Celtic’s greatest team: Pre-World War 2 – Our twin centre-forwards…
In today’s article, we will complete our shortlist of selections for the unique Willie Maley XI line-up by looking at the options for our twin centre-forwards, the men tasked with leading our attack and scoring those vital goals.
Once again, we have some absolutely outstanding candidates, so here is our shortlist, as always displayed in chronological order. Note that the number of appearances does exclude Charity Cup matches and friendlies and can occasionally differ by a small margin in different record sources, however, it will give you a sense of length and consistency of service etc.
PLEASE NOTE WE ARE LOOKING FOR TWO CANDIDATES FROM THE FOLLOWING SHORTLIST!
John Madden
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- Johnny Madden
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- John Madden Portrait
Debut for Celtic: v Queen’s Park, September 1889
Final game: v Dundee, February 1897
Total appearances: 155
Celtic’s first-ever centre-forward enjoyed League and Scottish Cup success as a player and would later find fame as the ‘Father of Czech football’ following a spectacular coaching career, most notably with Slavia Prague.
Sandy ‘Duke’ McMahon
Debut for Celtic: v Vale of Leven, January 1891
Final game: v Rangers, February 1903
Total appearances: 261
Originally a winger, The Duke became one of Celtic’s earliest superstars, a wonderful player who was a member of the first ‘Stripes’ team to bring the League title and Scottish Cup to Celtic Park in the late 19th century.
Jimmy Blessington
Debut for Celtic: v Pollokshaws, September 1892
Final game: v Third Lanark, January 1898
Total appearances: 127
Celtic eventually prised Jimmy from Leith Athletic after a tug-of-war which the saw the SFA suspend the player for several weeks. Scotland’s ‘Blessed’ centre-forward was a double title-winner with the Bould Bhoys at Celtic Park.
Jimmy Quinn
Debut for Celtic: v St Mirren, January 1901
Final game: v Heart of Midlothian, January 1915
Total appearances: 369
The Bhoy from Croy. Another who was originally a winger, the Mighty Quinn is one of Celtic’s all-time great centre-forwards, with over 200 goals including cup final hat-tricks on his CV.
‘Trooper’ Joe Cassidy
Debut for Celtic: v Motherwell, March 1913
Final game: v Hibernian, April 1924
Total appearances: 212
Joe’s early years at Celtic were significantly interrupted by loan spells then the First World War, where he earned a Military Medal, but he would go on to become a tremendous centre-forward for the club, the highlight perhaps his winning goal in the 1923 Scottish Cup final.
Jimmy ‘Sniper’ McColl
Debut for Celtic: v Dundee, October 1913
Final game: v Dundee, January 1920
Total appearances: 173
This powerful centre-forward was another vying to be the successor to the great Jimmy Quinn as Willie Maley’s side racked up several League titles whilst the First World War raged on and beyond. Jimmy later became a legend at Hibernian.
Jimmy McGrory
Debut for Celtic: v Third Lanark, January 1923
Final game: v Queen’s Park, October 1937
Total appearances: 477
The Prince of the Garngad. The greatest top-flight goalscorer to ever walk these islands. Celtic’s all-time top scorer and third manager devoted his life to the club.
John Crum
Debut for Celtic: v Motherwell, October 1932
Final game: v Motherwell, June 1942
Total appearances: 299
This legendary centre-forward had the toughest job in football, to succeed the Great McGrory following his retirement, yet Johnny is a Celtic icon in his own right, not least as scorer of the Empire Exhibition trophy-winning goal.
So what an incredible list of candidates we have for this vital role, with over 2,000 games for the club between them. Who will be the chosen centre-forwards for our unique Willie Maley Celtic XI?
REMEMBER WE ARE LOOKING FOR TWO CANDIDATES FROM THAT SHORTLIST
If you’re just catching up with this intriguing selection, here’s a very brief reminder of the story so far, a recap of the shortlists already published exclusively on The Celtic Star and be found HERE.
Goalkeeper
Dan McArthur, Davie Adams, Charlie Shaw, John Thomson or Joe Kennaway
Right-sided defender
Barney Battles, ‘Sunny Jim’ Young, Alec McNair, Willie McStay or Bobby Hogg
Central defender
James Kelly, Willie Loney, Peter Johnstone, Jimmy McStay or Willie Lyon
Left-sided defender
Dan Doyle, Willie Orr, Jimmy ‘Dun’ Hay, Joe Dodds, Willie ‘Peter’ McGonagle or Jock Morrison
Defensive midfielder
John ‘Jean’ McFarlane, Peter Wilson, Chic Geatons, Malcolm MacDonald or George Paterson
Attacking midfielders (x2)
Peter Somers, Jimmy McMenemy, Patsy Gallacher, Tommy McInally, Alec Thomson, Peter Scarff or Willie Buchan
Outside right
Alec Bennett, Andy McAtee, Paddy Connolly, Bertie Thomson or Jimmy Delaney
Outside left
John Campbell, Davie Hamilton, Adam McLean, Charlie Napier or Frank Murphy
Our Foundation – The Celtic Way will be THE most unique Celtic event of 2024.
It’s an excellent way to get through an international weekend with a Celtic fix, have yourself and your company a load of fun whilst raising money for the wonderful work carried out in our name by Celtic FC Foundation.
Hail Hail,
Matt Corr
Follow Matt on X/Twitter @Boola_vogue…
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