From the Kop to the Kelpies

Jeff Holmes

Description

In an incredible 50-year football career Alex Totten has seen service at some of Scotland's biggest and best-loved clubs - yet from his high-profile beginnings as a player at Liverpool under Bill Shankly to his first job in the dugout at lowly Alloa, his feet have remained firmly on the ground. After two years as assistant at Ibrox, the ever-popular 'Totts' took St Johnstone to the hallowed land of the Premier League. Sacked in bizarre circumstances, he immediately bounced back to take control of top-flight Kilmarnock, and even the second managerial 'red card' of his career couldn't stop him guiding his beloved Falkirk to the Scottish Cup Final - against Killie - just months later. At Brockville, Totten met his greatest ever footballing challenge when the Bairns entered provisional liquidation. However, that was nothing compared to the battle of his life - against a medical condition known as the 'silent assassin'.

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 06 mars 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785310683
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2015
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Jeff Holmes and Alex Totten, 2015
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 978 178531-021-8
eBook ISBN: 978 178531-068-3
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Sir Alex Ferguson
Foreword by Walter Smith OBE
An Al-Fresco Childhood
Bill Shankly Calling
Life After Liverpool
The Par-fect Move
Heading Stateside
The Bairn Identity
Stepping Into The Dug-Out
Home Is Where The Heart Is
Ibrox-Bound
Taking On The World
Jock s Boy
Son Of The Rock
Off To Perth
Pastures New For Saints
In With The Big Boys
Toe-To-Toe With Wattie
Ruthlessly Axed
Bayview And The BBC
Taking Over From Tommy
Renewing Old Acquaintances
The Darkest Days
Thank God It s Crunchie
Facing My Biggest Fight
My Testimonial Year
Family Ties
Still Involved In The Beautiful Game
Bibliography
Photographs
I would like to dedicate this book to my wife, Jessie, daughter, Kay, and son, Bruce.
Also, my two grandkids, Alexander and Jake.
Acknowledgements
W HEN you undertake a project as big as this, there are so many people who help you along the way - whether that be through assisting with photographs, organising things or merely jogging your memory of a long-lost career incident. Every little helps.
First of all I would like to thank Jeff Holmes for helping with the writing of this book. I first got to know Jeff when he interviewed me for his Jock Wallace book, Blue Thunder , and we met up around a dozen times to ensure Totts was as good as it could be. Thanks for all your hard work and meticulous research, Jeff!
Apart from an initial meeting at my house in Dunipace, these get-togethers all took place at the plush Westerwood Hotel, in Cumbernauld, and for that I am indebted to general manager Paul Bray, who ensured we always had somewhere cosy to sit and chat - and enjoy welcome coffee and biscuits!
I would also like to thank Gordon Bannerman, of the Perthshire Advertiser . Gordon was someone I got to know during my days at St Johnstone and he was once again a big help when I was piecing together the chapters relating to my time at Saints.
I would also like to say a big thank you to Paul Camillin, Jane Camillin and the talented team at Pitch Publishing for having faith in this project.
And I must thank two of my oldest pals in football, Alex Ferguson and Walter Smith, for taking the time to pen their forewords for this book. I value our friendships highly and appreciate them helping out.
And a big thank you to Eric Davidson for coming up with our clever sub-title, From The Kop To The Kelpies .
I have made so many wonderful friends during a lifetime of loving football and even to this day, I continue to meet new people and the thing we all have in common is our love of the beautiful game. It has been quite a journey, and it isn t finished yet!
Foreword by Sir Alex Ferguson
I FIRST met Alex while we were playing with Dunfermline and I liked him from the start. He was a nice lad and always looked after himself, and was clean-shaven and well dressed. We got on really well and I admired the fact that he was a really good, honest pro who had carved out a very successful career for himself.
While we were at Dunfermline, though, I always thought that if he had possessed a bit more pace, it would have changed everything for him. When I moved into management, I always liked my full-backs to have lots of pace, and that s why guys like Patrice Evra and Gary Neville were such a success. They were obviously both very good players, but they were also very quick.
Mind you, the other side of the coin was full-backs with the approach of guys like Bobby Shearer, who played for Rangers. He certainly wasn t the quickest but boy could he intimidate the opposition!
When I played with Alex in the 1960s, you could tell he truly loved the game - and he still does - but he worked hard at his game and played for some good Scottish clubs after leaving Liverpool. He had obviously picked up some excellent habits working under Bill Shankly at Anfield and he lived his life the right way, which gave him every chance to succeed in his chosen profession.
