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Celtic Founding Father John H McLaughlin was my Great Grandfather

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Did you read Liam Kelly’s latest article in his outstanding series on Celtic’s Founding Fathers on the Celtic Star last night? If you missed John H McLaughlin: Celtic Founding Father, Fallout Bhoy, Rangers Glee Club Pianist & Man Who Brought Professional League Football To Scotland you can catch up HERE or by clicking on the link below.

We have an interesting follow up to this article which takes us right up the the present day dilemmas facing Scottish football and that comes from Aidan, who is a well known Celtic man on Twitter and is also the great grandson of of ohn H McLaughlin!

Aidan has given us some additional information and insight into his great grandfather that Liam Kelly and everyone interested in the Founding Fathers series will enjoy!

CELTIC FOUNDING FATHER JOHN H McLAUGHLIN WAS MY GREAT GRANDFATHER!

Just read your article on JH McLaughlin – thanks, very good read and amazingly few things I could pick at. JH was my great grandfather!

He’s often overlooked for Walfrid, Glass et al. as important figures in Celtic’s history, but if you listen to Pat Woods, Celtic would have ended up like Queens Park, forever amateur, had it not been for JH.

He was the man who saw the two biggest problems with Scottish football from a fan’s perspective – not knowing who your team would be playing during the year, hence the need for a league to be set up, and the uncertainty over players hence the need for professionalism.

J H McLaughlin’s obituary in the Glasgow Observer

Both were really at his instigation in Scotland and he was not only the first chairman of Celtic but also Secretary of the Scottlsh League and Chairman of the SFA as it was in those days. I’ve passed your article on to my historian daft cousin in the wilds of Canada for “approval”!

One amusing story – he collected the gate money at the very first game v Rangers, but years later, as Celtic Chairman, he watched a very poor performance at Parkhead when the team lost in abject fashion. When he saw Dan Doyle later, he said “Well Dan, I’ve done just about every job there is to do here – except actually play, but on today’s performance I reckon I could do that just as well, and probably better than most of you.”

other snippets you may be interested in – JH also accompanied both Harry Lauder and Count John McCormack when they sang at Hamilton Miners’ Welfare Club around the turn of the century.

He successfully proposed a second division to bolster Scottish football, he oversaw the first ever defeat of the Football League by the Scottish League in 1897 and was given a special gold badge to commemorate the event; my grandfather used to wear it on his watch chain afterwards.

He unsuccessfully proposed neutral linesmen (that would come later – although quite a lot of us think it has still to happen….)

One year, rather than use his casting vote to decide who should be promoted as was normal, he asked the two clubs, Partick & Clyde, to draw lots – the first time that had ever happened in football (pretty topical too!)

Thanks again, Aidan

LIAM KELLY’S series on The Celtic Founding Fathers is fascinating and provides you with some brilliant insight into the men who gave us Celtic.

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About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor David Faulds has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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