By this time, Peter and Rose were parents. They had been blessed by a son, named Hugh after his grandfather, born in Hamilton in 1927, followed by Patrick Hannah Shevlin the following year and Margaret in 1929. In March 1933, another child was expected, and the family headed back to Scotland, and a new home at Muirhouse, Shieldmuir, Netherton. Peter signed for hometown club Hamilton Academical and made his Accies debut in a First Division match against Falkirk at Brockville on Saturday, 25 March 1933. He would retain the gloves until the season’s end as his new club finished in a very respectable eighth place in the table.
Peter would again be first-choice goalkeeper at Hamilton as the new campaign got underway, the goalkeeper no doubt looking forward to facing his old club Celtic again after his years in England and Ireland. But the planned visit to Parkhead on Saturday, 16 September 1933 was, ironically, a victim of the Scotland v Ireland international, with Celtic Park selected as the host venue.
There was then tragedy for the family six days later as baby Peter Shevlin junior passed away in the County Hospital in Bellshill, just 10 hours after his birth on Friday, 22 September 1933. It is quite incredible to think of the courage involved as heartbroken father Peter turned out for the Accies in a 2-2 draw with Third Lanark at Douglas Park just 24 hours later.
Both Celtic’s League clashes with the Accies would thus take place later in the season. Below is an extract from my forthcoming book, Celtic in the 1930s, a decade of triumph of tragedy, which covers the first of those matches and Peter’s performance against his old teammates.
Frank O’Donnell had scored a hat-trick in midweek, the youngster thriving on the service provided by his teammates in a 3-0 win. O’Donnell was on target again in Celtic’s next match, a visit to Douglas Park on Saturday, 14 April 1934 to take on Hamilton Academical. Willie Maley brought back old hands Jimmy McStay and Alec Thomson, with Malcolm MacDonald and Frank Murphy the two players sitting this one out. There was another familiar face in the home goal, former Celt Peter Shevlin, back in Scotland following spells in England and Ireland, the latter as player/manager of Shelbourne.
02.08.1931 Copyright: imago/Colorsport – John Thomson – Celtic.
Peter had lost his Celtic place to young John Thomson back in February 1927, but he was outstanding that afternoon in Hamilton, beaten only by Frank O’Donnell’s penalty on the half-hour in a 1-1 draw. Englishman David Wilson levelled late on for Accies on a day when his countrymen beat Scotland 3-0 at Wembley. The three points earned that week enabled Celtic to overtake both Falkirk and St Johnstone to move up to eighth spot in the table.
Peter would not feature in the clash at Celtic Park on Monday, 23 April 1934, Jimmy Morgan between the posts in a 5-1 defeat for the Accies. Instead, he was part of the reserve side which won the Scottish Second XI Cup with a 4-1 aggregate win over great rivals Motherwell, the two legs played on the Wednesdays either side of that Parkhead clash. Another medal for Peter to add to his collection.
But there would be one more victory for Peter that season, and indeed a surprising final appearance for his beloved Celtic. It’s back to my forthcoming book to pick up that story.
The final action of the 1933/34 campaign saw Celtic play a match in north-eastern France on Sunday, 27 May 1934, the opposition consisting of the best professional players in the northern part of the country – Entente Professionelle du Nord.
Continued on the next page…
