James “Dun” Hay was a mighty man. Being a member of the prodigious half back line of Young, Loney and Hay in the Edwardian Celtic side is enough to guarantee immortality in the eyes of anyone, but he was a lot more than that.
Like so many of that great side, he came from Ayrshire and it was immediately apparent from 1903 onwards that not only was there tremendous ability here, but there were also leadership capabilities.
He shared the passion of that other Ayrshireman Sunny Jim, but was more restrained, and once he became captain had the immediate respect of everyone.
Left half is a position which lends itself to dominating a game, and “Dun” as he became known did just that, with the record of the team winning six League titles in a row speaking for itself.
“Dun” was seldom absent but in 1908 he missed the whole winter being out with the very dangerous (in 1908) appendicitis. In 1911, the great days of Celtic were over (temporarily) and Hay symbolically decided to move on to Newcastle United (to replace Peter McWilliam) where he had less success in terms of medals but equal popularity with the support.
He played 11 times for Scotland, and has every right to be considered to be one of the greatest Celts of all time.
David Potter
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