The mystery of Alex "Sandy" Young

[Clint Planet]

We need more gear like this

Tommy Lawton's story would be another good one.

 

[Groucho]

Tommy Lawton's story would be another good one.

Yes, and T.G. Jones

 

[harryjam]

Love old boss stuff.

 

[Steve Wigan]

1906 Cup Final v Newcastle United at Crystal Palace

Thats right. I should have known..it was the year my Dad was born.

 

[The Esk]

I'm pretty certain my Great-Grandfather would have played in the same team as Sandy late on in his career. He played for us from 1892 until around 1901/2, scoring our second goal in the 1897 Cup Final in which we lost 3-2 to Aston Villa.

 

[bluejock]

One of the chaps in suits is my great great grandfather, William Kirkwood. I forget which one he is, but he played for Everton and went on to be a director.

 

[Neil R]

Everton On This Day

Alex Sandy Young was certainly quite a character, by all accounts. I wrote a little about him in my new book, Everton FC On This Day.

It seems the FA was asked to provide a character report to the Australian court, when he was charged with manslaughter (originally murder).
They said he'd been "prone to temporary bouts of insanity" during his playing days.
Nice of them to comment like that.... and what a story!!

 

[Steve Wigan]

I'm pretty certain my Great-Grandfather would have played in the same team as Sandy late on in his career. He played for us from 1892 until around 1901/2, scoring our second goal in the 1897 Cup Final in which we lost 3-2 to Aston Villa.

Fascinating stuff. Any trace of the song 'Sandy scored a goal' I remember this being mentioned a few times when we signed the Golden Vision, because of the names being the same.

 

[The Esk]

One of the chaps in suits is my great great grandfather, William Kirkwood. I forget which one he is, but he played for Everton and went on to be a director.

He must have known my Great Grandfather then Jock, who was a Scot of Irish descent coming down south from Dumbarton

 

[bluejock]

He must have known my Great Grandfather then Jock, who was a Scot of Irish descent coming down south from Dumbarton

Aye, chances are they would've known each other. He also came down from South West Scotland, in the 1890's.

 

[tommye]

fascinating stuff. Well done TM and all

 

[Groucho]

Alex Sandy Young was certainly quite a character, by all accounts. I wrote a little about him in my new book, Everton FC On This Day.

It seems the FA was asked to provide a character report to the Australian court, when he was charged with manslaughter (originally murder).
They said he'd been "prone to temporary bouts of insanity" during his playing days.
Nice of them to comment like that.... and what a story!!

I think I saw an ad in Saturdays Echo for your book, I'll keep an eye out

 

[Big Neville Southall]

Fascinating stuff. Any trace of the song 'Sandy scored a goal' I remember this being mentioned a few times when we signed the Golden Vision, because of the names being the same.

There were a few of them Steve all short songs with similar words. The main was was to Down on the Ohio, that was probably Everton's main song until the War started.

 

[Clint Planet]

Article about Sandy Young in the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/oct/08/alex-sandy-young-everton-forgotten-story

