By this time of year in season 1947-48, Celtic had just gone out of the Scottish Cup in the quarter-finals to Morton – 0-1 at Ibrox – and were struggling in the league, in 5th bottom place, with 23 points, only three ahead of second-bottom Airdrie, who had two matches in hand.
For most of the matches played that season, the names of the players holding the defensive positions in the team were pretty stable but up front, Celtic had fielded – in the positions of the time – 5 outside-rights, 8 inside-rights, 9 centre-forwards and 5 inside-lefts, with Johnny Paton the left-wing regular apart from 7 appearances by the club’s first Polish player, Konrad Kappler.
On this day in 1948, a Celtic party – consisting of players, management and directors – headed for Dundee to face the Dark Blues for the final match of the campaign, well knowing that defeat was unthinkable.
The team chosen for this crucial match was Miller, Hogg, Mallan, Evans, Corbett, McAuley, Weir, McPhail, Lavery, Gallagher and Paton. With only a few minutes to go, Dundee were 2-1 ahead but an equaliser and then a winner just before the final whistle, making a hat-trick for Jock Weir, recently signed from Blackburn Rovers, saved the day for Celtic with Airdrie eventually accompanying Queen’s Park to the Second Division.
Jim Craig
PS Martin Donaldson wrote about meeting Jock Weir on The Celtic Star last month. You can read his article on the events at Dens Park that day and the Celtic hero’s recollections below…
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