Born in Dalziel, (Motherwell, Lanarkshire), McAlpine played for various local clubs, including Strathclyde where he was spotted by scouts from Southampton.
Swift was Southampton's first appointment as manager and promptly embarked on a spending spree, signing eleven players in six weeks.
[3] Playing alongside the ever-dependable Bert Lee, he became a virtual ever-present up to the suspension of football in 1915.
According to Holley & Chalk's "The Alphabet of the Saints", McAlpine was "rather small for a left half, (but) made up for his lack of stature with a determined and forceful temperament that made him a firm favourite with the Saints crowd.
He briefly returned to his native Scotland, playing for Kilmarnock and Wishaw Thistle.