Alex Totten

Alex Totten (born 12 February 1946) is a Scottish former football player and manager.

Alex Totten
Personal information
Full name Alexander Totten
Date of birth (1946-02-12) 12 February 1946[1]
Place of birth Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire, Scotland
Position(s) Full-back
Youth career
1960–1964 Liverpool[2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1964–1965 Dundee[2] 9 (0)
1965–1969 Dunfermline Athletic[2] 30 (0)
1969–1971 Falkirk[2] 21 (1)
1971–1973 Queen of the South[2] 62 (6)
1973–1978 Alloa Athletic[2] 52 (2)
Total 174 (9)
Teams managed
1980–1982 Alloa Athletic
1982–1984 Falkirk[3]
1986 Rangers (caretaker)
1986–1987 Dumbarton
1987–1992 St Johnstone
1992–1993 East Fife
1994–1996 Kilmarnock
1996–2002 Falkirk[3]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Growing up in Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire, he signed for Liverpool straight from school in 1960 before signing for top division Dundee back in Scotland in 1964. After a season, he moved onto Dunfermline Athletic where he made nearly 30 top division league appearances over four seasons. In 1969, he moved on to Falkirk, racking up another 20 starts over his two seasons at Brockville and also scoring his first Senior goal.

In July 1971 Totten transferred to Dumfries side Queen of the South and became a first team regular for the first time his career in the lower division. The last transfer of his playing days came in July 1973 with a move to Alloa Athletic where he wound down his on-field career and became manager in 1980.

Managerial career

Three years as a manager for Alloa Athletic ended when he became manager at previous club Falkirk after leading Alloa Athletic to the Scottish First Division and a 6th-place finish. He then moved to Rangers to become Jock Wallace's assistant, expecting to – in time – become manager.[4] However, when Graeme Souness was appointed in 1986, Totten left to manage Dumbarton. He then took St Johnstone from the old Second Division to the Premier Division in the space of three seasons. He also led St Johnstone to Scottish Cup semi-final appearances in 1989 and 1991. Totten's role in St Johnstone's progress was rewarded when he was made SFWA Manager of the Year for 1991, but Geoff Brown sacked Totten in 1992 for demanding too much money for new players.[5]

Totten then managed East Fife and Kilmarnock, before returning to Falkirk as a manager in 1996. He guided Falkirk to the 1997 Scottish Cup Final, having defeated Celtic in the semi-final. Falkirk lost 1–0 to Kilmarnock, who had sacked Totten earlier that season,[6] in the final. Totten was eventually moved into a director of football role by Falkirk in 2002.[7] Falkirk played Rangers in a testimonial match for Totten on 21 July 2007 at the Falkirk Stadium. The match ended 1–1 with Lee McCulloch scoring for Rangers and Pedro Moutinho scoring for Falkirk.

Honours

Manager
Alloa Athletic
St Johnstone
Falkirk

References
  • Reid, Harry (2005), The Final Whistle?, Birlinn, ISBN 1-84158-362-6

Notes
  1. "Totten new Alloa manager". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. 8 May 1980. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  2. "Alex Totten". Neil Brown. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  3. Falkirk FC Managers
  4. Matthew Lindsay (3 March 2018). "Alex Totten: 'I missed out on managing Rangers when Graeme Souness was appointed – but Murty can take his chance'". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  5. Forsyth, Paul. Main leg break adds to woes, Scotland on Sunday, 30 September 2001.
  6. Sinclair, Paul (4 December 1996). "Youth is name of the game as Totten is pushed out by Kilmarnock Nicholl the favourite to take over at Rugby Park". The Herald (Glasgow). Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  7. Totten takes new role at Falkirk, BBC Sport, 25 April 2002.
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