Alexander "Alec" McClure (3 April 1892 – August 1973) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er who played as a centre-half

Defender (football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

. He played for Birmingham

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 both before and after the First World War, making 198 appearances in all competitions, and helped them to the championship of the Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 in 1920–21

1920-21 in English football

The 1920–21 season was the 46th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The Football League Third Division is introduced, expanding the League's operational radius south of Birmingham...

.

Born in Workington

Workington

Workington is a town, civil parish and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England, at the mouth of the River Derwent. Lying within the Borough of Allerdale, Workington is southwest of Carlisle, west of Cockermouth, and southwest of Maryport...

, Cumberland

Cumberland

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....

, McClure was a powerful player with good positional ability, who captained the reserve team

Reserve team

Large professional sports clubs often have far more players under contract than could possibly play in a match. As a result, many of these clubs create second teams composed of players who need playing time, but have little hope of playing on the first team. The players on this second team are...

 before establishing himself as club captain and linchpin of the first team's defence. He played for the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 XI in 1921–22

1921-22 in English football

The 1921–22 season was the 47th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The league underwent a major expansion for the second consecutive season, adding 20 teams from the Midlands and Northern England. They were placed in the new Third Division North, and the existing southern-based...

 against the Irish Football League. After leaving Birmingham he went on to play for four other Midlands

English Midlands

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

 teams, Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

, Stoke

Stoke City F.C.

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

, Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 and Walsall

Walsall F.C.

Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...

. On retiring from playing he worked for short periods as trainer at various clubs, including trainer of Birmingham's juniors, and in 1932 he was appointed assistant manager of the club under Leslie Knighton

Leslie Knighton

Albert Leslie Knighton was an English football manager.Knighton was born in Church Gresley, Derbyshire. His own playing career was cut short by injury, after which he moved into coaching and management...

 and later under George Liddell

George Liddell

George M. Liddell was an English professional association football player and manager.-Biography:...

. After leaving football he worked for Rudge motorcycles and went on to run a successful haulage business in Small Heath, Birmingham

Small Heath, Birmingham

Small Heath is an inner-city area within the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is situated on and around the A45 ....

.

During the First World War McClure served in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 and was involved in the Zeebrugge Raid

Zeebrugge Raid

The Zeebrugge Raid, which took place on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to neutralize the key Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge...

. He died in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

at the age of 81.