Alex Forbes

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For the other Scottish player called Alex Forbes who played in the Football League (date of birth unknown), see Alex S. Forbes.
Alex Forbes
Personal information
Full name Alexander Rooney Forbes
Date of birth January 21, 1925
Place of birth    Dundee, Scotland
Playing position Wing half
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*

1944-1948
1948-1956
1956-1957
1957-1958		 Dundee North End
Sheffield United
Arsenal
Leyton Orient
Fulham
061 0(6)
217 (20)
008 0(0)
004 0(0)   
National team
1947-1952 Scotland 014 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Alexander Rooney Forbes (born January 21, 1925) is a Scottish former footballer.

Born in Dundee, Forbes started his career playing wartime matches with Dundee North End, before signing for Sheffield United. He was a regular for United in the first two seasons of competitive football after the war ended, and made his debut for Scotland, against England on April 12, 1947. However, he was sidelined by an attack of appendicitis midway through the 1948-49 season and could not regain his place afterwards.

Transfer-listed by the Blades, Forbes signed for Arsenal (after being persuaded by the Gunners' Archie Macaulay, who was a friend of his) in February 1948 for £15,000. He made his debut against Wolves on March 6, 1948. Nicknamed "Red" (for the colour of his hair) and known for his hard tackling, he picked up a First Division winners' medal in his first season at Arsenal (1947-48), making 11 appearances that season.

Forbes managed to eventually displace his friend Macaulay from the Arsenal side, becoming a regular for seven seasons. He went on to win a second title in 1952-53, and picked up an FA Cup winners' medal in 1949-50. He continued to also play for Scotland, eventually picking up 14 caps for his country.

He is the last surviving player from Arsenal's FA Cup winning side of 1950.

In all, Forbes played 240 games for Arsenal, scoring 20 goals. However, injury blighted his final season with the Gunners - a problem with his knee cartilage demanded an operation, which restricted him to five appearances in 1955-56. Having lost his place to Dave Bowen, Forbes moved to Leyton Orient in August 1956. He spent a season there before seeing out his career with Fulham.

After retiring from playing, Forbes spent some time coaching the Arsenal reserves and youth teams. He later emigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa, to coach children at a local private school, Yeshiva College of South Africa. He is also chairman of the South African branch of the Arsenal supporters' club.He recently had a hip replacement.

[edit] References

  • Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4. 
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Maccabi Haifa F.C. – Managers

Schwartz (1946–47) • Taurentauer (1950–52) • Schlefenberg (1952–54) • Fuchs (1954–56) • Kisch (1956–57) • Koch (1957–59) • Farkash (1959–61) • Forbes (1961–62) • Kisch (1962) • Schlefenberg (1962–63) • Spasov (1963–65) • Halibner (1965) • Menchel (1965–69) • Smeilowicz (1969–70) • Hardy (1970–72) • Menchel (1972–74) • Weinberg (1974–75) • Shinar (1975–77) • Sasson (1977) • Fuchs (1977) • Hardy (1977–78) • Kollek (1978–79) • Spiegler (1979) • Hardy (1979–82) • Mansell (1982–83) • Scharf (1983–87) • Kashtan (1987–88) • Levkovic (1988–90) • Scharf (1990–92) • Spiegel (1993–98) • Brailovsky (1998–99) • Uhrin (1999–00) • Cohen (2000) • Grant (2000–02) • Shum (2002–03) • R. Levy (2003–08) E. Levy (2008–)