Alex Leake
Leake in Birmingham colours
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander Leake | ||
| Date of birth | 11 July 1871 | ||
| Place of birth | Birmingham, England | ||
| Date of death | 29 March 1938 (aged 66) | ||
| Place of death | Birmingham, England | ||
| Playing position | Half back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| – | Hoskins & Sewell | ||
| – | Kings Heath Albion | ||
| – | Saltley Gas Works | ||
| – | Singer's | ||
| – | Hoskins & Sewell | ||
| 1892–1894 | Old Hill Wanderers | ||
| 1894–1902 | Small Heath | 199 | (21) |
| 1902–1907 | Aston Villa | 127 | (7) |
| 1907–1910 | Burnley | 81 | (2) |
| 1910–1911 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | ||
| National team | |||
| 1904–1905 | England | 5 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Alexander Leake (11 July 1871 – 29 March 1938), known as Alex or Alec Leake, was an English professional footballer who won five caps for his country and made 407 appearances in the Football League playing as a half back for Small Heath, Aston Villa and Burnley. After retiring from playing he took up coaching, both with professional clubs and at school level. He was a cousin of fellow Small Heath and England forward Jimmy Windridge.
Leake was born in Small Heath, Birmingham. After leaving school he trained as a blacksmith with Hoskins & Sewell, manufacturers of metal bedsteads, in the Bordesley district of Birmingham, and played for the works football team. He later helped Old Hill Wanderers win the championship of the Birmingham & District League in the 1893–94 season. His success with Old Hill did not go unnoticed, and he signed for Small Heath, newly promoted to the Football League First Division, in July 1894.
Leake made his Small Heath debut in October 1895 at left half, but from midway through that season (in which the club were relegated) for the following four years he rarely missed a game at centre-half. He was soon appointed captain. When he did suffer an injury early in the 1899–1900 season, inside forward Walter Wigmore was tried at centre-half, and by the time Leake regained fitness, his position was taken. He played the remainder of his Small Heath career at left-half or occasionally inside-left. He helped the club gain promotion back to the First Division in 1901, but left at the end of the 1901–02 season when they were relegated again. During this season he played in an England trial match and with clubmate Sid Wharton played for an England XI in an unofficial international against Germany. In a 1901 profile of the Small Heath club and players in the Daily Express, C.B. Fry wrote:
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