In his years from 1911 to 1925, Patsy Gallacher was generally reckoned to have been the best of them all. Those who saw him would brook no argument about it. Best ever player? Puskas? Pele? Maradona? “Naw, ye never saw Patsy Gallacher!”

The boy from Donegal made his debut in December 1911, won a Cup medal by April 1912, and in 1914 was the integral part of the great forward line of McAtee, Gallacher, McColl, McMenemy and Browning which went on to win virtually everything in the years of the Great War – something that cheered them up at the front and led to the claim that he was the most talked about man in the trenches.

He worked in the shipyards during the war and was once suspended from football for “bad timekeeping” in his job – something that is difficult to understand! He was still playing in the early 1920s and of course his most famous day was the 1925 Scottish Cup final when he scored that famous somersault goal against Dundee.

When he finished playing at Celtic, he went on to Falkirk and on one famous occasion before a Falkirk v Celtic Scottish Cup semi final, the Celtic crowd sang “Will ye no come back again?” He played 12 times for Ireland.

Jimmy Quinn, Willie Maley, Jimmy McGrory and Patsy Gallacher

He died in 1953.

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!