Alex McNab

Infobox Football biography
playername= Alex McNab


fullname = Alex McNab
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date|1895|12|27
cityofbirth = Gourock
countryofbirth = Scotland
dateofdeath = death date and age|1960|4|3|1895|12|27
cityofdeath = St. Louis, Missouri
countryofdeath = United States
height =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Wing Forward
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1916-1924
1924-1928
1928-1930
1931
1931-1933
1933-1934
1935
1936-1937
1937
1937-1938
1938-1939
clubs = Greenock Morton
Boston Wonder Workers
Fall River Marksmen
→ New York Yankees
→ New Bedford Whalers
Stix, Baer and Fuller
→ St. Louis Central Breweries
→ St. Louis Shamrocks
South Side Radio
St. Matthew's
Burke's Undertakers
caps(goals) = 190 (37)
149 (35)
106 (22)
007 0(1)
nationalyears = 1921
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 002 0(0)
manageryears = 1932-1934
1934-1935
1935-1937
managerclubs = Stix, Baer and Fuller
St. Louis Central Breweries
St. Louis Shamrocks
pcupdate =
ntupdate = "Not to be confused with another Scotland international footballer Alexander 'Sandy' McNab"

Alex "(Alec)" McNab (born December 27, 1895 in Gourock, Scotland; died April 3, 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a Scottish-U.S. soccer player and coach. He began his career in Scotland before moving to the United States. In the U.S., he won six consecutive U.S. Open Cups with teams from both the American Soccer League and St. Louis Soccer League. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.

cotland

Greenock Morton

McNab began his career with Greenock Morton in 1916, playing five seasons with the team until his departure for the United States in 1924. World War I caused the loss of three seasons due to partial suspension of professional sports in Scotland. On April 27, 1922, Greenock won the Scottish League cup over Rangers F.C. [ [http://gmst.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=136&Itemid=80 History of Greenock Morton] ] In 1924, Greenock Morton offered McNab £4 per week. He considered this excessively low, but when he asked for a transfer, the club placed a prohibitively high fee on him in order to force him to stay with Greenock. When McNab received an offer from the Boston Wonder Workers of the American Soccer League to play for £12 per week, McNab immediately left Scotland for the United States. [http://national.soccerhall.org/famers/Alex_McNab.htm National National Soccer Hall of Fame] ]

National team

McNab earned two caps with the Scottish national team. His first was a 2-0 away win over Ireland on February 26, 1921 and the second was a 3-0 victory over England on April 9, 1921. [ [http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/player_details.cfm?playerid=113444&CFID=3370931&CFTOKEN=94765338 Scottish FA Player Database] ]

United States

American Soccer League

McNab became an immediate success with the Boston Wonder Workers. In 1925, the team defeated the Ben Millers of the St. Louis Soccer League in an unofficial national championship series. After finishing second in the league in 1926 and 1927, Boston finally took the ASL title in 1928 to go with their 1925 and 1927 league cups. By that time, McNab was partnered on Boston’s front line with Billy Gonsalves and Bill McPherson, forming what was known as the “golden triangle”. In 1928, McNab left Boston for the Fall River Marksmen. Over the next three season, the Marksmen took three league titles as well as the 1930 and 1931 National Challenge Cups. The 1931 Challenge Cup, pitting Fall River against Chicago Sparta was tied after two game, forcing a decisive third game. [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/usacuphist.html RSSSF Open Cup] ] However, McNab broke his arm the day before the decisive game and Fall River was forced to play with ten men as they had failed to bring substitutes to Chicago. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,741503,00.html Time Magazine, April 27, 1931] ] In 1931, the Marksmen merged with the New York Soccer Club to form the New York Yankees. After one season, they moved to New Bedford, becoming the New Bedford Whalers. The Whalers proceeded to win the 1931 and spring 1932 seasons as well as the 1932 National Challenge Cup over Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. (SBF) of the St. Louis Soccer League. [http://www.fairchallenge.com/home/blog.php?id=3 Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. history] ]

t. Louis

The Whalers victory over SBF in the 1932 Challenge Cup brought an offer from the SBF ownership to move west. McNab took the offer, inducing both Gonsalves and McPherson to join him at SBF. They formed the core of a team which took the 1933 and 1934 Challenge Cups. In 1934, St. Louis Central Breweries took over sponsorship of the team, renaming it appropriately enough, St. Louis Central Breweries F.C. In 1935, McNab won his sixth straight Challenge Cup with Central Breweries. That year the team was renamed the St. Louis Shamrocks. However, the Shamrocks withdrew from the SLSL, competing in the St. Louis Major League, the city’s second division. In 1936, McNab and his team mates went to yet another National Cup final, falling this time to the Philadelphia German-Americans. In 1937, McNab went to his eighth straight National Cup final, losing this one to the New York Nationals. Following this loss, the Shamrocks where disbanded. McNab then signed with South Side Radio. In December 1937, McNabb gained his release from South Side and signed with St. Matthew's of the SLSL, playing the 1937-1938 season with them. On October 30, 1938, he signed with Burke's Undertakers for the 1938-1939 season. [ [http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/genealogy/dad/soccer-3.html Bob Corbett’s soccer career 1937-1942] ]

Coaching

The move to Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. brought McNab into the coaching ranks. He immediately proved he was as good a coach as a player, taking SBF to two consecutive league and National Challenge Cup titles.

Non-playing career

In addition to playing and coaching soccer, McNab worked as an engineer in Scotland, and as a sporting goods salesman for the Stix, Baer and Fuller department store in St. Louis after retiring from playing.

National Soccer Hall of Fame

The National Soccer Hall of Fame inducted McNab in 2005 as part of a process of recognizing significant pre-1950s players. According to the Hall of Fame, "We were aware that in the early decades of the Hall of Fame a number of outstanding players had slipped through the cracks of the selection process. In order to correct these oversights we established a Blue Ribbon panel consisting of historians Colin Jose, Roger Allaway and Hall of Famer Walter Bahr, to review the credentials of all Veterans from the pre-NASL era. Out of a total of 150 players who met the eligibility criteria, the panel unanimously recommended, and the Board approved, the special induction of these five players." McNab was among the five selected. [ [http://national.soccerhall.org/news/2005/PreNASLAnnouncement_682005.htm Pre-NASL Induction Class] ]

McNab died in 1960 when he suffered a heart attack playing golf. His son, Peter McNab later played in the second American Soccer League.

References

External links

* [http://national.soccerhall.org/famers/Alex_McNab.htm National Soccer Hall of Fame profile]