Tongala is a fairly unremarkable, low-rise Australian outback town 140 miles due north of Melbourne that is home to 1,623 people and quite a few more cattle. According to Maggi, whose range of instant soups, stocks and sauces is made in a small Nestle factory there, it is "famous for its great tasting milkshakes, a golden cow and a tribute to the light horse brigade". The Golden Cow Dairy Education and Tourism Centre, Tongala's premier family-friendly visitor attraction, boasts that they make the finest milkshakes in all Australia, in no less than 39 flavours. But Tongala has one other claim to fame: it was here, nearly 100 years ago, that a once-great Scottish striker took up another, altogether more lethal, form of shooting.Alex "Sandy" Young was Everton's match-winner in the 1906 FA Cup final, the First Division's leading marksman the following season and remains No2 on their list of all-time league scorers. He went on to play, less memorably, for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. An intriguing personality, the Liverpool Echo described him as "one of the most fascinating players that ever toed a ball" – and that was before he emigrated to Australia and killed his brother.He and John must have got on well enough once, for Alex funded the initial purchase of a farm near Tongala in 1911, and then moved there himself in 1914, at the end of his playing career. But once he arrived they found that despite their common geography, livelihood and genetics the relationship foundered. They argued forcefully and frequently, sometimes with the aid of sticks, forks and shovels.What bothered them most was money, with John continuing to borrow large sums from his brother, and never paying them back. On 30 November 1915, a friend witnessed an argument which ended with Alexander threatening to seize control of the farm. "What about these cows, half of them belong to me," protested John. "I don't think so," countered Alexander, "my cheque paid for them." As the friend left, Alexander told him: "I cannot stop here, I am afraid John will murder me." Separately, John said: "Don't go away yet, I am afraid Alick will come out and shoot me." As it turned out, one of them was right.The following morning, as John worked in the milking shed, Alexander came out and shot him. It took him most of the day to die, and before he did he told police what had happened in the barn: "I was milking a cow when Alexander came up and said, 'I am going to shoot you.' I replied, 'Put the gun away. You are only trying to frighten me.' Alexander, though, took no notice, and fired at me."Sandy initially described a similar chain of events but later insisted that he had fired only after John had chased him for 40 yards across the farmyard wielding a shovel. "I went to the cow-shed, where I asked him about my money," he told the court. "John got up and rushed at me with a shovel. I ran away, and he followed. I stopped and said, 'Stand, or I'll shoot.' He made a rush and said, 'Come on, fire.' I fired, and he fell. I took up the shovel and went to my house and shot myself in the head. I do not remember anything after that." One local newspaper, the Riverine Herald, described the affair as "a tragedy unequalled in the history of the district" that "rudely disturbed the rural peace and quietude of life in the Tongala settlement".There is no footage of Young in happier times, with the ball at his feet. In the build-up to the 1906 Cup final, the Echo described him as "a variable sort of man who plays one good game in three on average", and whose "determination makes up for a lack of skill at times". Either he improved markedly thereafter or the writer didn't watch a lot of football, for by the time he was sold in 1911, after a decade at the club, the very thought of him leaving prompted unprecedented protests."I have been a regular attender at the Everton matches since the days of Dick and Dobson [in the 1880s], and I unhesitatingly affirm that Sandy Young is the greatest forward that has ever played under the club's colours. Young has been and still is the club's greatest asset," wrote one fan in the Liverpool Echo."A vast number of supporters will refrain from visiting Goodison Park next season if their favourite is missing from the home ranks," sniffed another. "I myself (22 years a supporter) and many friends, Everton followers, have expressed the determination to withdraw our support if Sandy is not re-signed." He was not re-signed, but was cheered to the rafters when he returned that September, in Tottenham's colours, and scored in a 2-2 draw. "Of all the receptions I have ever heard that day's volume led the lot," reported the Echo."He was known for his intricate yet easily-performed dribbling," the paper wrote, on the day he sailed for Australia in May 1914. "His dribbling was fashioned after the old school of dribbling, and the present age would be all the better for a little genius on the part of the forwards." In 1926 the Mirror declared him "probably the greatest football artist