Tommy McInally


Book Description

Tommy McInally was a star of Celtic's team of the 1920s. He was a tremendous player with pace, trickery, passing ability and a cannonball shot - yet his record of only one Scottish Cup medal, two Scottish League medals and two Scottish caps was a profoundly disappointing one for a man of his talent. This is a lacking record which was mainly due to Tommy's self-destructive tendencies. This book deals with his two spells at Celtic - the team that he loved - and his sojourns at Third Lanark and Sunderland before he went on his travels and died in obscurity in 1955. He has now been dead for over fifty years, but questions still remain about Celtic's Bad Bhoy - 'the boy wonder', who had the potential to have been the greatest player of them all.




Uniquely Celtic - The Soul and the Spirit


Book Description

"Uniquely Celtic: The Soul and the Spirit"" is the second book from Frank Rafters. On this occasion however, the author changes tack, focusing predominantly on players who were somewhat overshadowed by other legends in their eras at Parkhead. Included is one of the longest pieces ever penned on the life of Willie Fernie (with help from his family), the tales of numerous talented players, faithful supporters, and much more. In all, this book aims to give the reader a greater insight into the stories of some of the individuals who have helped to make Celtic Football Club so very special."




The Century Bhoys


Book Description

Since Celtic's formation in 1888, a total of seven hundred and seventy seven players have represented the club at first-team level and by the end of season 2007/08, Celtic had scored 10,883 competitive goals. However, just twenty-eight players have managed to score more than 100 competitive goals for Celtic throughout those 120 years. Century Bhoys celebrates each of these twenty-eight players, from the first player to hit 100 goals, Sandy McMahon (1890-1903), to the greatest goalscorer of all time, Jimmy McGrory with an incredible 468 goals in 445 appearances. It's an incredible list featuring famous Lisbon Lions such as Stevie Chalmers and Bobby Lennox and modern greats such as Brian McClair, Charlie Nicholas, John Hartson and, of course, the legendary Henrik Larsson, who scored 242 goals in 315 games during a seven-year period with the club. Each chapter focuses on an individual player, looking at their playing career with Celtic, with particular focus on their first goal, their 100th goal, the final goal as well as the highs and lows of their time at the club and one or two quirky and not widely known facts. Entertaining and informative, Century Bhoys is full of facts and anecdotes about the greatest goalscorers in the history of Celtic FC.




Scottish Cup


Book Description

The Scottish Cup: Celtic's Favourite Trophy is the story of Celtic's love affair with football's oldest prize. The club first won the cup in 1892, an achievement that meant so much to the young side and their struggling, oppressed community. In the years that followed this special trophy became entwined with the club's identity through many unforgettable moments. Jimmy Quinn scored the first hat-trick in a Scottish Cup final in 1904, there was Patsy Gallacher's extraordinary goal in 1925, a record attendance when Celtic lifted the cup in 1937, Willie Wallace's brace of goals en route to Lisbon in 1967, two remarkable comebacks in the 1980s, and Odsonne Edouard's heroic turnaround in 2019. The book goes beyond the cup finals, recalling the tough games in the early rounds, including the more spectacular encounters with Rangers and Aberdeen. Romance, drama and passion are all bound up in Celtic's annual quest for the cup, involving great players, from the Sandy McMahon era to the days of Scott Brown.




Heroes are Forever


Book Description

James Edward McGrory (1904-82) is a Celtic legend, remembered today as the greatest goal-scorer in the history of Scottish football. His record of 550 goals in his 15-year career at Parkhead from 1922 to 1937 is unlikely to be surpassed and will stand forever as a memorial to a player who was a typical product of the period between the two world wars. At a depressing time when wages were low and work was scarce, his feats on the field provided a welcome and much-needed escape for the thousands of ordinary, cloth-capped Scottish working men who packed the dirt terracing to cheer on every move he made. Heroes are Forever tells the full story of McGrory's life and career, and is set against the vividly drawn background of the inter-war period. It is a portrait of a loyal, modest and inspirational man who lifted the hearts of his countrymen and raised the spirits of a nation. It was he, after all, who by scoring twice for Scotland in 1933 provoked the original 'Hampden Roar'.




