Celtic would swap Paddington for Pittodrie the following weekend, sinking to twelfth position in the table after a 3-0 defeat by Aberdeen, on Saturday, 7 October 1933, a third reverse in the League even at that early stage of the season. A Hoops side still missing the injured Joe Kennaway, Charlie Napier and Jimmy McGrory were overrun in the Granite City, with deputy goalkeeper Jock Wallace blameless.
And the youthful Celts team would suffer another defeat in midweek, this time at Ibrox in the replayed Glasgow Cup-tie, young George Paterson making just his third appearance in the Hoops, at inside-forward, following two games leading the line the previous season.
Frank O’Donnell gave Celtic the lead on the half-hour, after brother Hugh had hit the woodwork, Marshall heading Rangers level within four minutes.
The hosts were dominant after the break, however, they would have to wait until five minutes from time before that Ibrox rarity, an Irish internationalist, Alex Stevenson, forced home the winner, after Wallace, the previously excellent Celtic keeper, had made a hash of a routine clearance.
Dublin-born Alex Stevenson left local outfit Dolphin FC to sign for Rangers in August 1932 and made just twelve appearances in fifteen months for the Govan club before joining Everton in January 1934. At Goodison, he would team up with former Celtic full-back Willie Cook, both men playing against the Hoops in the Empire Exhibition Cup final at Ibrox in June 1938 before winning the English League title the following season.
Stevenson played seven times for the Irish Free State between 1932 and 1948 and remained the only Rangers player to so until their liquidation in 2012. Only two other men born in the twenty-six counties would wear a first-team jersey at Ibrox before the club’s demise, and indeed that number might be one.
Left-back Alex Craig was born in Galway but was playing for junior outfit Rutherglen Glencairn when he moved to Rangers in 1904. Craig would play almost 150 games for the club in two separate spells, either side of a three-season stint with Morton, without winning any major honours. And inside-forward Jim Macauley’s family had uprooted from Portarlington to settle in Belfast when he was a child, Macauley later winning League and Cup honours with Cliftonville before moving to Glasgow in October 1910.
There is a suggestion that he turned out in one match for Rangers before moving to Huddersfield Town, three months later, a 1-1 draw with Third Lanark at Cathkin, however, Macauley does not appear in the Wikipedia list of players who appeared in season 1910/11.
Willie moved out to the right-wing for his sixth successive match in the Celtic first-team, swapping places with Johnny Crum for the game with Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday, 21 October 1933.
The Steelmen were in the midst of their golden era, Scottish champions in 1932 and beaten cup-finalists in the seasons either side of that, both times put to the sword by the great McGrory of the Celtic.
He would be missing through injury on this occasion, however, his replacement, Johnny Crum gave Celts the lead with just fifteen minutes remaining, the Hoops on course for a much-needed, morale-boosting win. With seconds to go, Motherwell’s McGrory – Willie MacFadyen – struck to rescue a point for the hosts, preserving their unbeaten record. MacFadyen had been a constant presence in a decade of high achievement for Motherwell.
In the nine seasons between Celtic’s title wins of 1926 and 1936, only the Steelmen had prevented a clean sweep of championships for Struth’s Rangers. In addition to their triumph in 1931/32, where Willie had scored 52 League goals to become the only player ever to exceed McGrory’s own record of 50, they had finished runners-up to the Govan club on four occasions and third a further three times. It would be between those two sides for the flag again this season.
Johnny Crum would retain his place at centre-forward for Celtic the following Saturday, for the visit of Hibernian, with Willie Dunn and, unusually, Jimmy McGrory, occupying the flanks. Crum would notch a double, either side of a Willie Moffat equaliser from thirty yards, to secure the points for Celtic, the winner coming just two minutes from time, following a free-kick delivery from Peter Wilson.
Willie Dunn would then have to endure a four-month spell on the sidelines before enjoying his final appearance in the Hoops that season, a home game against Aberdeen on Saturday, 24 February 1934.
Crum again opened the scoring, beating keeper Steve Smith from close-range after good work from Frank O’Donnell. In the 22nd minute of the match, Willie finally scored his first goal for Celtic, albeit from a seemingly offside position, picking up a long through ball to open his hoops account and make it 2-0. The Dons rallied, with Irish international centre-forward Paddy Moore beating Jock Wallace to reduce the deficit before the interval, and the keeper was at fault as they equalised midway through the second period, failing to clear the ball as Robertson pounced for 2-2, which is how the game ended, Celts now a massive 23 points behind Motherwell and Rangers and languishing in mid-table.
