On this day in 1865, John Madden was born in Dumbarton.
Madden was a remarkable man with an amazing career. From the age of 19, he had spells with Dumbarton Albion, Dumbarton Hibs, Dumbarton, Gainsborough Trinity, Grimsby Town, Celtic in May 1888, then back to Dumbarton before re-joining Celtic in August 1889.
During the following eight seasons – apart from missing out on the first Scottish Cup win of 1892 – Johnny was there for all the major moments. After he retired, he went into the coaching side of the game and eventually ended up as coach of Slavia in Prague and was revered as the founder of modern Czechoslovakian football.
He lived in Prague until his death in 1948, at the age of 83.
Other Celts born in this day included James McKay, a centre-forward from Stirling who was serving with General Slim’s Army in Burma when he joined Celtic to play three times – and scoring twice – in season 1944-45; and John MacNamee, a centre-half who played 38 times for the club between 1959 and 1964 before going on to star for Hibs and Newcastle.
In April 2017, John’s son revealed that his Dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Jim Craig
