Celtic in the 1930s – And they gave us James McGrory and Jack Connor (Part 4)

The following Saturday, 9 September 1933, would see the biggest game of Connor’s career, as Celtic headed across the city to face the defending champions, Rangers, at Ibrox, in front of 49,000 fans. For a third successive match, the Hoops team was unchanged, Maley’s men thus lining up as follows:

Kennaway: Hogg & McGonagle: Wilson, McStay & Hughes: Crum, Buchan, McGrory, Napier & Connor

The corresponding fixture two years earlier had seen Celtic keeper, John Thomson stretchered from the field, losing his fight for life later that evening in Glasgow’s Victoria Infirmary. His replacement, Joe Kennaway, was already on his way to becoming a legend in his own right at Parkhead, however, this would be an afternoon he would want to forget.

Jimmy McGrory opening the scoring at Ibrox in September 1933

Things had looked promising when Jimmy McGrory opened the scoring within fifteen minutes, following great work from Johnny Crum, before the game’s most contentious period, just before the break. First, Rangers defender Dougie Gray, eight seasons into a 22-year career which would make him the longest-serving player in the Govan club’s history, punched the ball off the line to prevent a certain goal, conceding a stone-wall penalty.

Despite the blatancy of his act, the Rangers players decided to indulge in a spot of pure gamesmanship, or perhaps a lack of sportsmanship may be a more accurate description. They immediately surrounded referee Watson to protest at his decision, before, eventually, withdrawing to the edge of the penalty, as Peter McGonagle placed the ball on the spot. Ibrox skipper, Davie Meiklejohn then walked past the Celt to consult at length with his keeper, Jerry Dawson, in a clear attempt to delay the kick still further and ‘get into McGonagle’s head’, an action at odds with the integrity he had displayed in that game two years earlier, where he gestured to the hoards who were cheering the injury to the stricken Thomson to show some respect. Sadly, the despicable behaviour on this occasion by the home side paid off, as the normally reliable Peter McGonagle stepped up to slam his shot wide of Dawson’s post.

Peter McGonagle

Within a few minutes, his error would be compounded. Ibrox forward Bob McPhail was chasing a long ball at the edge of the Celtic penalty area with no obvious danger, due to the presence of covering defenders, when Kennaway had a rush of blood to the head, the big Canadian dashing from his line to collide with McPhail. Penalty to Rangers. This time there is no mistake, as Jimmy Smith’s effort crosses the line, despite Kennaway getting a hand to it. Seconds later, Watson blew the half-time whistle, the teams going in level rather than the Celts enjoying a two-goal lead. Football can be cruel sometimes.

Things would get worse for Kennaway and Celtic just five minutes into the second half, when the keeper misjudged a Meiklejohn free-kick dropping into his box, McPhail winning the race to force the ball home off a post. With twenty minutes remaining and the Bhoys toiling, Jack Connor and Willie Buchan struggling through injury and fatigue respectively, Jimmy McGrory stepped up to the plate yet again. There seemed no danger when he chased a hopeful pass from Charlie Napier, with Ibrox central defenders McDonald and Russell both better-placed to clear. Crucially, they would hesitate for a split-second, long enough for McGrory to reach the ball first. He twisted the Govan duo one way then the other, strolled passed the exposed Gray then hammered the ball into the Rangers net.

Within minutes, McGonagle almost atoned for his earlier penalty miss, his driving run upfield ending in a powerful shot which beat Dawson all-ends-up before crashing back off the upright. Celtic continued to push for a win right up until the end, the referee’s whistle blowing for full-time as the limping Connor shaped to take a corner-kick. The game ended level at 2-2 and that would prove to be Jack’s last action as a Celt.

Hugh O’Donnell

Hugh O’Donnell started on the left-wing for Celtic in the next match, a 7-0 defeat of Cowdenbeath at Parkhead, whilst Willie Dunn made his debut at centre-forward in the Glasgow Cup semi-final, when Celtic met Rangers again on Monday, 25 September 1933, sixteen days after Ibrox.

With a wealth of attacking options at Maley’s disposal, a combination of injuries and competition for places would signal the end of Jack’s spell at the club. He was freed at the end of that season, joining Airdrieonians on a permanent deal on 6 June 1934, two years to the day he had signed for his boyhood idols, Celtic.

We pick up his trail the following season back at Broomfield, where the Diamonds had just survived a second successive relegation dogfight, this time finishing just a solitary point ahead of Third Lanark. The signature of Jack Connor would see a much-improved performance in 1934/35, the Airdrie club climbing up the table to finish in a more respectable 14th place in the 20-club division. They would host Celtic on Saturday, 17 November 1934, goals from Jack’s old colleagues Frank O’Donnell and George Paterson, the latter from the spot, securing a 2-0 victory which moved Celtic up to fifth place. Connor had been denied by another old teammate, Joe Kennaway, as Airdrieonians battled to salvage a point. However, that elusive goal against his former club would have to wait a bit longer.

Jack would continue to score against pretty much everyone else, with Hearts regular victims. He had previously netted a double whilst on loan as the Gorgie club won 7-2 at Broomfield on Hogmanay 1932 and he would be on target on Saturday, 12 January 1935, as the Tynecastle men again hit Airdrie for seven, in an incredible 11-goal affair at the same venue. He would then grab another brace against Hearts as the Diamonds lost by the odd goal in five in the home Scottish Cup quarter-final on Saturday, 9 March 1935. Around 150 miles to the north, his beloved Celts were also exiting the cup, a late goal from Jimmy McGrory insufficient to prevent a 3-1 defeat at Pittodrie in front of over 40,000.

