Biography
Tall striker Colin Alcide joined Hull City in February 1999 to add hold-up play and goals to the Tigers’ emerging escape from what had seemed inevitable relegation from the Football League just two months previously. A £50,000 fee was agreed between the clubs though his transfer was initially a loan while the terms of payment were sorted out with selling club Lincoln City. Difficulties with resolving the financial structure of the deal led to Alcide briefly returning to Sincil Bank in early March and starting a game for the Imps against Fulham, but within a week the funds were transferred and Alcide returned to Hull with his full transfer completed. By then Colin had already poked home a debut goal at Brentford that proved a significant watershed moment in City’s fight for survival, then followed up with a long range effort that secured an Easter Monday draw at Cardiff and another lunging finish a week later against Exeter City. Alcide led the line superbly for the remainder of the season as City pulled clear of the bottom two places in the League table, and while Alcide’s finishing was sometimes wayward his hard work and link up play were assured.
Alcide retained his place in the City first team at the start of the 1999/00 season and netted memorably in a League Cup tie against Liverpool at Anfield. But by November 1999 he had dropped to the bench and was looking for a way out when York City came knocking. Alcide spent only nine months on Hull City’s books but his crucial role in Warren Joyce’s Great Escape season means he was regarded warmly by fans from that era.
Colin James Alcide was born and raised in Huddersfield and as a teenager played in local league football for Britannia Sports and Bracken Hall United while also playing local league basketball for Deighton Dodgers. In September 1991 he was snapped up by upwardly mobile non-league side Emley and he combined playing at left back in the North East Counties League with working at a valve manufacturer in Birkby to the north of Huddersfield. In July 1992 Alcide followed his former sports school teacher and Emley manager Gerry Quinn to Conference National side Altrincham but by December 1992 he had returned to West Yorkshire and signed for Bradley Rangers, another Kirklees-based NCEL side. In August 1993 he turned full circle and returned to Emley, who were now elevated to the Northern Premier League, and was deployed in a variety of left sided positions as well as centre forward – this versatility assisted when he was chosen for a Football Association select squad to play Combined Services in January 1994, and a Northern Premier League XI in November 1994.
In December 1995 Alcide signed for John Beck’s League Division 3 side Lincoln City in return for a structured five figure fee, the Imps were a route one team suited to Colin’s hard working style of play. Forming a partnership with Leo Fortune-West, Alcide was an Imps’ first team regular for three years, hitting 31 goals in 140 senior appearances and securing a promotion out of League Division 3 in 1998. However by early 1999 he was in the midst of a contract dispute with Lincoln City and Hull City took the opportunity to swoop for his services.
Alcide left the Tigers and joined League Division 3 side York City in November 1999 for a £90,000 fee, after a debut goal against Shrewsbury Town he was a first team starter for two months. Early in 2000 he drifted out of the first team due to injury but returned to the first team picture for the 2000/01 season as York battled in the lower half of League Division 3 – by the 2001 close season Colin had scored eight goals in 53 appearances for the Minstermen. In June 2001 he joined League Division 2 side Cambridge United to reunite with John Beck, his former manager at Lincoln, but after just 11 senior appearances and another League Cup goal against elevated opposition – this time West Bromwich Albion – he suffered injuries that kept him out of the first team from December 2001 onwards.
At the start of the 2002/03 season Colin joined Northern Premier League Gainsborough Trinity and in November 2002 he had a short non-contract spell at League Division 3 side Exeter City, where he made his final Football League appearance before returning to The Northolme. In the 2004/05 season, short spells at Welsh League side TNS – where he made two UEFA Cup appearances against Swedish side Osters IF – and Lancashire non-league outfit Ashton United drew Colin’s senior playing career to a close. He settled back in his home town of Huddersfield and was still playing occasionally for West Riding County Amateur League side Bay United, a side he also managed, in his early 40s.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 14 April 1972, Huddersfield
Hull City First Game: 6 February 1999, Brentford A (League Division 3), 26 years, 298 days old
Hull City Final Game: 20 November 1999, Hayes A (FA Cup Second Round), 27 years, 220 days old
Clubs
Emley (1991-1992), Altrincham (1992), Bradley Rangers (1992-1993), Emley (1993-1995), Lincoln City (1995-1999), Hull City (1999, loan), Hull City (1999), York City (1999-2001), Cambridge United (2001-2002), Gainsborough Trinity (2002), Exeter City (2002), Gainsborough Trinity (2002-2004), TNS (2004), Ashton United (2004-2005)
Hull City Record
Career: 35 apps, 6 goals
Colin Alcide| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998/99 | 17 (0) | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1999/00 | 10 (2) | 1 | 0 (2) | 0 | 3 (1) | 2 | – | – | – | – |