Rollo, Alex

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Fullname:Alex Rollo
Born: 18 Sep 1926
Died: 5 Oct 2004
Birthplace: Dumbarton
Signed: 10 Oct 1948
Left: 30 Apr 1954 (free); 25 May 1954 (to Kilmarnock)
Position: Full-back, defence
Debut: Motherwell 2-1 Celtic, League, 6 Jan 1951
Internationals: Scottish League
International Caps: 1

Biog

Dumbarton born & Possil-raised Alex Rollo arrived at Celtic just after the nadir of the 1947-48 season when incredibly Celtic were perilously close to being relegated. A clean sweep and overhaul of the club was expected, and he was one of the players brought in to help shore up the defence and help turn the club around.

He was spotted at his junior club, Ashfield, and soon signed up for what was to be a long development period. Prior to Celtic, he had been a part of St Theresa’s Possilpark BG team, Ashfield Juniors and Springburn Utd.

Celtic in this era was simply a tough place for any young aspiring player to try to make a name for themselves, and he had to wait till 1951 to  make his debut, a 2-1 defeat to Motherwell in January 1951, taking the place of Roy Milne following the defeat to Rangers in the Ne’er Day derby the week before. This started his run, but it was never going to be easy to help turn Celtic around, as it proved as Celtic lost the next two games and ended up having to wait till February 17th for a league title victory.

Despite that frustrating start for Alex Rollo, he was to play a part in the Scottish Cup title winning run in that season. A key 1-0 victory over Motherwell in the final, as Celtic finally landed the club’s first piece of major silverware for almost a generation (since 1938).  Then he was part of the US Tour playing a number of games.

Alex Rollo remained a regular player for Celtic, but the defence he played along with was struggling, conceding more in the league the next season than the team scored (55 conceded 52 scored). That Scottish Cup title victory the season before was to be a bit of a chimera, as Celtic continued to struggle, finishing ninth in the league.

Despite that, he won his only international honours on 26th September 1951, playing for the Scottish League side in a 3-0 victory over The Irish League.

Tragically, on 4th February 1952, he had what could only be best described as just one of those games. Celtic were playing Third Lanark in the Scottish Cup first round as holders. Alex Rollo picked up an injury just before half time but he came on for the second half limping heavily. Baillie went to left back, Peacock to left half and Collins with Rollo out on the right wing.  Despite the injury, Rollo then scored an invaluable equaliser with a headed goal from a Walsh cross. However, after 4 minutes Rollo had to retire and Celtic played on with 10 men, and eventually lost in extra-time. Worst was that Rollo was to be out for the rest of the season, and from thereon in he actually played few games in his remaining two seasons at Celtic.

On his return to the first team in he league, he had one of his most notable moments in September 1952, when he scored the winning goal v Rangers in a 2-1 victory, scoring via a mis-hit cross. However, celebrations were muted as just three days earlier, his Celtic team-mate Jackie Millsopp had died with a burst appendix, and the funeral had been the morning of this match. The game took place during the disgraceful questioning of Celtic flying the “Eire” flag.

Incredibly that win v Rangers was to be the last victory he would be involved in with Celtic in the league. He would only play in one more Celtic victory with Celtic in the Scottish Cup or league cup, a 4-0 win v Eyemouth Utd in the first round of the Scottish Cup.

In retrospect, it seemed as if he was cursed, but despite the difficult time, he did play a part to help revitalise Celtic who had admittedly been on the decline previously for over a generation.

He was an invaluable part of the successful Celtic squad that won the celebrated Coronation Cup in 1953, beating the best in the UK including Manchester Utd & Arsenal, whilst in the final v Hibernian in front of 117,00 he was in direct opposition to one of the great wingers of all time – Gordon Smith, and he helped to neutralise the threat.

It was a seminal moment for Celtic in their road to redemption, but following on from that, Alex Rollo was to sadly play only a small part in the league title winning campaign of 1953-54.

His last games were a humiliating 5-2 defeat away to Aberdeen in the league cup (August 1953) and then a 2-1 defeat v Queen of the South in the league (October 1953).  His last victory with Celtic was a 1-0 win over Queen’s Park in the Glasgow Cup first round (August 1953).

In total he played 59 times for Celtic in the major domestic competitions and scored two goals in those matches.

He reportedly gave up on football in 1955 to become a window cleaner! However he return to the playing fields when he moved to Kilmarnock under ex-Celt Callum McDonald which was to be a golden era for the club. He moved to Dumbarton in 1956 but then to Workington Town in 1957, where he spoke with pride about his time at Celtic. He also had a short spell at Sligo Rovers as a player-coach from 1960-62.

