Jimmy Gribben’s extra special team…

In the book, Rhapsody in Green which Pat Woods co-authored with Tom Campbell in 1990, two other factors for Jock Stein’s departure from Llanelli are introduced, as well as a statement which contradicts Jimmy’s McGrory’s assertion in his autobiography that no fee was involved in Celtic’s signing of their club captain. The grievous financial situation at the club in itself would have been bad enough, but worse was to follow for Jock from a domestic perspective.

Over to Pat and Tom.

“Jock Stein was returning to Llanelly with his team-mates from another long away-trip, this time to Hastings on the south coast of England. As the coach made its lumbering way westward to South Wales in the darkness of a cold December night in 1951, Stein had a lot on his mind.

For one thing Llanelly were struggling on the field; recently the side had lost 1-6 to Lovell’s Athletic (a works’ side), while the reserves were losing 2-14 at home to Ebbw Vale. Only a week or so ago a public meeting had been held to discuss the fate of the club that had gambled so much on its future in Southern League football; the local Llanelly paper, The Star, had described the financial state as ‘a losing battle against expenditure.’

Stein sighed at the prospects, thinking that a return to Scotland would mean at the best a steady job in the pits, and perhaps part-time football for a couple of years more. Later, on his arrival at Llanelly, Jean, his wife, had news, bad news. The house in Hamilton had been burgled again. That was the last straw. A council house in the austerity of post-war Britain was a prized possession, and sensibly the Steins had not given it up when they moved to Wales. Football was too unpredictable an occupation and would not last for ever…but once again the house had been broken into.

Dejected, Stein agreed that the best thing – the most practical thing to do – would be to return to Lanarkshire, and a grimmer future. He thought that he would have to speak to the Llanelly manager, Jack Goldsborough, when he next reported to Stebonheath Park.

Unknown to Stein, his life had started to change – and for the better.

Back in Glasgow, Celtic were experiencing difficulties both in defence and attack. Mediocrity had become a bit of a way of life at Parkhead – a dismal change in the fortunes of a once-great club. Jimmy McGrory, the manager, and Jimmy Gribben, a scout, were discussing the recurring injuries and loss of form on the part of Celtic’s regular pivots. It seemed obvious to them that an experienced centre half should be signed up cheaply, and fill in for a period; later, if he was the right sort of person, he could help out with the reserves. But who?

Almost as an afterthought, Gribben mentioned the name of Stein, formerly of Albion Rovers and now playing somewhere in Wales; he added the caveat that Stein came from Burnbank, a hot-bed of Rangers’ fans, and that the player was not exactly Celtic-minded. However, it was agreed to proceed on the understanding that the enquiries should be discreet, and that the fee should be modest.

The Star reported later that Celtic, possibly sensitive about accusations of parsimony, requested the amount of the transfer fee be kept secret; significantly, the sum (eventually revealed as £1,300) was only £200 less than the amount needed to clear up Llanelly’s debts.

When Stein showed up at Llanelly’s ground, he was called into the cubicle of an office, and informed that a Scottish club was eager to have him; the last club to enter his mind would have been Celtic. Two journalists on rival newspapers, John Blair of The Evening News and George Aitken of The Evening Citizen, were so stunned by a phone-call informing them that Celtic had signed a player from a non-League club that they mutually agreed that one of them would verify this startling announcement.

The Celtic manager, Jimmy McGrory, confirmed that Jock Stein had joined the Parkhead club, then added: ‘But nobody will believe it!’ A few days later. On 8 December 1951, he made his debut for Celtic against St Mirren at Parkhead as a vaguely remembered nobody.”

A ‘vaguely remembered nobody’ would not be a description ever applied to Jock Stein again.

In any case, back to the extract from Mr Stein.

“Stein was never to forget Gribben’s influence on his life. When Celtic won the Scottish Cup in the 1965 final against Dunfermline…their celebrations were held in the Central Hotel in Glasgow, and before they entered the building Stein handed the cup to Jimmy Gribben to lead the way in. Perhaps the Celtic support, watching this, failed to grasp either the significance of that special display of affection and gratitude or even the identity of the largely anonymous man responsible for breathing new life into Stein fourteen years earlier.”

