Ex-Imp Legend Keith Alexander Passes

3rd March 2010

Today is a sad day in the history of football as former Lincoln City FC player and manager Keith Alexander has died suddenly.

Now, I do not normally write obituaries as if you get it wrong then it looks insincere, but I want to write a bit; apologies if it goes wrong.

Keith was an absolute legend at Lincoln City FC as a manager. He didn't quite reach the standards of legendary player but he came to the club when The Imps were close to the bottom of Football League in January 1991 for £5,000. At the time, I thought it was a good signing as Keith had built up a good striking reputation in non-league football prior to becoming a Football League player with Grimsby Town in 1988.

Keith scored 4 goals for Lincoln in 52 appearances although he was mainly used a substitute. By now, he was coming to the end of his playing career but he did his bit to keep us in the league.

He was soon appointed as youth team coach at Lincoln and made a good reputation for himself in this position, cultivating players such as Matt Carbon and Dean West. After then manager Steve Thompson left Sincil Bank in 1993, Keith was appointed first team manager. He began well in his debut season but as the season progressed, Lincoln started falling down the table. His excellent start to the season was not sufficient to keep him in the job and he was sacked in 1994. He was now forced to learn the managerial trade from the bottom, going on to become a success at Ilkeston Town and then Northwich Victoria.

Keith was brought back to Lincoln City in 2001 as assistant-manager to Alan Buckley. It was a brief partnership as Buckley was made redundant when Lincoln entered administration in April 2002.

I can remember the dark days of 2002 when the future of Lincoln City was at stake. Although, supporters and board members rallied to ensure that the club survived. it is arguably Keith that saved the club the most, as in summer 2002, The Imps hardly had any quality players on their books and were unable to pay much for new ones. This is where Keith honed his reputation in management as he used his contacts to group together mainly non-league players and league rejects into a Lincoln City squad.

However, players such as Dene Cropper, Simon Yeo, Ben Futcher and Simon Weaver were unknown quantities and on the face of it: relegation fodder. Somehow, Keith managed to mould these rejects and unknowns into a team that not only survived relegation but did the impossible by qualifying for the 2002/03 League Two Play-off Final.

Sadly, Lincoln lost the final to Bournemouth; The Imps would go on to qualify for the play-offs for four consecutive seasons under Keith. Alas, his low budget squad would be denied promotion on all four occasions. This is an achievement in itself but made even more remarkable as Keith suffered a brain aneurysm in November 2003. It was a very worrying period for Keith, his family and Lincoln City supporters who kept tabs on his progress via regular medical bulletins on a LCFC internet website. It was later revealed that he had to be brought back to life three times.

Keith departed Lincoln in May 2006, five months after a row that had seen him placed on gardening leave by the club before being re-instated. After Lincoln he had spells as manager of Peterborough United and Director of Football at Bury.

In 2008, Keith was appointed as manager of Macclesfield Town, a job that he held to his death today.

Macclesfield chairman Mike Rance has paid tribute to Keith by saying: "We're all absolutely devastated. I spoke to Keith last night at about 11.15pm after our game at Notts County and he was in good spirits because, although we lost, we had given a team chasing promotion a good game."

Hours later, Keith would collapse at home according to reports. He was aged just 53.

If there is one thing that we can all do to honour the memory of Keith, then it is to live life to the full as you never know when death will come.

Finally, I would like to pass condolences of myself and - I'm sure that I speak for all The Forgotten Imps' readers - the condolences of TFI's readers to Keith's family.