Born in Nottingham, England, he was the manager of League Two side Macclesfield Town at the time of his death, in a career that included international appearances for Saint Lucia.

His eldest son, Matthew Alexander, is a FIFA licensed Football agent and works with many top flight players.

He was believed at the time of his death to have been the first full-time black professional manager in the Football League, though this was in fact Tony Collins at Rochdale in 1960.

[7] In March 1979, Alexander joined Stamford from Alfreton Town and scored the first goal in the club's 2–0 FA Vase final win over Guisborough Town in April 1980 as the side won the unique treble of United Counties League Championship, League Cup and FA Vase during the 1979–80 season.

During his time at Kettering, Alexander had a brief, but successful, loan spell at Wisbech Town, and was instrumental in the club's FA Vase run that year – scoring a hat-trick against Harwich & Parkeston in a 5–0 win on his debut, followed by a goal in the semi-final against Southall.

He earned his move from non-league to the Football League when then-Grimsby manager Alan Buckley saw Alexander playing for Barnet, and subsequently signed him for £11,500.

After a short spell as Lincoln City manager, he played a couple more games for Mansfield Town, before joining Northern Ireland outfit Cliftonville on loan.

[15] He returned to his parent club, Mansfield, at the end of the season and made one further appearance the following year; coming on as a substitute in a game against Exeter City in January 1996.

[14] With his playing career winding down, Alexander was appointed youth team coach for Lincoln City, during which time he developed the likes of Darren Huckerby and Matt Carbon.

Alexander orchestrated a great escape to steer Victoria away from relegation and to keep the club in the top tier of non-league football.

With Lincoln entering administration at the end of the 2001–02 season, Buckley was relieved of his duties as manager on financial grounds[23] and Alexander placed in charge of all football matters.

On 3 May 2002 Lincoln successfully petitioned to go into administration[24] but the financial crisis would leave the first team squad bereft of players as the day saw five senior players – Jason Barnett, Grant Brown, David Cameron, Steve Holmes and Justin Walker – released at the end of their contracts[25] with a sixth, Lee Thorpe, departing for Leyton Orient.

[27] Three other senior players, Tony Battersby,[28] Kingsley Black,[29] and Ian Hamilton,[30] would later leave the club by mutual consent as their contracts, including appearance money, had made them too expensive for Alexander's plans.

[31] Remaining at the club were former Tottenham Hotspur youngsters Alan Marriott and Peter Gain, Northern Ireland B international centre-back Paul Morgan along with midfielders Adam Buckley, Mark Camm and Ben Sedgemore and wing-backs Mark Bailey and Stuart Bimson and Alexander complemented their talents with a series of signings from outside of the Football League.

After just one week in the job, Alexander completed his first two signings bringing Ben Futcher and Dene Cropper to the club on initial one-year contracts.

Alexander had been accompanied by his assistant Gary Simpson on a scouting mission that evening but felt ill on returning home and retired to bed.

His wife later called an ambulance and Alexander was rushed to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in time for potentially life saving surgery.

Veteran Stuart Bimson had moved on, to Cambridge United, and youngster Paul Mayo was sold to Watford for an initial £75,000, but the acquisitions of Jamie McCombe, Marcus Richardson, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Francis Green and loanee Kevin Ellison meant that they finished in the play-off places.

During the close season Simon Yeo, Richard Butcher and Peter Gain chose to leave the club, whilst Gary Taylor-Fletcher was surprisingly released amid speculation about his conduct.

Alexander's managerial career at Peterborough got off to a fine start, recording a 4–1 win over Bristol Rovers on the first day of the season,[37] as well as knocking out Championship side Ipswich Town in the League Cup two weeks later.

[51] Alexander, who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2003 when manager of Lincoln City, was taken to hospital before a match in March 2009 after complaining of feeling unwell but was later given a clean bill of health.

[56] Macclesfield Town chairman, Mike Rance, paid an emotional tribute to Alexander, stating "it was perhaps fitting that the last conversation we had was about football".

[58][59] Grimsby Town also had opened up the gates of their stadium to allow fans to lay flowers and memorabilia for Alexander in front of the Pontoon stand.

[67][68][69][70] After the game, Richard Butcher, who played under Alexander for Lincoln City, Peterborough United, and Macclesfield Town said "there are a few tears in that dressing room now.

[80][81] In October 2010, Alexander was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Black List celebratory evening at Wembley, highlighting the influence of African Caribbean figures in British football.