In one of these quirks of history, ten days after Jimmy Quinn scored his famous hat-trick in the 1904 Scottish Cup Final, his successor James Edward McGrory was born in the Garngad.
READ THIS…Jim Craig – Jimmy McGrory’s 50th Celtic hat-trick
In 1922, McGrory had won the Scottish Junior Cup for St Roch’s and had attracted the attention of Willie Maley. He was farmed out to Clydebank for a spell, but he first came to prominence with Celtic in 1925 in the triumphant Scottish Cup campaign of that year, in particular the winning goal of the final against Dundee when he “catapulted forth” to connect with a Jean McFarlane free kick.
The following year, he and Tommy McInally combined to win the Scottish League in devastating fashion. From then on, he was a legend.
An astonishing 550 goals speaks for itself with his best season being 1935/36 when he scored 50 Scottish League goals, including what was believed to be the fastest ever hat-trick against Motherwell in March 1936.
Not a tall man, it is surprising that a great many of his goals were scored with his head, and his ability to time his jump was truly astonishing, as indeed was the power of his shoulders.
READ THIS…Willie Maley v Jimmy McGrory. If you know the history
He had “more records than Harry Lauder” it was said, and it is a matter of some surprise that he played only eight times for Scotland, and never at Wembley, even though he scored against England at Hampden in both 1931 and 1933!
Having achieved all that he was likely to achieve at Celtic, he retired from the playing side of things to become Manager of Kilmarnock in 1937 and subsequently, Celtic from 1945 until 1965.
In neither post was he a total success, but he has cause to be proud of the Coronation Cup in 1953, the League and Cup double in 1954 and the 7-1 victory over Rangers in 1957.
He died on this day in 1982, and was much mourned by everyone in football.
David Potter
McGrory’s Farewell! pic.twitter.com/tvQAO3Uavi
— jamief (@jamiebhoy2009) October 20, 2021
🗓️ Our record goalscorer, Jimmy McGrory passed away #OnThisDay in 1982 at the age of 78. 🍀
Take a brief look at his career here ⤵️
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) October 20, 2021
Also knocked back a massive financial deal to go to arsenal and said Jimmy McGrory of arsenal doesn’t sound as good as jimmy McGrory of Celtic.I wish our modern players had the same mindset as Jimmy☹️
— Mark Nicholas (@joydivision61_h) October 20, 2021
🎼Wilson, Mochan and McPhail, and Willie Fernie scored as well🎼
Celts turning on the style to retain the League Cup, Jimmy McGrory’s last major trophy win as manager. https://t.co/0qWfa1PmqE
— Matt Corr (@Boola_vogue) October 19, 2021
And most of the football greats have passed through the parkhead gates and possibly none greater than Jimmy McGrory and he will be a real Celtic legend forever