Alfie Conn, Sr.

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Personal information
Alfred Conn

Date of birth	October 2, 1926 (1926-10-02) (age 81)
Place of birth	Prestonpans, Scotland
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Playing position	Inside Forward
Youth clubs
	Prestonpans YMCA Inveresk Athletic
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1944-1958 1958-1960 1960	Hearts Raith Rovers Johnannesburg Ramblers	223 (115)
National team
1956	Scotland	001 00(1)
Teams managed
1960 1960-1962 1962-1963	Johnannesburg Ramblers Gala Fairydean Raith Rovers
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Alfred "Alfie" Conn (born 2 October 1926, in Prestonpans, East Lothian) was a Scottish professional footballer, most commonly remembered as part of the Terrible Trio of the Heart of Midlothian side of the 1950s, along with Willie Bauld and Jimmy Wardhaugh.

Conn joined Hearts from Inveresk Athletic in 1944, making his debut later that year in a 4-0 win over Dumbarton in a wartime Southern League match. He established himself in the first team in the 1948-49 season, when first combined with Bauld and Wardhaugh. Conn's energetic, tenacious style and powerful shooting perfectly complimented the cerebral play of Bauld and the dazzling dribbling of Wardhaugh, and their first match as a forward trio resulted in a 6-1 victory over East Fife.

The Terrible Trio continued to score freely in the following 5 seasons, Conn notching 102 goals, as Hearts became regular top 4 finishers, yet defensive inconsistency ensured they failed to collect any silverware.

Conn eventually won his first medal in 1954, when Hearts defeated Motherwell 4-2 in the League Cup Final. The following season, Conn scored as Hearts defeated Celtic 3-1 in the Scottish Cup Final, their first triumph in that competition for 50 years. A mere 2 weeks later, Conn attained his only Scotland cap, scoring in a 1-1 draw with Austria.

This pinnacle was quickly followed by the nadir of a serious ankle injury, however, and Conn managed only 15 league appearances over the following 2 seasons. He played a bit-part role in Hearts League title success in 1957-58 before transferring to Raith Rovers in search of regular 1st team football.

He retired in 1960, and had a brief spell as manager of both Gala Fairydean and Raith Rovers. After his footballing days were over, Conn had the pleasure of watching his son, Alfie junior, establish a successful footballing career of his own, notably with both Rangers and Celtic.

[edit] References

Hogan, Andrew (1995). Hearts in Art (Hardback), Mainstream. ISBN 1-85158-736-5.

[edit] External links

Appearances at londonhearts.com

v • d • e

Raith Rovers F.C. – Managers

Herdman (1945–61) • Shaw (1961–62) • Conn (1963–64) • Cowie (1963–64) • Farm (1964–67) • Walker (1967–69) • Millar (1969–70) • Baxter (1970–71) • Farm (1971–74) • Paton (1974–75) • Matthew (1975–78) • W.McLean (1978–79) • Wallace (1979–83) • Wilson (1983–86) • Connor (1986–90) • Nicholl (1990–96) • Thomson (1996) • T.McLean (1996) • Munro (1996–97) • Nicholl (1997–99) • McVeigh (1999) • Hetherston (1999–2001) • Scott (2001–02) • Calderon (2002–04) • Anelka (2004) • Dalziel (2004–06) • Levein (2006) • McGlynn (2006–)