When we were at East End Park, it really was the perfect time to be a Dunfermline player. Jock Stein got the ball rolling there and Willie Cunningham and George Farm continued in a similar vein. They really were the halcyon days for me. Alex arrived at East End Park about a year after me, but he was always going to have a tough time holding down a full-back slot in the team because we had a cracking defender in John Lunn, who played left-back at the time. John was a speed merchant while, on the other hand, Alex was more of a cultured full-back.
But he was a big part of everything we achieved at Dunfermline and we had some great success there. We had a fantastic squad at that time, which was important, because football never has - and never will be - about just 11 guys.
I was at Dunfermline a little over three years and have nothing but good memories of my time at the club. Alex was a big part of that and we have remained friends ever since, and it is a friendship that will stand the test of time.
When he was at St Johnstone, I took Manchester United up to open their new ground. He had built something special there and I was very proud to have had the privilege to play a small part in what he was trying to achieve. When he asked about the possibility of United going to Perth, it wasn t a problem, because Alex is, and always has been, one of the game s good guys.
Foreword by Walter Smith OBE
L IKE most of those involved in Scottish football, Alex and I had crossed paths many times in the game but it wasn t until I started coaching, at the age of 27, that we really got to know one another. We met one year in Ibiza, while we were both on holiday, and that sort of cemented our friendship. That was when I really got to know him and naturally we stayed in touch.
It was ironic that when I went to Rangers in 1986, I got Alex s job. I was there before Graeme Souness arrived but by that time Jock Wallace, Alex and the rest of the staff had gone. But Scottish football being the size it is, you tend to come across coaches and players regularly and it wasn t long before we were locking horns again.
One of the most notorious occasions - and I use the term loosely - was when I took Rangers up to McDiarmid Park, and Alex was the manager of St Johnstone. We had our infamous bust-up and both got escorted out of the ground - which was an absolute nonsense. We had a wee clash in the tunnel, but there were no punches thrown or fighting, just a wee disagreement, as no doubt we had both done on numerous occasions throughout our respective careers. I recall that we were both utterly amazed at being thrown out the ground and not seeing the second half. We went to one of the St Johnstone directors houses and had a cup of tea and a chat, and there weren t any problems between us. We were absolutely fine and were able to laugh about it later on, but it was just so preposterous at the time.
Alex has worked under some great managers, such as Bill Shankly and Jock Wallace, and has a steely determination to succeed. He was brought up by some real winners but he is as straightforward and honest as the day is long. What you see with Alex is definitely what you get. When we clashed that day in Perth, Alex had no problem sticking up for his own end, and I was the same, but that is just the sign of two people who love winning.
But when he became ill, it was a really worrying time for everyone who knew him. Alex always looked that fit and healthy, and perhaps the way he fought the illness and the recovery he made was testimony to his fitness and determination. He really loves his golf and is always out and about so I couldn t ever imagine Alex being unwell, but he was very ill at one point, and it just shows you that it can happen to anyone.
Playing-wise, not every one of us can have a sterling career laden with silverware, but for a lot of us, including Alex and myself, having a lengthy career in itself was a measure of success. And picking up all the knowledge along the way stood him in good stead for a lengthy career in management.
Alex has been involved with football since he was just 15 years old and has given great service to the game. Football has been his life and he deserves every single plaudit that comes his way.
1
An Al-Fresco Childhood
A SINGLE end with two small rooms - that s where my story starts. I was born at home - 125 Glasgow Road, Dennyloanhead - on 12 February 1946, a few months after the end of the Second World War which, I suppose, makes me a war baby . I m sure mum and dad, Mary and John, didn t have their troubles to seek during that awful conflict but they seemed to come through it relatively unscathed.
We had our home comforts, even though they were few, although everything still seemed to be situated outside. If you needed the toilet, you had to nip outside to the almost al fresco cludgie, while the women all went out to the wash house to launder the clothes - and after they had finished, the kids were chucked in for their twice-weekly bath. That was after you had played outside a