There was not a great deal of publicity given to football in the papers during the Second World War and, for Celtic fans, that was probably a blessing, as the team did not have a good record during those years.
The Directorate did not appear to take war-time football seriously and flatly refused to allow Willie Maley’s successor – Jimmy McStay – to use any of the top players usually based in England but stationed in Scotland.
On this day in 1942, Celtic met Motherwell at Parkhead in a Summer Cup second-round first-leg tie.
The team was Culley, Hogg, Dornan, McDonald, Corbett, McLaughlin, Riley, Crum, Delaney, Fisher and Murphy. One day later, these brief words were in one of the national dailies –
Albion Rovers 3 Hibs 0
Falkirk 1 Rangers 0
Hibs 8 Third Lanark 2
‘Best performance of the day was returned by Motherwell, who won 2-1 at Celtic Park. Celtic fielded the eleven that earned high praise for the bright display and victory in the previous round against Partick Thistle.
Sterling defence by Motherwell negatived the clever play of the Celtic forwards and the enterprise and resolution of their youthful attacks, particularly in the closing stages, secured a merited victory’.
7,000 had been in the stadium for the contest that day and Johnny Crum got the goal for Celtic.
Goalkeeper John Tobin was born on this day in 1868 and made his Celtic debut against Clyde in the Scottish Cup on 24 November 1888. Celtic lost 0-1 but they protested the result on the basis that firstly, Clyde had arrived late for the kick-off; secondly, that the start had been further delayed when three Clyde players had been ordered to remove illegal bars from their boots; and thirdly, that due to the late start, the match had finished in semi-darkness and stormy conditions.
The protest was upheld, the original game was declared unofficial and Celtic won the second match 9-2. Unfortunately, though, the first match turned out to be John Tobin’s only appearance for Celtic so the question is, did he or did he not play for Celtic?
Jim Craig
