Alexander Venters (9 June 1913 – 30 April 1959) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Cowdenbeath, Rangers and Scotland.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander Venters[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 9 June 1913 | ||
| Place of birth | Cowdenbeath, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 30 April 1959 (aged 45)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Cowdenbeath, Scotland[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| South End Rovers | |||
| –1930 | St Andrews United | ||
| 1930–1933 | Cowdenbeath | 96 | (36) |
| 1933–1946 | Rangers | 175 | (89) |
| 1946–1947 | Third Lanark | 8 | (2) |
| 1947–1948 | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| 1948 | Raith Rovers | 4 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1933–1939 | Scotland | 3 | (0) |
| 1935–1939 | Scottish League XI | 4 | (1) |
| 1940–1943 | Scotland (wartime) | 4 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
editAlex Venters, an inside forward, joined Rangers in November 1933 after his first club Cowdenbeath.[2] He spent a total of 13 years at Ibrox Park, winning three Scottish league titles (1935, 1937 and 1939), two Scottish Cups (1935, 1936) and scoring 102 goals in 201 appearances.[3] 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 wartime 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][9]
Between 1933 and 1939 he won three caps for Scotland, the first of which was against 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.[10]
In 1959 he died prematurely from a heart attack at the age of 45.[11]
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.
Personal life
editVenters' father Sandy and brothers Andrew and Jock were also footballers.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Alex Venters". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
- ^ "Venters Alec Image 1 Cowdenbeath 1932". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ Rangers.co.uk: History: Alex Venters Archived 20 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Top Goalscorers per division". Scottish-Football-Historical-Archive.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012.
- ^ FriendsOfRangers.co.uk: Legends In Blue Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ National-Football-Teams.com: Alex Venters
- ^ Weltfussball.de: Alex Venters Archived 21 December 2013 at archive.today
- ^ "Scottish Football Historical Archive – Scottish League appearance records – TUV". Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ LondonHearts.com: Alexander Venters
- ^ Rangerspedia: Venters, Alex
- ^ "Hometown Heroes (Local Footballers in Profile) – No. 17 – The Venters Family". Central Fife Times. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
External links
edit- Alex Venters at the Scottish Football Association
- Alex Venters at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
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