Joe Dodds was one of Celtic’s best ever left backs. It is not a position that Celtic have even been short on – one thinks of Willie Orr, Dan Doyle, Tommy Gemmell and many others with even Danny McGrain able to play there – but Joe who joined Celtic in 1908 was one of the best, especially when he teamed up with Alec McNair and Charlie Shaw.

If anything he was slightly more of an attacking full back than McNair, but the pair complemented each other. Not without cause was he called “Fearless Joe” in that superb Celtic team. Born in Carluke in 1887, he was the last of Maley’s great side of the Great War era to die in 1965, even though he survived the Quintinshill rail disaster of 1915 and a few other occasions on the batttlefield as Driver Joe Dodds of the Royal Field Artillery. He brother was less lucky, being killed at Loos in autumn 1915.

Joe won 7 League Championships and 3 Scottish Cups, but his proudest moment was when he teamed up with McNair for Scotland to beat England 3-1 in 1914. His friend Jimmy McMenemy was also in that team. Joe didn’t always find Maley easy to deal with, and indeed left Celtic for a year with Cowdenbeath from 1920/21, but he came back to be assistant trainer along with his friend Jimmy McMenemy in the late 1930s. He was a great Celt.

David Potter

HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S SUMMER SALE!

The Celtic Star’s Father’s Day 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!