The word used often in the war years and immediately after was “utility”, meaning something that would do for the moment, like for example prefabricated houses which in fact were a total success and lasted a lot longer than they were meant to.

In such a way one looks upon Jock Weir, a man who was never a classy footballer, but he was determined, grim and did his best for the club in the difficult days of the late 1940s. He was never more than an “honest journeyman” but he was held in great affection by the supporters who will always love a trier.

He probably has two claims to fame. One was the hat-trick that he scored at Dens Park in April 1948 to save Celtic from relegation – one with his right foot, one with his left foot and the other was a header! Celtic probably would have been safe in any case, and Dundee (allegedly) “co-operated”, but he was a hero none the less.

And then he had his big moment in the Scottish Cup final of 1951 when the forward line of Weir, Collins, McPhail, Peacock and Tully beat Motherwell 1-0 in a grim Cup final which saw Weir helping out his beleaguered defence for most of the second half before Celtic won their first trophy since 1938.

He was not Celtic’s greatest ever player, but he deserves his place in our history.

David Potter

HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S SUMMER SALE!

The Celtic Star’s book promotion has been so successful, with hundreds of books at great prices being posted to Celtic fans all over the world, that we’ve decided to continue with the sale until the end of July. We’ve reduced all six books currently available from their usual retail price of £20 and prices are as low as £6 (see below).

All books are high quality hardback, with some signed by the author. And it’s also worth noting that you only pay postage on one book, so it’s free for the second, third and so on. ORDER HERE or click on The Celtic Star image above…this is how it feels to be Celtic!