Harry Hood signs for Celtic – A Clyde farewell, floodlights and a fan’s anguish

Harry says farewell to Clyde as a red card means there will be only one Stein at Hampden…three extracts from Harry Hood – Twice as Good as we celebrate the anniversary of Harry signing for his boyhood heroes Celtic…

There was a touch of symmetry about the match with Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday, 15 March 1969. Back in November 1962, Harry had made his debut for Clyde in the same venue as an 18-year-old hopeful. This day would now mark his final game for the club.

Despite pre-match optimism, John Wright and Graham Macfarlane had still not recovered sufficiently from their injuries sustained against Celtic, Archie Robertson duly naming an unchanged line-up again.

Rangers: Norrie Martin; Kai Johansen & Willie Mathieson; John Greig, Ronnie McKinnon & Dave Smith;
Willie Henderson, Andy Penman, Colin Stein, Alex Ferguson & Willie Johnston. Substitute: Alex MacDonald.

Clyde: Tommy McCulloch; Harry Glasgow & Eddie Mulheron; Jimmy Burns, Jim Fraser & John McHugh;
Davie Souter, Harry Hood, Stan Anderson, Ian Stewart & Sam Hastings. Substitute: Dick Staite.

It would be an afternoon to forget for the Clyde faithful amongst the 35,000 crowd, Dave Smith putting the hosts ahead within three minutes. By the half-hour mark it was 3-0, Colin Stein’s header then a deflected Andy Penman shot finding their way past Tommy McCulloch, the former Hibernian striker claiming a double before the interval as the roof threatened to cave in on Clyde completely.

The start to the second half was equally horrific for the visitors, Alex Ferguson and Stein both on target before three minutes had elapsed to take the score to 6-0. With Dick Staite on for Jim Fraser, Clyde’s day went from worse to ridiculous when Ian Stewart was stretchered off, leaving the Bully Wee to play the remaining 16 minutes with 10 men. The match still had two surprises in store, the first being that there was no further scoring and the second when hat-trick hero Stein contrived to get himself sent off for the third time that season in the final minute, the £100,000 man retaliating after an incident with Eddie Mulheron, who was also dismissed.

Stein’s latest act of folly – his team 6-0 up against 10 men with seconds to play – would have consequences. The severe winter weather had given him a huge break by reducing his 28-day suspension to effectively a one-match ban. He would not be so lucky this time, the Ibrox centre-forward’s next sentence causing him to miss the Scottish Cup final.

The Harry Hood floodlights!

As one Glasgow-based striker contemplated his actions, there would finally be a dream move for another. On Sunday, 16 March 1969, after 96 goals in 197 matches for Clyde, Henry Anthony Hood became Harry Hood of the Celtic. The Glasgow Herald carried the story the following morning, with news of Harry’s successor at Shawfield included in the article.

“Harry Hood, Clyde’s Scottish Under 23 international inside-forward, was last night transferred to Celtic for an undisclosed fee. The player recently expressed a wish to leave Clyde and, in the past, has made no secret of the fact that he would like to play for Celtic.

 “It is the second time that Hood has left Clyde. He was transferred to Sunderland in 1964, but after two seasons with the English club he returned to Shawfield. Hood played in the Scottish Under 23 team who were beaten 2-1 by England at Hampden last season and was in the Scottish party who toured the Far East in the summer of 1967.”

 “Clyde later signed Billy Hulston, East Stirling’s leading scorer, for what was described as a substantial fee. Archie Robertson, Clyde’s manager, completed the deal after having travelled through to Stirling.”

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As well as the signing of Hulston, the £30,000 transfer fee received from Celtic was utilised in a quite unique and, with due respect to Billy, much longer-lasting way. Current Clyde FC chairman John Taylor has been a passionate follower of the Bully Wee for 60 years, his first match being a 6-0 destruction of Jock Stein’s Dunfermline Athletic at Shawfield in April 1961, just a few weeks before Charlie Dickson and his pin-striped Fifers won the Scottish Cup and his beloved Clyde took the drop to the Second Division. The hosts even enjoyed the luxury of a missed penalty by the legendary Harry Haddock!

John took that wonderful photo of a teenage Harry in his early days at Shawfield which is featured in this book, as far as I can ascertain the first image of his senior football career. He would be too young to remember the occasion back in 1953 when Clyde inaugurated their new floodlight system against Matt Busby’s Manchester United, the first club in Glasgow to take such a step forward. The original system would soon be upgraded, thanks to Celtic’s cheque. John picks up the story.

“My main memories of Harry are from when he came back from Sunderland. He was the silkiest, classiest player. The most talented man I ever saw play for Clyde. Not a lot of people know this but his transfer to Celtic paid for the new floodlighting system to be installed at Shawfield. We always referred to them as the ‘Harry Hood floodlights.’ I guess we must be unique in that sense.”

“Harry leaving Clyde was like a death in the family” – A Clyde supporter’s view

Life would never be quite the same, albeit not just for Harry.

Alan Maxwell is also a lifelong Clyde supporter. There is no doubt about his favourite Bully Wee player of all-time or of his sense of loss and disappointment as a teenager when Harry Hood joined Celtic.

“I was eight years of age when Harry signed for Clyde in 1962. By that time, I had been going to Clyde games with my dad for about three years. Harry became an instant hit with the fans and was certainly an idol in our house from the very start. I particularly remember getting ready for school one morning when my dad was as high as a kite. He’d been at Ibrox the night before to see Clyde win in the Glasgow Cup. Harry scored the only goal and I’m sure Tommy McCulloch saved a penalty.