He retired from play back in 1962, and became a crane operator in Workington where he settled down.

Alex Rollo died in his adopted town of Workington on 5th October 2004.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

• 1951

St Mungo’s Cup

• 1951

Coronation Cup

• 1953

Trivia

• Alex’s no. 2 shirt was sold at auction in 2000 for £1150. [Christies]

Pictures

• Player Pics

Alex Rollo followed the well-beaten path of the aspiring footballer in the 1950s – sign for a junior team of good repute then step up to the seniors. He was born in Dumbarton on the 18th September, 1926 and raised in the Possil.

His junior club was Ashfield, then and long afterwards one of the aristocrats of the junior world, a club which played to five-figure gates in cup ties.

Alex Rollo was noticed by the Celtic scouts and his signing for them in 1948 at the age of 22 was the beginning of a long apprenticeship.

It was the time of long apprenticeships and it was January 1951 before he made the first team. It was the not the most auspicious debut and it involved a 3-1 defeat at Fir Park, in Motherwell.

The following three matches against Aberdeen, Hibernian and Dundee brought three more defeats for the team, but the newcomer held his place against the ebullient Roy Milne, who at that time seemed to have a permanent lease on the left-back position at Celtic.

There is a certain irony that this far-sighted persistence of the board should have taken place at a time when Celtic had scarcely ever been worse administered. The net result, however, was that 14 weeks later, Alex Rollo had a Scottish Cup medal following the defeat of Motherwell in the cup final of 1951.

He was a player whose career you wrote off at your peril. At a time when many great Scottish players had scarcely seen a cup medal, let alone won one, Alex Rollo had collected his after playing a mere 14 league games and seven Scottish Cup ties.

Rollo was, above all, an undemonstrative efficient brand of player. His career was still on an upward trend. He did not quite make full international status for Scotland but he was selected to play against the Irish league at Ibrox, and in such exalted circles, he did not look out of place.

He was not a prolific scorer because in his time fullbacks were not greatly encouraged to get to the other end of the pitch, but those goals that he did score normally had something remarkable about them. Of such a kind was his equaliser against Third Lanark on a snow-covered Cathkin Park. Celtic went on to lose that match but in two successes against Rangers, the winning goals were scored by Alex Rollo, who in one match was listed at outside-right and left-half. And yet, peculiarly, his position seemed frequently under threat and he had to fight off such challengers as John Jack and Joe Baillie.

The odd thing was that Celtic were winning comparatively little at this time, but when they did, Alex Rollo had a habit of cropping up in the team. Looking back over his career he certainly seems to have won anything that was worth winning except the big league title honours.

He was an invaluable member of the side that won the Coronation Cup in 1953, although his seat was in jeopardy, to use the political phrase. He was in the side that defeated Arsenal, said to be the finest team in Britain, Manchester United on the threshold of greatness and Hibs, long on the other side of that door. In the final against Hibs, he was in direct opposition to one of the great wingers of all time – Gordon Smith. Alex Rollo did not totally eliminate the danger from Gordon Smith – a fullback was not born who could do that apparently – but he jockeyed the great winger or – in the phrase of the day – defused him.

Alex Rollo left Parkhead on a free transfer having played one match in the Celtic flag-winning campaign of 1954, and he ended up under the watchful eye of another ex-Celt, Callum MacDonald of Kilmarnock. He approached the game from a very different direction from that of Jimmy McGrory, who was much more of a reaction manager at Celtic. Callum MacDonald was precise and scholarly, and now in the early-1950s, embarking on a plan that subsequently lifted Killie to their heights. After two seasons with Kilmarnock he left to join Dumbarton for a season before moving south of the border to join Workington Town for 3 seasons. He spent a couple of seasons in Ireland with Sligo Rovers before retiring to Workington in 1962.

It was a frustrating time for Celtic – the side was full of good players such as Neil Mochan, Bobby Collins, Bertie Peacock, not to mention Willie Fernie, but the net result was always much less than the sum of its parts. Had Alex Rollo stayed for another two years at Parkhead, he could have continued to work and help forge a side alongside the inspirational Jock Stein. As it was, he had had a very satisfactory career without, in his early days at least, being exposed to much in the way of an adequate club or team structure.

Alex Rollo died in his adopted town of Workington on 5th October 2004.

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