Warm tributes paid by Highland football community after death of "inspirational" Inverness Thistle, Nairn County and Caledonian club character Alex Young
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A legendary Inverness footballer and renowned club character of the 1950s and 1960s has died at the age of 81.
Alex Young won trophies at Inverness Thistle and Nairn County, before being credited as an “inspirational” presence behind the scenes as the great Caledonian side of the 1970s conquered all in their path.
He is remembered with great affection within the local football community.
Latterly a resident of the city’s Wells Street, Mr Young is survived by daughter and son Caroline and Philip, but was heartbroken to lose wife Pam several years ago.
He worked for many years at the Menzies newsagents depot in Inverness, before becoming a postie.
Great friend and former Nairn County team-mate Kenny Mackenzie, a goalkeeper of the era, recalled a “magnetic personality” that elevated the performances and mindsets of individuals around him.
A Dunfermline resident since 1973, Mr Mackenzie told the Courier: “Alex and I were great friends. We were team-mates at Nairn for eight seasons, and I later played with him at Caley for four years.
“Alex was just an inspirational character, the life and soul of the dressing room.
“So much so, in fact, that the late Donnie Grant, who played shinty for Kingussie and football for Nairn County, got Alex, after he retired, to come along to take the shinty lads for training just to get the best out of them and inspire the guys.
“He was a magnetic personality in the dressing room, full of fun, but when he got on the football field he was deadly serious, and a very talented left-back.
“Like most good players, he didn’t like losing!
“We enjoyed a lot of cup success, but never quite made it in the league - two years in a row, we lost out by a single point, first to Caley, then to Elgin. It was horrendous.
“But we got three North of Scotland Cups, a Qualifying Cup, and the League Cup so we did okay.”
Mr Young was versatile as a player, starting his career at inside forward but becoming renowned as a quality left-back.
He played for Inverness Thistle from season 1957/58 to 1961/62, winning a North Cup in 1959/60 and experiencing defeat in the final twice more.
After joining Nairn in 1962 – a side featuring the legendary goalscorer Davy Johnston – he won another three North Cups, the League Cup and the Qualifying Cup, as well as a clutch of runners up medals.
In his first season at the club, Mr Young featured in the Scottish Cup tie against Hamilton Accies, with the replay defeat at home at Station Park watched by 3,405 fans.
He also starred in a Scottish Cup scalping of Forfar with Nairn in 1968/69.
Serious injury in a game at Peterhead during the 1969/70 season led to his retirement from football, before taking over as trainer at Caley in 1973.
Local football historian and former Caley player Ian Davidson was a teenage apprentice at the Telford Street outfit on Mr Young’s arrival as trainer.
He recalled: “He was a tremendous character and an absolute gentleman. In my opinion, you can’t speak too highly of Alex Young.
“Hamish Munro, who was on the Caley board, brought him in as trainer because he knew he would be inspirational to players around him.
“That was a great Caley team with the likes of Peter Corbett and Billy Urquhart, among many others.
“I was just 16 or 17 at the time, cleaning the players’ boots, but you couldn’t have got a better guy to cajole and inspire those Caley players.
“He played a big part in their success despite having hung up his boots. He was just a great guy to have in your company.”
Alastair Kennedy, one of the Caley ‘Invincibles’ team who dominated the Highland game and swept the boards for trophies over a three-year period, recalled: “Alex was great fun as trainer, but also a hard taskmaster.
“He was a good player in his day, and then played a huge part in the camaraderie we enjoyed in that great Caley in a team I was honoured to be part of.
“Under manager Alex Main, we swept the boards as a team over a three-year period and there is no question Alex Young was hugely influential in that.”