“I have a lot of memories of season 1963/64. That was a Second Division campaign. Morton ran away with the League, with Clyde as runners up. I think Harry really made his name that season. I was probably a bit too young to remember game specifics around that time, but I do vividly recall meeting the great man behind the main stand at Love Street. He was probably only about 19 but I am sure my dad asked him why he wasn’t playing, and Harry told us that he had failed a fitness test. I recall it being a sad day in the Maxwell household when he departed for Roker Park. Again, I was too young to say I followed his career with Sunderland. It would be easy now with social media but not in those days. I will say though, Harry never left the memory of the Clyde faithful, including our own household.

“By the time Harry returned to Shawfield, in the autumn of 1966, I was in my first year at secondary school. There had been rumours of his return, but it was the end of the week before his signing was confirmed. I remember the Saturday morning of his first game back. I was playing for the school team at Scotstoun Showgrounds and I couldn’t wait to get that match out the way to get to the Clyde game in the afternoon. This was immediately after England had won the World Cup (allegedly!). Clyde had famously started that campaign with each player having his own individual squad number, rather than the traditional 1-11 numbering. I’m sure Harry was given number 13 for the remainder of the season.

“1966/67 was a fantastic season to be a Clyde supporter. The standard of football was brilliant, needless to say greatly influenced by Harry. Just look at any match report and you’ll see the references to “the flowing Clyde” or our opponents being “Hoodwinked.” That was game after game. I particularly remember the first Scottish Cup semi-final tie with Celtic, which ended goalless. Harry had a great influence, as he always did. Very late in the game, The Evening Times reported that “It might have been Clyde who contested the April 29th final, but for a superb, one-handed save from Ronnie Simpson from Joe Gilroy in the 67th minute.

Remember, this was the Celtic team who just a few weeks later were to lift the European Cup. Now, if only the great Harry Hood had been playing for Inter! Sadly, Harry would miss the cup replay. I remember finding that out on the night of the replay and I was heartbroken. The replay was a non-event with ‘Hoodless Clyde’ presenting no challenge on the night.

 Harry continued as a talisman at Shawfield for another two years and I probably saw the vast majority of his Clyde appearances. The League Cup section of 1968/69 was memorable. Clyde shared a section with Aberdeen, Dundee United and Dunfermline, and won it. Can you imagine that now? This was a hugely Hood-inspired Clyde side. They still managed to retain most of the 66/67 personnel. A 3-0 home win against the Pars always lingers in the memory banks. This was a ‘Harry supershow’ and he scored all three goals. In goal for Dunfermline and not blameless was a very young Stewart Kennedy. I’d need to check but I think that may have been his senior debut. Clyde lost out 1-0 in the semi-final, once again to Celtic, thanks to a brilliant George Connelly strike. The Evening Times gave a glowing report of the Clyde performance and I recall that Ronnie Simpson produced a number of memorable saves, not least a great dive to thwart a Hood header. This was just a few months before Celtic sealed his signature.

“Harry moved on in March 1969. I was delivering morning papers in Jordanhill by that time. I always got to the shop early to scan the ‘fitba pages’ and, very sadly, 50-odd years on, I still do that. I was shocked to see that Harry had gone. He had been linked with Celtic for years but there had been nothing to prepare me for that sudden news. It was a like death in the family to me.”

“I have met him a few times, most recently at Clyde award nights. He always loved the Bully Wee. In 2003, I met him at the baggage carousel at Glasgow Airport. We had been on the same flight back from Malaga. He asked me if I had been at a memorable 6-0 defeat for Clyde at Ibrox in the late 60’s, when Eddie Mulheron got sent off for chasing Colin Stein around the park and repeatedly kicking out at him. Of course, I was there, and I remembered the incident. Harry told me the Clyde players were unhappy at Stein that day due to his gamesmanship. Happily, Colin was also sent off, albeit I was never quite sure why! I have just discovered that this was the same weekend Harry signed for Celtic, so the 6-0 defeat at Ibrox would be his last game for Clyde.

“I have a signed photo of the great man in action. It’s a fantastic picture of Harry which shows perfectly his combination of balance, poise and concentration. A 1960’s Messi….just a wee bit better! “Feed the Hood,” as was the chant some 50 years ago. Harry is easily the single best player to play for Clyde since the early sixties. Graceful, sharp, fantastic football brain and skilful. He had the lot. He was brilliant at making other good players play above themselves.”

Matt Corr – author, Harry Hood – Twice as Good, the official biography.

These extracts are from Harry Hood’s official biography, Twice As Good, written by Matt Corr of this parish and published by Celtic Star Books. Signed and personalised copies available now at celticstarbooks.com – click on the link below to order your copy of this wonderful Celtic book.

If you would like a personal message added to your copy of Harry Hood – Twice as Good, just order from celticstarbooks.com then drop me an email (including the personal message you would like added to your book) to – editor@thecelticstar.co.uk – and we’ll organise this for you and the book will be posted out straight away. £1 from every copy sold is donated to Marie Curie in memory of Celtic legend, Harry Hood.

About Author

Having retired from his day job Matt Corr can usually be found working as a Tour Guide at Celtic Park, or if there is a Marathon on anywhere in the world from as far away as Tokyo or New York, Matt will be running for the Celtic Foundation. On a European away-day, he's there writing his Diary for The Celtic Star and he's currently completing his first Celtic book with another two planned.

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