Alex Young (footballer)

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Alex Young (Born February 3, 1937, in Loanhead, Midlothian) is a former Scottish footballer. He was a prolific goal-scorer in Everton's 1962/63 championship season. He first played for Newtongrange Star in Midlothian but soon joined Hearts making his debut at the age of 18. He helped Hearts win the Scottish First Division chanpionship in 1958 with 20 goals. Two seasons later he scored 23 goals when Hearts won the title again.

He was signed for £42,000 by Harry Catterick from Hearts in November 1960 but was not an immediate success. However his partnership with Roy Vernon soon blossomed. Young scored 22 league goals in the 42 league games in the 1962/63 season and made many other goals. His elegant touch earned him the nickname of 'The Golden Vision' and caused much adulation. (Danny Blanchflower originally coined the name Golden Vision. In his words, it conveyed "the view every Saturday that we have of a more perfect world, a world that has got a pattern and is finite. And that's Alex – the Golden Vision.")

In addition to the championship, Young won an FA Cup winners medal in Everton's epic win in 1966. Young also won two caps for Scotland. Young scored 87 goals in 273 appearances for Everton before leaving for Glentoran in 1968. Young later played briefly for Stockport County for 23 games before a knee injury forced his retirement.

Once during an Everton home game, Young had been named as substitute. The crowd had been losing patience with the team when the stadium announcer had to read out an SOS message for someone in the crowd, coincidentally also called 'Mr Young'. The roar of approval was the loudest noise that afternoon.

Young ran his family's upholstery business in Edinburgh before retiring. He also had the pleasure of watching his son follow his lead and become a professional footballer in the 1990s. However, Jason Young could not match his famous father's prowess, and spent his career mostly in the Scottish lower divisions.

Belatedly, in August 2001, Everton gave Alex Young a testimonial at Goodison Park, with over 20,000 turning out to salute him.