Like that of Ronnie Simpson, the career of Jimmy Delaney sometimes defies belief. This man won three Cup medals in three different countries in three different decades – and lost the final of another in yet another country – and all this with a major global conflict in the middle!

Celtic in 1937, Manchester United in 1948 and Derry City in 1954 were his successful teams. He was also to only man to play in both games which set the record of Hampden in successive weeks in 1937, and his teams, Scotland and Celtic won 2-1 in both cases.

There was also the fact that he scored twice for Scotland against Hitler’s Germany at Ibrox in front of a swastika, thereby joining Jesse Owens in upsetting the Fuhrer’s idea of a “master race” and then after the war was over delighted a football-starved nation by scoring the winning goal in the Victory International in 1946.

After all that, it is almost otiose to describe him as one of Celtic’s best ever right wingers (and that includes Alec Bennett, Andy McAtee and Jimmy Johnstone) and how he won the Scottish League in 1936 and 1938, as well as the Empire Exhibition Trophy of 1938.

Had he not broken his arm badly in 1939 and missed two seasons, the story of Celtic in war-time might have been entirely different. This was Jimmy Delaney, the stuff of legend! He died in 1989, and of course John Kennedy is his grandson.

David Potter

David Potter passed away peacefully on Sunday morning 30 July 2023. You can read the message we received from David’s wife Rosemary HERE.