in the mud we have had or are likely to have"."Young has a capital idea of centre-forward play, and under certain conditions can wreak havoc on an opposing defence," read a profile in a 1904 match programme. "In distributing the play to his wings Young has few superiors [and] whether success attends his efforts or not, he enters into the spirit of every game, takes his hard knocks in the true stoical fashion, and comes up with the same pleasant smile and good-humoured intent."It is hard to know precisely what to believe about Sandy Young's on-field behaviour. After his arrest Lloyd's Weekly, a Sunday newspaper of the time, wrote that Young was "pugnacious by temperament" and "never quite happy unless he was allowed to have his own way". "This, no doubt, was the reason why he so often appeared to be playing with a grievance," they wrote.In what comes as a blow to their reputation for trustworthiness they also called that 1906 FA Cup final "one of the best matches the national competition has produced". That certainly wasn't true: the Guardian's match report insisted that "for half an hour and more the play was of the poorest description" and that Everton won "not so much because they played brilliantly as because Newcastle were so woefully weak". The Times wrote that "the only satisfaction about the match was that on the day the worse side lost".Also in 1915 the Liverpool Echo described Young as a "very sombre man" who was "very highly strung" and "had peculiar habits". "He would live alone, as far as possible, and many a time when out training he slinked off to some long walk, and no one would get a word out of him," they reported. "A curious temperament was Sandy's and there were periods (when he stroked the single lock of hair that adorned his forehead) which suggested that he suffered severe pains in the head."The following year they wrote that "in Liverpool the feeling is freely expressed that Sandy Young was very highly strung". When defending Young's sale to a meeting of shareholders in 1911, Everton's chairman, Dr James Baxter, cryptically told the crowd that "there were many things that came to the knowledge of the directors that were quite unknown to the shareholders".Reports of the player's mental health cannot have been too wide of the mark, for the minutes of a meeting of Everton's board of directors in January 1916 show that, having discussed Young's recent arrest, they resolved to send a cable "intimating that we could testify to Young's mental unsoundness".They later wrote to the mayor of Tongala, saying that they "can and desire to submit medical and other testimony to prove the fact that Young is and has been mentally unsound". As a result of their intervention, the charge against Sandy Young was downgraded from murder to manslaughter.Young's attempt to take his own life resulted only in superficial damage to a cheek, and did not delay his trial for long. At its end the jury took less than an hour to find him guilty, and he was sentenced to three years in prison. His time was to be divided between Pentridge Penitentiary, French Island – Australia's koala-strewn answer to Alcatraz back then, though many years later Kylie Minogue was to build a £1m holiday home there – and Ararat Lunatic Asylum. Clean shaven when he went inside, by the time of his release he had cultivated a handsome beard.He was no longer in a position to lend anyone else large sums of money. Already he had needed to ask Everton and the citizens of Liverpool for assistance in settling his £200 legal bill. Just before his release he wrote again to Everton's board asking for money, and was sent £20.At one point a story did the rounds suggesting that Young had been hanged in Australia for cattle-rustling. In fact he was released in July 1919, and in May 1920 boarded the SS Ceramic – which in 1912 had been the first boat built by the White Star Line after Titanic, and was destined to be sunk by a German U-boat – back to England.Young lived in Britain for another 39 years, though what he did in that time – beyond sending very occasional letters to Everton asking for money – remains a mystery. He died in September 1959, at the age of 79, in an Edinburgh mental institution. His passing was considered considerably less newsworthy than his brother's, but it gave the two one last thing in common: neither man could afford a gravestone. Instead blank patches of earth in Edinburgh and Echuca bear silent testimony to this tragically fractured family.In May 1911, after his sale to Tottenham, James Baxter promised shareholders that Young would be looked after. To applause from the floor, he said that "Everton have never treated their players like oranges" and pledged that "at the proper time his services would not be forgotten".The club are making good on that promise 102 years later and, having been made aware that he is buried in an unmarked grave, told the Guardian this week that preliminary work has started on a memorial that they hope will be completed and in place by September 2014.

