Alexander Morten
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 15 November 1831 | ||
| Place of birth | London, England | ||
| Date of death | 24 February 1900 (aged 68) | ||
| Place of death | Earls Court, England | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1863–1866 | N.N. Club | 0 | (0) |
| 1865–1874 | Wanderers | 0 | (0) |
| 1866–1874 | Crystal Palace | 0 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1870–1873 | Scotland | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Alexander Morten (some sources say "Alec Morten") (15 November 1831 – 24 February 1900) was a Scottish goalkeeper who captained the England team in its second official international, played against Scotland on 8 March 1873. He made his first international appearance for Scotland in 1870, before switching to England three years later.
Morten was born in Paddington, Middlesex on 15 November 1831. He married Flora Hedger (1833–1900) at St Peter's Church, Petersham, on 17 March 1855. They had six children, although two died in infancy. Morten was a stockbroker on the .
Morten was the first goalkeeper to captain the English international side and holds the twin distinctions of having been born at an earlier date than any other international footballer, and of being older than any other England player on his international debut. He was aged 41 years 113 days when he made his solitary England appearance on 8 March 1873. The oldest player to represent England was Stanley Matthews, who was aged 42 years 103 days when he played his final match on 15 May 1957.
England won Morten's solitary international by a score of 4–2, but the goalkeeper was coming to the end of his career and never played for his country again. Despite having been born in London, and having no apparent Scottish connections, Morten had earlier represented Scotland in the March 1870 international against England. According to the match report in "The Sporting Gazette" of Saturday 12 March 1870, Morten "proved a most efficient goal-keeper".
The Football Association secretary, Charles Alcock, wanted to field Morten as goalkeeper in the international match against Scotland in 1872, but injury prevented this, with the result that England played the first international with Robert Barker in goal for the first half, being replaced by William Maynard at some point in the second half.
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