Celtic have generally been blessed with great goalkeepers, and one of the greatest was Davy Adams. The problem with Adams however was that he was not always given a chance to show how proficient he really was because the men in front of him were so good.

Adams was the goalkeeper for the great team which won six League Championships in a row between 1905 and 1910 inclusive. Immediately in front of him, he had men of the calibre of Willie Loney, Alec McNair and Donnie McLeod, and they were mighty defenders.

But when called upon, he never let Celtic down. He was a large man with large hands, and never lacked courage. In an age when goalkeepers were frequently charged by burly forwards, Davy was not a man who suffered much in this respect for forwards seemed to bounce off him.

His mistakes and off days were seldom, but one of them was the 1904 Scottish Cup final when he was a fault for at least one and possibly both of Rangers goals, But by half time his friend Jimmy Quinn had repaired the damage, and then he went on to record his hat-trick.

Like many men of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, he had problems with rheumatism, and it was this condition which led to his retirement in 1912 with six Scottish League and four Scottish Cup medals in his pocket.

He died in 1948.

David Potter

MacLeod: ‘How the hell did you lose that ball?’
Adams: ‘Shut up! I know where the ball is. I havnae lost it. It’s in the net!’