The following month, on Saturday, 13 April 1935, Jack Connor would be missing from the line-up as his Airdrieonians colleagues went down to a 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park, the hitman presumably injured as goals from Willie Buchan and Hugh O’Donnell saw the Bhoys continue their push for second place in the League. Rangers would that day clinch their eighth title in nine years by beating Aberdeen, only Motherwell in 1932 having halted that procession since Celtic’s last success in 1926.

Connor would face his old pal Jimmy McGrory again on Saturday 19 October 1935 at Celtic Park, Jack leading the line for Airdrieonians on the day young Irish keeper Jim Foley made his Celtic debut. McGrory’s double in the Hoops’ 4-0 win would see him beat Steve Bloomer’s British goalscoring record of 352 that afternoon.

It would later transpire that the record actually belonged to a Scotsman, Hugh Ferguson. We discussed Hugh in an earlier part of this series. He had become Motherwell’s all-time leading goalscorer before joining Cardiff City, where he scored the winner in the 1927 FA Cup Final victory over Arsenal which saw the trophy leave England for the first and only time. He then returned to Scotland with Dundee, where he scored his final goals to declare at 364. Tragically, Hugh Ferguson committed suicide after a training session at Dens Park on 8 January 1930. He was only 34.

So Jimmy McGrory would have to find another dozen goals to ‘reclaim’ the record. As he was notching his brace against Jack Connor’s Airdrie, there was another 4-0 victory taking place around 180 miles south of Glasgow, where the O’Donnell brothers, Frank and Hugh, the former teammates of the Garngad Bhoys, having both swapped Glasgow for Lancashire five months earlier, were also grabbing doubles as their Preston North End side hammered Manchester City at Deepdale. McGrory would not have too long to wait as the goals continued to flow.

On Saturday, 21 December, Celts played host to League leaders Aberdeen, with the great man just one behind Ferguson’s record. He had equalled that within seven minutes before the magic moment which will forever be associated with Jimmy McGrory, horizontal in the air as he heads his way into history from a Frank Murphy cross. And just for good measure, Jimmy completed his hat-trick, his fourth of the season, early in the second half, as Celtic took a massive stride towards their first title in a decade, by beating the Dons 5-3 in front of 40,000.

In Jimmy’s own words, ‘Christmas came early that year.’ Boxing Day 1935 wasn’t too bad either. Five days after Jimmy’s history-making exploits, baby Thomas Stephen was born to the Chalmers family residing in James Nisbet St, on Garngadhill. Stevie would enjoy a wonderful career with Celtic from 1959, outscoring Parkhead legends such as Patsy Gallacher and Sandy McMahon to notch 236 in the Hoops including the most famous goal of all, the winner in Lisbon in May 1967. When he left to join Morton in the autumn of 1971, only Jimmy Quinn with 239 and Jimmy McGrory with 522 had bettered his tally. Chalmers’ total would eventually be passed by his fellow Lion, Bobby Lennox and the world-class Swede, Henrik Larsson, however, it is a source of some pride that two of Celtic’s five all-time leading goalscorers were brought up in that little piece of north Glasgow now known as Roystonhill.

Meanwhile, McGrory just kept scoring. He grabbed two in the 4-3 New Year’s Day defeat by Rangers which marked the end of Peter McGonagle’s Parkhead career (strangely, Jimmy, like Henrik Larsson, never managed a hat-trick against the Ibrox side, whilst the other members of that ‘Famous Five’ club above all did) then another three in a 5-0 win over Queen of the South at Celtic Park on Saturday, 11 January 1936. Hat-tricks number six and seven which would soon follow would be very special indeed.

Before that, friends Jimmy McGrory and Jack Connor would come face-to-face again at Broomfield, on Saturday, 7 March 1936. Connor would finally score that elusive goal against Celtic, as early as the fourth minute, putting the home side in front, a lead doubled before the half-hour by Law. The Bhoys would then produce a stunning fightback in the closing thirty minutes, Crum then yet another McGrory double securing a 3-2 win for Celtic against the odds.

Seven days later, Motherwell were the visitors to Celtic Park, as yet more history was created. Goals from Jimmy Delaney and Willie Buchan had Celts comfortably ahead at the interval, before the great man took centre stage. Between the 65th and 67th minute, McGrory had completed a hat-trick, a shot followed by two trademark headers from Frank Murphy crosses finishing the scoring at 5-0.

And on Saturday, 18 April 1936, the Garngad legend notched his seventh and final hat-trick of the season, as Celtic beat Ayr United 6-0 to clinch their first League title in a decade. That took Jimmy’s tally for the campaign to 50, a Celtic club record to this day and a total only ever beaten by Motherwell’s Willie McFadyen, with 52 in their championship-winning season four years earlier. Jimmy actually missed a penalty to make that 51, one of two he missed from only three attempts in his Celtic career. Injury would prevent him making a further attempt to equal or beat the record at Firhill on the final weekend.

To be continued…

Matt Corr

About Author

Having retired from his day job Matt Corr can usually be found working as a Tour Guide at Celtic Park, or if there is a Marathon on anywhere in the world from as far away as Tokyo or New York, Matt will be running for the Celtic Foundation. On a European away-day, he's there writing his Diary for The Celtic Star and he's currently completing his first Celtic book with another two planned.

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