Man with memory for dates celebrates his own special one today

To label Alex Philp ‘The History Man’ would be quite an accurate description.

The current manager of CPD Mountain Rangers is perhaps best known in sporting circles for his tremendous work in commemorating the glorious past and present of Caernarfon Town Football Club.

Today marks another special date for Alex – his birthday.

Born on March 15, 1969, Alex hails from Dunfermline, Fife, but having spent most of his life in North Wales is regarded very much as a Cofi.

In recent years, Alex has published two outstanding books on Caernarfon Town’s history.

Local Heroes (2017) tells the story of Caernarfon’s post-war professional footballers.

The 19 players featured include former Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Wales striker Wyn Davies, ex-Wrexham defender Haydn Jones, who played for all of North Wales’ top non-league clubs and future Tranmere Rovers and Wales goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams.

There is also a section on female footballers from the Caernarfon area who made their mark on the international front.

Alex followed up a year later with C’mon The Town, an in-depth celebration of 12 glorious seasons in Caernarfon’s history.

As well as his writing skills, Alex is also renowned for organising nostalgia events, including the amazing reunion four years ago of Caernarfon Town’s squad which reached the FA Cup third round in 1986-87.

A director and academy coach at Caernarfon, Alex expanded his football activities in 2019-20 when he took over as manager of the revived CPD Mountain Rangers.

In a very promising debut season, the high-scoring Rhosgadfan side finished runners-up in the Anglesey League.

Alex has also played for a number of local clubs over the years.

His knowledge of Caernarfon Town is second to none. Whenever information on past and current players is needed, he is the go-to man and is always extremely helpful.

This popular postman also has a background in music, having been drummer of Welsh language band Amddiffyn in the 1980’s and 90’s. The group was influenced by the likes of The Smiths, R.E.M, The Cure Happy Mondays and Stone Roses.

One of the most common mistakes made when writing about Alex is the spelling of his surname. Every sub-editor worth their salt will question whether the reporter may have miss-spelled the name and it is actually PHILIP!

Personally, I had no problem with it, as I remember reading as a kid about Willie PHILP – a Scotsman who ended his playing career in the 1920’s in the United States representing New York Giants having signed from Cowdenbeath!

Jimmy Philp played for Heart of Midlothian, East Fife and Brechin City in the 1940’s and 50’s, while Ronny Philp is a Romanian who holds German nationality. He retired through injury this year – bet there is a Scottish connection somewhere down the line!

This birthday tribute only scratches the surface of what the man has been involved in and achieved, but hopefully it strikes a few tuneful chords.

Thanks for all your amazing support over the years Alex and a very happy birthday.