Alex Dawson was born in Aberdeen in 1940. Alex started his career as a trainee with Manchester United under Matt Busby in the mid 1950s.
He was given his First Division debut as a 17-year-old on 22 April 1957, when he scored in a 2–0 home win over Burnley in the First Division. He also found the net in United’s next two league games against Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion. These games came after United had sealed the First Division title for a second successive season.
In 1957-58, he made just one appearance during the first six months of the season, but then came the Munich air disaster. He was on the scoresheet in United’s first game after the crash, scoring one of United’s goals in a 3–0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the fifth round of the FA Cup, He remained a regular player in the team until the season’s end, scoring a hat-trick against Fulham in the FA Cup semi-final replay at Highbury. He was in the team for the final against Bolton Wanderers, but United lost 2–0.
He faced competition for a first-team place from new signings which restricted him to 11 appearances in 1958-59. The subsequent two seasons saw Alex enjoy more regular first team action, and in the 1960-62 season he scored 20 goals in all competitions.
He left United for Preston North End in 1961 after scoring 54 goals in all competitions for the Red Devils. At Preston, he became known as the “Black Prince of Deepdale” and featured in their FA Cup Final team. He scored in the final as Preston lost 3–2 to West Ham United.
He later played for Bury, Brighton & Hove Albion (1968-71, 65 appearances, 29 goals) and Brentford.