Keith Alexander was one of football's good guys - so much so that there was hardly ever anyone that had a bad word to say about him.
As a player, the Nottingham-born striker earned his stripes turning out for a host of non-league clubs, including King's Lynn, Kettering Town and Barnet.
His persistence was rewarded in 1988 when Grimsby Town manager Alan Buckley offered Alexander a move into the Football League, before he undertook stints with Stockport County and Lincoln City, where he would become the first black manager of his generation in the summer of 1993.
After 12 months at Sincil Bank, Alexander departed Lincoln and despite brief playing spells with Mansfield Town and Cliftonville, he was appointed the boss of Ilkeston Town in 1996. Widely regarded to be the most successful manager in the club's history, Alexander moved on to another non-league side in the form of Northwich Victoria in the year 2000.
He returned to Lincoln as director of coaching in 2001, but with the club in crisis, he was reappointed to the hotseat in 2002. In November 2003, Alexander collapsed with a double aneurysm, revealing afterwards that he had to be brought back to life three times. Having undergone surgery, he went back to work three months later and remained with Lincoln until 2006, when he took on a new challenge with Peterborough United.
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Despite adding the likes of George Boyd, Aaron McLean and Craig Mackail-Smith to the squad at London Road, Alexander was sacked in January 2007. In May of that year he became the director of football at Bury, before being named the new manager of Macclesfield Town in February 2008.
Having kept The Silkmen in the Football League, Alexander was rewarded with a new two-year contract in January 2010. Just two months later, though, and on this day, 53-year-old Alexander collapsed at his Lincoln home after his team had played Notts County. He was rushed to hospital, but could not be saved.
Paying tribute to Alexander, Macclesfield chairman Mike Rance said: "We're all absolutely devastated. I spoke to Keith last night at about 11.15pm after our game at Notts County and he was in good spirits because, although we lost, we had given a team chasing promotion a good game.
"We were chatting about an FA hearing after he had a row with a referee at Bournemouth, which just shows how passionate he was about the game. It was perhaps fitting that the last conversation we had was about football."
Meanwhile, Peterborough's director of football Barry Fry added: "I really can't believe it. I'd been worried lately about his health but he assured me he was fine. He recently had a bout of hiccups that he couldn't get rid of and he went into hospital for that, but he wasn't feeling ill when I spoke to him last, he was bubbly.
"He'd had a few days off but he couldn't wait to get back on the training pitch. You won't find a more dedicated man at any club, he always gave 150%. I feel so sad for his family."
Liam Apicella
