Peter Scarff was an inside-left who had joined Celtic from Linwood St Conval’s in 1928. He made his first-team debut against Arthurlie a year later and quickly became a regular in the side, getting a Glasgow Cup medal in 1930, when Celtic beat Rangers 2-1 and a Scottish Cup medal in 1931, when Motherwell were defeated 4-2 in a replay.
On this day in 1931, Celtic beat Hamilton Academical 6-1 in a league match, with both Jimmy McGrory and Peter Scarff getting hat-tricks. Seven days later came that dreadful afternoon at Ibrox, when John Thomson was fatally injured, an accident which deeply affected the whole club.
Shortly afterwards, Peter Scarff started to complain of a shortage of breath, was sometimes unable to finish training and eventually dropped out of the first team altogether after the game against Leith Athletic on 19 December 1931.
On 12 January, 1932, Peter Scarff was admitted to the Bridge of Weir sanatorium seriously ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. Despite of periods of remission leading to false hopes, Peter continued to deteriorate and died on 9 December 1933. He was 24.
Many Happy Returns to Fernando de Ornelas, born on this day in Caracas in 1976. The Venezualan midfielder made two appearances for Celtic in season 2000-01 before moving to South China.
Jim Craig
