Alex Venters

Alex Venters (9 June 1913 – 30 April 1959) was a Scottish footballer who played for Cowdenbeath, Rangers and Scotland.

Alex Venters, an inside forward, joined Rangers in November 1933 after his first club Cowdenbeath. He spent a total of 13 years at Ibrox Park, winning 3^[1] League titles (1935, 1937 and 1939^[2]), 2 Scottish Cups (1935, 1936^[3]) and scoring 102 goals in 201 appearances. 18 of these 102 goals came against Celtic in various competitions.^[4] In the last season before association football was suspended due to World War II (1939) Venters was top scorer in the Scottish First Division (35 goals).^[5] Venters was also a prolific scorer during World War II, however as these games were unofficial his additional 53 war-time goals cannot be added to his official goalscoring record.^[6]

After the war, Venters played for Third Lanark, Blackburn Rovers and ended his career with Raith Rovers.^[7][8]

Between 1933 and 1939 he won three caps for Scotland, the first of which was against Northern Ireland in 1933 while with Cowdenbeath. He won a further two official caps (both in matches against England) while at Rangers, in 1936 and 1939. He also played in four wartime internationals.^[9]

In 1959 he died prematurely from a heart attack at the age of 45.^[10]

Due to his prolific goalscoring in the 1930s and his great record in Old Firm matches he became a member of the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2006.

References

External links

• Alex Venters at scottishfa.co.uk
• Newcastle Fans profile