I had an operation to an injury on my nose. The club thought I should have played through it.
“Looking back, I should have done better in my career. If I had a bad game, I would let it affect me.
“I would have been more successful if I’d been the type just to shrug it off.”
Alex returned to junior football with Broxburn and also had some success in professional athletics events.
Now 81 and retired from his job as a cost accountant, he is still running to keep fit.