In an incredible 50-year football career Alex Totten has seen service at some of Scotland's biggest and best-loved clubs — yet from his high-profile beginnings as a player at Liverpool under Bill Shankly to his first job in the dugout at lowly Alloa, his feet have remained firmly on the ground. After two years as assistant at Ibrox, the ever-popular 'Totts' took St Johnstone to the hallowed land of the Premier League. Sacked in bizarre circumstances, he immediately bounced back to take control of top-flight Kilmarnock, and even the second managerial 'red card' of his career couldn’t stop him guiding his beloved Falkirk to the Scottish Cup Final — against Killie — just months later. At Brockville, Totten met his greatest ever footballing challenge when the Bairns entered provisional liquidation. However, that was nothing compared to the battle of his life — against a medical condition known as the 'silent assassin'.
