Frank Murphy was a superb left winger for Celtic. His reputation has suffered somewhat because Jimmy Delaney was the right winger and Jimmy Delaney was superb. But those who watched that fine Celtic side of the 1930s will insist that Frank wasn’t far behind. Like Adam McLean of the previous decade, Frank was grossly under-rated.

He joined the club in the mid 1930s when the great team of the late 1930s was just assembling. The Manager was the somewhat remote Maley but the trainer was Jimmy Napoleon McMenemy and it was he who encouraged Frank.

Described as “light, nippy and clever”, Frank was fast and could cross with accuracy, but he could take a goal himself and he was the regular taker of penalty kicks, free kicks and of course corner kicks.

“Left winger” is sometimes a misnomer for a member of this fine team, because the strength of the forward line was that they could all interchange position. Frank won two Scottish Leagues, one Scottish Cup and the Empire Exhibition Trophy before the war.

Frank also played for Celtic during the Second World War when things were not so good for Celtic, and football was, frankly, secondary to other things. He then joined the RAF. He was a quiet man, but was still frequently seen at games after his career was over, sometimes acting as stadium announcer.

He died in 1984.

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!