 

[Coach]

Piece in the Echo now too......

Everton's history won't be forgetten
"Everton have never treated their players like oranges,” Blues director Dr James Baxter declared on May 22, 1911.
It was a colourful statement designed to defuse a red hot situation.
Dr Baxter was addressing Everton shareholders at the Exchange Station Hotel unhappy at the sale of crowd favourite Alex ‘Sandy’ Young to Tottenham for £500.
The Scot, at the time, was Everton’s all-time leading scorer and the hero of their first FA Cup triumph in 1906.
But, according to Dr Baxter: “There were many things that came to the knowledge of the directors that were quite unknown to the shareholders.” And he tried to appease the disgruntled Blues by pledging that “at the proper time Young’s services would not be forgotten.”
That time, it seems, is now.
The Blues’ present board – which includes Jon Woods, a direct descendant of Dr Baxter – have agreed to support an Everton Heritage Society initiative to restore Young’s unmarked grave in Edinburgh with a permanent memorial.
The Heritage Society is a group of Everton enthusiasts created several years ago with a self-appointed brief to become a reference point for all historical Everton enquiries.
But now they are extending their influence to preserve and celebrate the memory of influential figures from the club’s history.
They tracked down Young’s unmarked grave in Seafield Cemetery, where he is interred in a grave which also contains a 92-year-old man and a six month old child, both Italian, laid to rest by the local poor house.
And now they plan to erect a gravestone to mark the final resting place of a troubled character.
Which begs the question: Just how did a celebrated former international footballer come to receive a pauper’s burial?
Young’s tale is, ultimately, a tragic one.
The minutes of Everton’s board meeting of May 1911 record that Young received 35% of £400 from the £500 paid by Spurs for his services.
The same year he purchased a farm in Australia with his brother John, presumably using that windfall.
He moved there himself in 1914, at the end of his playing career, but a turbulent business partnership turned tragic when Alex shot and killed his brother following the latest in a series of heated rows about money – then turned the gun on himself, grazing his cheek.
With the benefit of hindsight, publications began to query the behaviour Young had exhibited during his playing career.
After his arrest Lloyd’s Weekly, a Sunday newspaper, wrote that Young was “pugnacious by temperament” and “never quite happy unless he was allowed to have his own way. This, no doubt, was the reason why he so often appeared to be playing with a grievance.”
The Echo added that Young was a “very sombre man” who was “very highly strung” and “had peculiar habits.
“He would live alone, as far as possible, and many a time when out training he slinked off to some long walk, and no one would get a word out of him.
“A curious temperament was Sandy’s and there were periods (when he stroked the single lock of hair that adorned his forehead) which suggested that he suffered severe pains in the head.”
That Young suffered mental health issues was evident.
In January 1916, having discussed Young’s arrest at a board meeeting, Blues directors resolved to send a cable to Australia “intimating that we could testify to Young’s mental unsoundness.”
They later wrote to the mayor of Tongala, saying that they “can and desire to submit medical and other testimony to prove the fact that Young is and has been mentally unsound.”
The charge against Young was subsequently downgraded from murder to manslaughter.
He was sentenced to three years in prison – his time divided between Pentridge Penitentiary, French Island and Ararat Lunatic Asylum.
He was released in July 1919, and in May 1920 boarded the SS Ceramic back to England.
Young lived in Britain for another 39 years, though what he did in that time – beyond sending very occasional letters to Everton asking for money – remains a mystery.
He died in September 1959, at the age of 79, in an Edinburgh mental institution and was buried in the unmarked grave.
His status would have remained thus – but for the intervention of the Heritage Society.
Society member Paul Wharton’s detective work in tracking down Young’s final resting place is worthy of comparison with another celebrated sleuth of that era, Sherlock Holmes.
“Tony Onslow, who has written books about the era, reported that Alex Young was buried in Seafield Cemetery, but when I travelled up there I booked into the Robbie Burns Hotel, whose address is 41 Abercorn Terrace,” said Paul.
“Next door was 43 Abercorn Terrace, formerly a mental institute, and by coincidence was the very place where Alex Young died.
“It’s now a private residence owned by Gareth Rudd. When I asked him if he felt uncomfortable with the building’s history he said ‘Not at all, good spirits are here.’ ”
Paul added: “As a courtesy we are going to try and track down the families of the other individuals in the grave.
“But it will be some time before we can uncover a proper medical diagnosis of Alex ‘Sandy’ Young.
“By law individuals have to have been dead for 75 years before Scottish Health Records can be released.
“But we will pay due respect to his memory. The gravestone will have his name and details on and a picture of his FA Cup winner’s medal.
“And we’d love to have Andy Gray, Alex Young (the sixties idol of the same name), Graeme Sharp and Duncan Ferguson present at the graveside when we place the gravestone next September.”
Alex Young’s story may finally have a satisfying postscript.
All queries about the work of the Everton Heritage Society to info@efcheritagesociety.com

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/royal-blue-everton-fc-preserving-6177603