Heroes are Forever: The Life and Times of Celtic Legend Jimmy McGrory

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While Maley was not the orchestrator of this whole debacle his willingness to assist so readily in the sale of McGrory does him no credit. He once attempted to play down the whole affair saying: “Arsenal wanted him very much. We left him to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. ‘No’ it was.” These may or may not help with Mr McGonigle’s enquiry. There were loads of such songs and poems – most of them sheer doggerel! As indeed with John Thomson. The 1930s were great times for such things. My father always recalled the great community singing at Celtic Park, likening it to a Welsh rugby crowd.

Celtic beat Motherwell 4-1 at Celtic Park on 9 April, and this was followed by a double header against Dundee over the Holiday Weekend. The Saturday game at Dens Park was a tight 3-2 victory with two goals from John Divers and one from Joe Carruth, and some good defensive work by Willie Lyon after Dundee scored with a penalty late in the second half to make it 3-2, but the game at Parkhead on the Monday was more one-sided. Celtic won this one 3-0. It was a game spoiled to an extent by “over-robust” Dundee defending (clearly there were some vendettas carried over from Saturday) but Willie Lyon scored with two penalties and John Divers scored the other goal. Time’s change and it’s different strokes for different folks. Football – and a love for a club – are often childhood gifts passed down through the generations. By the time you’re an adult and if football is your job, career choices can often be at odds with your love for the game, or indeed a particular football club. Not everyone is Jimmy McGrory, as we saw with Brendan Rodgers. If anything, the Scottish Cup runs are where Jimmy McGrory is most often referenced as that is where Celtic’s greatest successes became during this period, as the club had become a cup specialist side rather than a league title winner. This is a sad mark on Celtic from that time. With the tally of goals, Willie Maley should have been able to build a formidable enough side with some like Jimmy McGrory to take on everything. Jimmy McGrory fulfilled his part, Willie Maley & the board didn’t. He was from the Celtic stronghold of the old Garngad, and he cut his teeth playing for St Rochs. Maley, always on the lookout for new talent, was told of him and watched him. McGrory himself would say that he didn’t want to go to Celtic because of the pressure that would be put on him, but when the call came, he did not hesitate. “I grabbed my cap and ran all the way” he was reputed to have said. You don’t have to know too much about the life and career of James Edward McGrory to know why the player dubbed ‘The Human Torpedo’ became a Celtic hero.a b c Cuddihy, Paul (6 June 2014). "Ronny Deila is Celtic's No.17". Celtic FC . Retrieved 15 September 2015.

In 1954 Celtic won their first league and cup double for forty years, [75] and their first league title since 1938. [76] Celtic finished five points ahead of Hearts in the league and had the best defensive record in the division (only 29 goals conceded). [77] The Scottish Cup Final was contested between Celtic and Aberdeen. A keenly contested match was won by a Sean Fallon goal after excellent play from Willie Fernie. [58] [78] Jimmy McGrory was the top League goalscorer in Europe in seasons 1926-27 (49 goals) and 1935-6 (50 goals) Others come close to making the list with ten men achieving double figures, scoring for at least ten consecutive seasons. This includes three Lisbon Lions: Stevie Chalmers and John Hughes each did it for 12 seasons-in-a-row, and Bobby Murdoch was just behind on 11. International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition [111] [112] [113] No. It was arrant cowardice on the part of the Celtic board to hide behind their great hero. But the remarkable thing was that the hero status of McGrory did not diminish. Even after Stein took over in 1965, McGrory, by now in his early sixties, was not put out to graze, but given the loosely defined job of public relations officer, a move that was way ahead of its time and a job for which the kindly McGrory was eminently suited.McColl, Graham (2002). The Head Boys: Celtic's Managers. Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd. ISBN 978-1840187595.