In part 1 of my journey, I explained how my day of Celtic history began. The article tells of the visit to Arkleston Cemetery when we paid tribute to Patsy Gallacher and also came across his son, William, buried alongside him. William played for Celtic too. Having researched both and told that first phase of the story, I now commence part 2 from St Conval’s Cemetery in Barrhead.
St Conval’s was a place we had decided to visit because not only was another of John’s uncles buried there, but so were three Celtic greats and a veteran of the 1916 Easter Rising.
The first Celt we found was Tommy McInally, situated just yards from the front gates of the cemetery. Tommy is one the early Celtic legends of the ilk that David Potter writes about in the early stars section of Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys (published today!). An unambiguous Celtic star, McInally was also a remarkable character and perhaps Celtic’s first ever “Bad Bhoy”.
Another early Celtic superstar visited today – Tommy McInally
Maley:”I saw you coming out a pub at 9.30 last night!”
McInally:”aye,I had to boss,they were shutting at that time”
You can read all about the early Celtic Stars in Walfrid&The Bould Bhoys at https://t.co/NScKKtkb0M pic.twitter.com/iRvcpILKqM
— Liam Kelly (@cfcliamk96) August 28, 2020
As you can see from the images above, Tommy is not buried alone and his name is written faintly at the bottom of the grave. Nevertheless, we were pleased to confirm it was him and once more shared notes on a wonderful Celtic player and personality. Tommy had two stints at the club, which produced two league titles and a Scottish Cup.
I paused at the grave and sang his old song in my head (to the tune of Roamin’ in the Gloamin’):
Tommy McInally, He’s the toast of ground and stand
Tommy McInally He’s the Greatest in the land
Even though I get the sack how I love my Tommy Mac
Oh I love my Tommy McInally
And love him the Celtic fans did!
McInally scored 127 goals in 213 games overall at Celtic, which is evidently a great return for the centre forward. He first signed for the club from St Anthony’s Juniors in May 1919. He scored a hat-trick on his debut against Clydebank and then scored a hat-trick against Dumbarton the following week! In total, he would rack up 39 goals in that incredible debut season with the Hoops, including four hat-tricks in his first eight games. Unfortunately, he was soon sold to Third Lanark in 1922 though, as his manager (Willie Maley) could not keep him under control. Instead, McInally would play the clown, acting a showman and showboating rather than concentrating on scoring goals. He also kept himself in poor condition and was fond of a drink, which meant that his fitness levels fell below that of his teammates, even though this was long before the modern era of sports science and clean eating.
When one looks at the quotes and stories of McInally, it’s not hard to believe that he was a showman. After all, he didn’t seem to take life seriously.
Willie Maley: “I saw you coming out a pub at half past nine last night!”
Tommy McInally: ” aye, I had to boss, they were shutting at that time”
Willie Maley: “Tommy, you pick the ball up from midfield and run with it”
Tommy McInally: “But boss, I`ll get sent of for handba if a dae that.”
Tommy McInally hated bad language and on hearing an opponent swear, he wagged his finger and said “You’ll go to the big bad fire son!”
Bob McPhail (Rangers): “Tommy, is God a Catholic?”
Tommy McInally: “I don’t know, Bob. After all I don’t get to hear his Confessions!”
McInally spent three years at Cathkin Park and was said to have matured, which prompted Willie Maley to bring him back to Paradise in May 1925. He won two more trophies on his return and played a crucial role at the club. However, his professionalism was questioned and he put on a lot of weight, which prompted Maley to release him for a second time as he joined Sunderland for a fee of £2,500 in 1928.
Having paid our respects and shared our stories of McInally, we wondered a few rows up the hill to find the resting place of the Celtic legend that is Joe Dodds.
Joe Dodds-Part of the famous 6 in a row,won 8 titles and 3 Scottish cups,left for more money at Cowdenbeath!Dodds formed an amazing defensive partnership with the legendary Alex McNair,who you can read about in Walfrid&The Bould Bhoys… now available from https://t.co/NScKKtkb0M pic.twitter.com/RRu1b8Q31B
— Liam Kelly (@cfcliamk96) August 28, 2020
I had a particular interest in Joe Dodds as he formed an incredible defensive partnership with ‘The Icicle’ Alex McNair, who is given a chapter in the early stars section of the book that I co-authored with David Potter and Matt Corr – Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys. You can read all about the incredible McNair in the book, which is published today and is available on celticstarbooks.com .
So good were Dodds and McNair, that together with Celtic’s goalkeeper (Charlie Shaw), the trio became known as the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity was that formidable that they ensured Charlie Shaw set a shut-out record of an estimated 1287 minutes in 1913-14! Make no mistake, Celtic had one of the very best defences in world football and it should be noted that the Hoops played Dodds and McNair as a back two, which was the norm in that era; unlike today when we see four or five at the back.
Joe Dodds was born in Carluke and went to school with Celtic’s very own Victoria Cross award winner, William Angus. He played 378 games for Celtic, winning eight league titles and three Scottish Cups. Like the man buried in the previous grave that we visited, Dodds had two spells with the club but for very different reasons. The first spell began in May 1908, when he joined from Carluke Rovers. Quickly, he became a mainstay of the team and also showed his attacking ability with a powerful shot that saw him bag 30 goals for the Hoops.
Joe was no ordinary player. He was strong, fast and committed. No match report indicates that he ever had a bad game and indeed no Celtic historian, including myself, can find any record of this happening. He played in both of the infamous Scottish Cup final games in 1909, which was the scene of the original Hampden riot, where after trouble from the crowd, the trophy was withheld. Frustrated by not being given the chance to win a third replay, Scottish Cup success soon came his way when Dodds lifted the trophy in 1911, 1912 and 1914.
As is typical of Celtic’s early history, Joe Dodds left the club after being part of the famous six in a row side and a legendary figure at Parkhead. Indeed, he moved to Cowdenbeath in 1920 as they offered him more money than Celtic! This is quite astonishing considering that he had won seven league titles and three Scottish Cups at this point. However, Dodds returned a year later after a dispute with Cowdenbeath over the payment of money from a benefit match. He added an eighth league title as a Celtic player during his second stint and retired in 1922 as one of Celtic’s greatest ever defenders and one of the most decorated players in Scottish footballing history.
Dodds returned to the club in 1936 as an assistant trainer to ‘Napoleon’ Jimmy McMenemy, who is another Celtic icon in his own right and is given a chapter of his own in Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys.
Joe passed away in 1965 at the age of 78. He was another excellent Celtic man to pay tribute to and to research.
After finding the graves of these two greats, we searched endlessly for the resting place of Willie McStay, but to no avail. We did find the burial site of Thomas Brady, who was a veteran of the Easter Rising, War of Independence and Civil War before he moved to Glasgow and tried to unite the divide among Irish Nationalists from afar. However, that’s another story for another day!
It was soon time for the final leg of the journey – a trip to Viewpark to pay tribute to the greatest ever Celt. Join me for part 3 of the journey tomorrow.
