“Charlie Gallagher? What a Player!” – A Son Of The Rock 1970-1973

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Charlie Gallagher may have felt just a little miffed about the way that he had been treated by Celtic when he was shown the door in 1970, but there was still a wonderful postscript to come. It was Second Division football and the invitation came from Dumbarton. He was not yet 30 and he would serve them with distinction for three years until he hung up his boots in 1973.

Dumbarton were one of the pioneers of the game in Scotland. They were founded in December 1872 according to their excellent official history book “The Sons Of The Rock” written by Jim McAllister and Arthur Jones, and they were one of the leading lights in the game up to the legalisation of professionalism in 1893 which of course worked in favour of the big city clubs with their greater resources. They won the Scottish Cup in 1883, the third team to do so after Queen’s Park and Vale of Leven.

They beat Vale of Leven in the final, and were themselves defeated finalists of four other occasions, one of them being the one that was so significant in the founding of Celtic FC, the defeat to Hibs in February 1887 – something that showed the Glasgow Irish that, if the Edinburgh Irish could do it, why couldn’t the Glasgow Irish?

Situated on the north bank of the Clyde, in many ways the cradle of Scottish football given the proximity of Vale of Leven in Alexandria and the mighty Renton, Dumbarton were founder members of the Scottish League and indeed were the winners in the first two years, sharing with Rangers in 1891 and winning it outright in 1892. Since then, success has proved a little more elusive, but they deserved their good reputation and that of the ground which was called “Fatal Boghead” because Rangers, Celtic and Hearts all had a habit of coming a cropper there on its slope and tendency to get wet in winter, as its name would suggest.

Relegated in 1922 to the Second Division, they had stayed there. Possibly they had more good seasons that bad ones, but only rarely did it seem that they were going to make any sort of challenge for promotion. Like most industrial areas, the suffered from economic depression in the 1930s and there was an additional factor as well. They were one of the many clubs who suffered from being too close to Glasgow, and their town saw many buses and trains every Saturday leaving for Celtic Park. Fewer went to Ibrox, because Dumbarton is a Celtic supporting area with a large percentage of their population being of Irish descent.

In 1970, there were two Divisions in the Scottish League which had 37 teams in all. The First Division had 18 teams and the Second Division 19, something that led to the anomaly of each team in the Second Division having no game on two Saturdays per season, when they were the odd man out. Funnily enough this system seemed to work without any huge complaints, although there was a growing groundswell of opinion that the League structure would have to change some day because the Leagues were simply not competitive enough, and attendances had been falling steadily throughout the 1960s.

Rangers had tried in 1963 to remove five teams from the Second Division, something that earned them few friends. Ironically, one of the teams that they wanted to remove was Berwick Rangers, who delivered their own special pay-back day to Rangers in 1967!

As a general rule, and with a few exceptions each way, the First Division was full time, and the Second Division was part time. This led to a few difficulties. A team who were relegated had to prune the staff to reduce the wage bill, whereas there was occasionally a certain apparent reluctance on the part of some teams to go for promotion. No-one ever refused promotion, but there was frequently a certain visible and suspicious loss of form in the months of March and April with odd team selections, missed penalties and goalkeeping errors. Newspapers hinted, supporters muttered, and many people knew in their heart of hearts what was going on, but no-one really seemed to mind. It was just accepted that the necessity to go full time was simply beyond some clubs, as indeed was the necessity of Second Division clubs to sell their promising youngsters to First Division ones or to English teams.

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About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who 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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