Alex Mathie

Premier League Career: Newcastle United (1993-1995), Ipswich Town (1995)

In a career which spanned two decades, Alex Mathie made over 200 appearances in league football. However, his time in the Premier League was restricted to brief contributions with Newcastle United and Ipswich Town, although he featured over 100 times for the Tractor Boys, staying with them for three years after their top-flight relegation in 1995.

Alex graduated from Celtic Boys Club in Scotland and turned professional with the Glasgow heavyweights. In four seasons, he figured 11 times in the Celtic first-team at a time where they started to fall behind Old Firm rivals Rangers. He moved down a division to link up with Morton in August 1991 and finished as the club’s top scorer in two consecutive campaigns.

After a brief loan spell at Port Vale, Kevin Keegan bought Mathie down to England permanently in July 1993, signing the forward for £250,000. On his debut, he came off the bench to devastating impact, scoring a brilliant goal infront of the Sky cameras as Newcastle came from 2-1 down to defeat Sheffield Wednesday 4-2. However, the formidable goalscoring partnership of Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley meant Mathie had to be content with a place on the bench throughout most of his spell on Tyneside.

He scored another three league goals for the club, two of them against West Ham United but with Paul Kitson now also a viable option after his arrival at the club in September 1994, Mathie moved on in February 1995, joining Ipswich Town for £500,000. George Burley’s side were virtually certain to be relegated even before Mathie arrived and one of his first games for the club was the record 9-0 defeat to Manchester United. After Ipswich’s relegation, he stayed with the club until October 1998, scoring 38 goals in that period. Ipswich missed out on promotion via the play-offs in two successive years.

He was surprisingly sold to Dundee United in October 1998, who were managed at the time by a Premier League manager of the future in Paul Sturrock. He struggled back in Scotland and was loaned out to Preston North End in 1999-2000 for a three-month period but returned to Dundee United before David Moyes’ side won the Second Division title. His career fizzled out at York City before spells as a player-manager in the non-league at Spennymoor United, West Auckland Town and Pickering Town.

Since retiring, he has worked as a match commentator on Ipswich’s matches for BBC Radio Suffolk and still plays the occasional match for charitable causes. He also has worked as a delivery office manager for Royal Mail in the York and Leeds area.