Battle of Montevideo


Book Description

The 1967 World Club Championship decider between Celtic and Racing Club of Buenos Aires was one of the most violent and controversial matches of all time. Three Celtic players and two from Racing Club were sent off in total. The game descended into farce, with the Uruguayan police forced to take to the pitch with batons to separate brawling players. Pictures released of the match met with shock worldwide, but while an embarassed Jock Stein fined his players, those from Racing Club were rewarded with a new car each! This book tells the story of a real clash of two very different footballing cultures.




A Scottish Football Hall of Fame


Book Description

Those who have been football supporters all their lives can never forget the first match they ever saw, although they might not recall the result. This is because it is the players that stay in the memory and the magic moments they provided for millions of spectators in their time.Every generation throws up its own football field magicians and The Scottish Football Hall of Fame encapsulates the Saturday afternoon spell cast by fine footballers for ordinary working men who lived to cheer on their heroes every week. Fervour was passed down from father to son, and in this way the future of the clubs as well as the fame of a few golden greats was guaranteed. Players like R.S.McColl (Queen's Park), Bobby Walker (Hearts), Alan Morton (Rangers), Denis Law (Manchester United) and Kenny Dalglish (Celtic) are in this pantheon, and they span the arc of Scottish football from its earliest days till modern times. These, and more than a hundred like them, are the men you will read about in these pages. Men who were once household names are captured here in their sporting immortality and introduced to generations of football enthusiasts who never saw them play. The Scottish Football Hall of Fame gives a unique overview of the beautiful game, where by means of illuminating narrative and anecdote, legend can unite with historical fact to honour not only the wearers of the famous dark blue shirt but every foot-soldier in the Tartan Army who has ever shouted 'Scotland! Scotland!' from the terraces.




The Celtic FC Miscellany


Book Description

Celtic is an unusual football club, inspiring strong feelings in almost everyone. It is of course virtually impossible to chronicle all that has happened in the history of the club, but this little gem draws together some of the most interesting, quirky and downright odd events that have taken place over their long and auspicious existence. Packed with facts, stats, trivia, stories and legend, the reader will delve deep to find out all about the events and people who have shaped the club into what it is today. Featured here are a plethora of stories on this charismatic football club ranging from how the club was formed, to little-known facts about players and managers. Here you will find player feats, individual records and plenty of amusing quotes. Rivalry with Rangers, favourite managers and cult heroes from yesteryear – a book no true Celtic fan should be without.




Celtic


Book Description

Celtic: A Biography in Nine Lives, takes its structure from nine key individuals associated with the club since its inception, and touches on aspects of that person's life to explore key themes in the club's history. From John Glass, their tenacious first President and Willie Maley, who played in Celtic's first match against Rangers in 1888, to the legendary Jock Stein, who led the club to European glory in 1967 and Martin O'Neill, the most popular and successful manager since Stein, Kevin McCarra explores the history and recounts the flavour of this most unique football instituton




Greatest Ranger Ever?


Book Description

Davie Meiklejohn had few equals in British football between the wars. According to his admiring contemporaries, he was "e;a tactical genius,"e; "e;ahead of his time"e;-"e;the greatest ever Ranger."e; Fast-tracked by manager William Wilton, the former Maryhill junior was part of a title-winning side in his debut season. There would be many more championships to celebrate for this born leader, though Rangers' failure to lift the Scottish Cup for 25 long years became a music-hall joke-until May, 1928, when Meik led his team to a hoodoo-busting 4-0 rout of arch rivals Celtic. In 1931 the tragic on-field death of Celtic keeper John Thomson saw Meiklejohn at his dignified, inspirational best. He enjoyed international adventures, a post-playing career in journalism, and a twelve-year stint as manager of Patrick Thistle-yet at the height of his fame, Meik lived in a modest two-bedroom flat, no more than 100 yards from Ibrox.




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