Alan Rough

Infobox Football biography


playername = Alan Rough
fullname = Alan Roderick Rough
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1951|11|25
cityofbirth = Glasgow
countryofbirth = Scotland
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
nickname = Roughie
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs = Sighthill Amateurs
years = 1969–82
1982–88
1988
1988–89
1988–89
1989–90
1990–?

clubs = Partick Thistle
Hibernian
Orlando Lions
Celtic
Hamilton Academical
Ayr United
Glenafton Athletic
caps(goals) = 409 (0)
175 (0)
n / a
5 (0)
5 (0)
1 (0)
n / a
nationalyears = 1976-1986
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 53 (0)

Alan Roderick Rough (born November 25, 1951 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Partick Thistle and Hibernian. He was also a successful goalkeeper for the Scotland national team. After making his debut at the end of season 1969-70, he went on to play a total of 624 games for Thistle before his transfer to Hibs in 1982. He was a member of the Partick Thistle team that defeated Celtic 4-1 in the Scottish League Cup Final of 1971. After leaving Hibernian in 1988, where he was replaced by Andy Goram who had also by this time taken taken over Rough's Scotland jersey, he played in the U.S. with Orlando Lions, and also had spells with Celtic (covering for the injured Pat Bonner, Hamilton Academical and Ayr United before leaving senior football.

He played in two World Cup final stages for Scotland (1978 and 1982) in an international career that saw him play 53 times for his country. He kept a clean sheet in 16 of those games.

Despite being, at the time, Scotland’s most capped goalkeeper (this number has since been surpassed by Jim Leighton), Rough was often unfairly derided by critics, particularly in England, where Scottish goalkeepers are traditionally figures of fun. In fact, Rough was a brilliant reflex goalkeeper, especially during the early part of his career. Much of the derision is traceable to the fact that he played for Partick Thistle for so long, only moving to more high-profile clubs later on in his career. But it was often Rough’s skill alone which kept the score down to manageable proportions, particularly in games against Celtic and Rangers.

In the 1990s Rough had a successful spell as manager (initially player-manager) of junior club Glenafton Athletic. He is now a radio presenter with Real Radio for whom he presents a nightly football phone-in (which is also shown on Setanta Sports 2 on Wednesdays and Fridays), along with Ewen Cameron and also writes for the Scottish Daily Mirror.

References

* Rough, Alan "The Rough and the Smooth" (2006)