The Coatbridge side, where Jock Stein would later commence his senior playing career, would also feature in the last game of Willie Dunn’s spell at Parkhead. They rolled up to the east end on Saturday, 2 February 1935. As with so many of his appearances for Celtic, he would replace Jimmy McGrory, the Parkhead talisman hurt during the previous weekend’s 4-1 Scottish Cup victory over Montrose.
The Hoops would gain revenge for that September defeat by running out emphatic 5-1 winners, despite going behind. Jimmy Delaney’s double had turned that around within fifteen minutes, the Cleland man then setting up goals for Willie Dunn and Hugh O’Donnell before completing his hat-trick late on.
That would be Dunn’s second and final goal for Celtic. In June of that year, he moved to Brentford, the West London club newly-promoted to the English First Division for the first time in their history.
He would only feature twice in his first season, scoring one goal for his new club, against Birmingham City in a 2-1 defeat at St Andrews in November 1935, struggling to displace the former Hearts centre-forward, Davie McCulloch, who top-scored with 26, as the Bees finished in an impressive fifth place, above FA Cup-winners Arsenal. Willie Dunn would only feature once in the following campaign, this time with no goals forthcoming, as Brentford battled to a sixth place in the top division.
Brentford retained that top-six position in 1937/38, before replacing Arsenal in the Empire Exhibition Cup tournament, played in Glasgow at the end of that season, where they would be eliminated by Hearts at Ibrox.
There would be no return to Glasgow for Willie, however, as he had already moved to Second Division Southampton by that time, replacing Jimmy Dunne, who had been an Irish Free State colleague of Jim Foley, Paddy Moore and Alex Stevenson. Willie would score three goals in his fourteen League games at the Dell before returning to Scotland to sign for Raith Rovers, lining up against Celtic at Starks Park on Saturday, 7 January 1939.
The champions fielded a depleted side, which included Bertie Duffy, Jackie Watters and Jimmy Birrell. Nevertheless, few would have predicted a 4-0 defeat, only the brilliance of Joe Kennaway preventing even greater embarrassment for Celtic.
There would have been much singing and dancing in the streets of Raith that particular night, following Rovers’ first victory of any sort since November. They would later be relegated, having finished bottom of the table.
The outbreak of war in September 1939 would see football reduced to Regional Leagues, with guest players drifting in and out, a practice not endorsed by Celtic.
Willie Dunn would appear as a guest for Dumbarton in 1939/40, perhaps turning out against his former Parkhead colleagues in one of the two meetings that season. Sadly, the information around that period is a shade more difficult to obtain. Dunn then appeared in the same capacity for Albion Rovers in 1942, opening the door to the possibility that he played with a young Jock Stein at Cliftonhill, perhaps even in the famous 4-4 draw there with Celtic on Saturday, 14 November 1942, which marked Jock’s debut for Rovers, Stein listed as ‘Junior’.
Willie passed away in his native Glasgow on 7 September 1980, a few weeks short of his 70th birthday.
Thanks, as always, to the Celtic Wiki, a wonderful source of reference information.
Hail Hail!
Matt Corr
Follow Matt on Twitter @Boola_vogue
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