Alan Main

Alan Main

Main celebrating St. Johnstone's promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2009.
Personal information
Full name	Alan David Main
Date of birth	(1967-12-05) 5 December 1967 (age 44)
Place of birth	Elgin, Scotland
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Elgin City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1986–1995	Dundee United	152	(0)
1988	→ Cowdenbeath (loan)	3	(0)
1988	→ East Stirlingshire (loan)	2	(0)
1995–2003	St. Johnstone	233	(0)
2003–2004	Livingston	15	(0)
2004–2007	Gretna	61	(0)
2007–2010	St. Johnstone	75	(0)
2010	Ayr United	1	(0)
National team‡
1988–1989	Scotland under-21	3	(0)
1998	Scotland B	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 June 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 April 2009

Alan David Main (born 5 December 1967 in Elgin, Moray) is a Scottish football goalkeeper.

Main made his debut in the Highland Football League aged just fifteen and went on to a professional career exceeding twenty years. He has played for Dundee United, Cowdenbeath, East Stirlingshire, St. Johnstone, Livingston, Gretna and Ayr United. Main won the Scottish League Cup with Livingston and three Scottish Football League divisional medals. He also earned runners-up medals from the Scottish Cup and the UEFA Cup, having been part of the Dundee United squad that reached the 1987 final of the latter during his first professional season.

He began his second spell with St. Johnstone in 2007, and during the 2008–9 season helped them win promotion to the Scottish Premier League as well as breaking the club's all time appearance record.

Despite having been called up the Scotland squad, Main was never capped at full international level. He did however represent Scotland in under-21 and B international fixtures.

Career

Main began his professional career with Lossiemouth his local club Highland League Club before transferring to neighbours and fellow Highland Club, Elgin City. From Elgin City he was transferred to Dundee United, making his début as a nineteen-year old. He spent nine years at Tannadice, mostly under manager Jim McLean, even making Andy Roxburgh's Scotland squad. Due to make his début against Malta, he hurt his back and required an operation that kept him out of action for nine months.

Main signed for Dundee United's Tayside rivals St. Johnstone in 1995 as competition for Saints' then first-choice goalkeeper Andy Rhodes. Known for his long kicks and dribbling skills outside his box, Main signed a three-year deal with the Perth club in 1997 and was again called up to the Scotland squad (this time by Craig Brown) not long afterwards. He made the substitutes' bench twice, but with Jim Leighton and Andy Goram ahead of him in the pecking order, he never took to the field.

Main broke his shin in a September 2001 game against Motherwell^[1] and was out of the game for over a year, missing Saints' relegation to the First Division. Main returned to first-team action in October 2002, despite Kevin Cuthbert – Main's deputy – having just won the First Division Player of the Month award.^[2] Four months after returning to first-team football, Main ended his nine-year association with the Perth club and returned to the Premier League with Livingston.^[3]

In February 2004, Main was one of a number of players affected by financial problems at Livingston and was asked to take a pay cut to remain at the club.^[4] Within days, Celtic indicated their interest in signing Main.^[5] Along with the other five players asked to accept reduced terms, Main agreed to remain at Livingston for the remainder of the season.^[6]

Following the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Main joined Scottish Third Division side Gretna on a three-year deal and went on to feature in each of their consecutive championship wins, culminating in promotion to the Scottish Premier League. Main guested for Shamrock Rovers in a friendly against Hibernian in July 2005.^[7] On 6 March 2007, two months before Gretna's promotion to the top flight, it was announced that Main had signed a pre-contract agreement with his former club St. Johnstone on a two-year deal.^[8]

Despite turning 41 in 2008, Alan Main was still the number one keeper for St. Johnstone going into 2009. In April 2009, Main overtook Drew Rutherford to become the player with the most appearances for the club. He also signed a one-year contract extension until May 2010, making him a part of the squad promoted back to the Scottish Premier League for the first time in seven years. At 42, Main was the oldest registered player in the Scottish Premier League during the 2009-10 season.^[9]

Main started in the first nine SPL games of the 2009–10 season before being edged out by former Kilmarnock and Rangers goalkeeper Graeme Smith, who had missed the early part of the season due to an injury sustained in a pre-season match. Main remained on the substitutes' bench after Smith made his way into the starting line-up, and was released by St. Johnstone at the end of the 2009-10 season.^[10] on Tuesday 17 August, Main joined Second Division side Ayr United, on an emergency loan deal.

In recognition of his achievements and services to St. Johnstone over his 2 spells at the club, a series of events were planned for throughout 2010 as part of Alan's testimonial year. These events included a race night and also a hosted dinner. Alan was also granted a testimonial match against a Manchester United XI Manchester which was played at McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park on Saturday 31 July 2010.

On 21 August 2010, Main appeared as a trialist goalkeeper for Ayr United and kept a clean sheet in their 1-0 victory over Dumbarton.^[11] At 42 years 259 days old, he became the oldest player ever to play for Ayr United. Main let Ayr manager Brian Reid that he would consider a permanent deal, but this did not come to fruition.

Career statistics

Honours

Dundee United

• UEFA Cup (Runner-up): 1

1986–87

• Scottish Cup (Runner-up): 1

1990–91

St. Johnstone

• Scottish First Division: 2

1996–97, 2008–09

• League Cup (Runner-up): 1

1998–99

• Challenge Cup: 1

2007–08

Livingston

• League Cup: 1

2003–04

Gretna

• Scottish Second Division: 1

2005–06

• Scottish Cup (Runner-up): 1

2005–06

• Scottish First Division: 1

2006–07

References

External links

• Official club website profile
• Alan Main career stats at Soccerbase