Whatever transpired in Jimmy’s footballing career beyond the end of his contract at Bathgate, from a personal perspective that period from the late 1920s as he transitioned from footballer to backroom man would be hectic. Jimmy and Margaret would be blessed with the gift of 11 children over those years, five sons and six daughters forming their very own football team!

Sadly, all five boys and three of the six Gribbon girls have passed away over the last 30 years or so, and at the time of writing, eldest daughter Teresa Tracey and her two sisters Agnes Gallacher and Phyllis Hogan are the only three of the couple’s children who survive. The arrival order of all 11 Gribbon children and brief details of Jimmy and Margaret’s very special extended ‘Team’ of 35 grandchildren are listed below.

Eldest child and now the family matriarch is Teresa. She married Patrick Tracey and they had a son, John, who was kind enough to provide some information to support this article. It was Teresa’s nephew David Tracey who wrote an article in The Celtic Star back in March 2018, ‘Jimmy Gribben, Celtic’s forgotten legend.’

READ THIS…This is the man who brought Jock Stein to Celtic

First-born son was James, presumably named after his dad. He married Mary McMillan and they had three girls, Jessie, Elizabeth and Mary.

Jimmy and Margaret’s third child was another son, given the name of John, perhaps in honour of Jimmy’s two deceased infant brothers mentioned earlier. John married Catherine Carr and they had six children, two of whom I have now had the pleasure of meeting, Margaret and John Junior. The others were James, Paul – sadly no longer with us, Frank and Catherine. Margaret has been a huge help in pulling together the family information.

Third son Joseph was the first of Jimmy and Margaret’s children to pass away, back in 1995. A bachelor, he had lived in Florida for a while and is buried beside his mum and dad.

The fifth Gribbon sibling was a second daughter, Margaret, presumably called after her mum and/or her dad’s two infant sisters. Maggie married James Docherty and they also had six children, two of whom I met on a stadium tour of Celtic Park late last year, Jamie and Michael. It was Michael’s partner Nikki who kicked off the discussion which has ultimately led to this article being published. The other Docherty children are Maggie, Brian, Robert and Susan.

Special moment on the @celticparkevent tour today as we’re joined by the family of Jimmy Gribben, the man who suggested we sign Jock Stein and therefore one of the most important men in our history,

Jimmy’s grandsons and great grandsons are photographed below. ☘️ pic.twitter.com/JQvu2B5ipI

— Matt Corr (@Boola_vogue) October 29, 2023

Next to arrive was William, again the name of one of Jimmy’s infant brothers who passed away. He is referred to within the family as Will, although I saw him referenced elsewhere as Billy. Will married Margaret Sinclair and they had three children, twin daughters Josephine and Theresa and a son Edward, the family growing up in Chiswick, West London. I am advised that Will spent some time at Celtic as a youngster without making the first team.

Gribbon child number seven was Catherine, the name of yet another of Jimmy’s siblings, in this case his eldest sister. She married Denis Williams and they were blessed with two girls, Denise and Helen. A nice touch to give daughter Helen her Great-Granny Gribbon’s maiden surname of Nicol as a middle name.

Another daughter would follow, Elizabeth, perhaps named after another of Jimmy’s older sisters but known as Betty. She married Charles McCaig and they had a son, also Charles. It was Betty who registered her dad’s death in November 1976.

Gribbon number nine was Agnes, the name of another of Jimmy’s sisters who died in infancy. Agnes married a man with a famous Celtic name – Patrick Gallacher – and they had four children, twin girls Anne and Elizabeth, daughter Fiona and son William. Agnes is alive and well and enjoying the sunshine of Florida, where the family has lived for many years.

The 10th Gribbon child is also happily still with us. Philomena is known as Phyllis and married Patrick Hogan, and they were blessed with six children, sons James, Paul, Joseph and Barry and daughters Philomena and Patricia.

And making up the Gribbon first team was Michael. He married Catherine McGinley and they had three daughters, Geraldine, Gillian and Paula.

Between the births of his sixth and seventh children, Jimmy had to deal with the loss of his father.

James Gribbin senior, widower of Mary Nicol Gribbin, passed away on 28 December 1936, aged 69, at his home at 13 Dolan Street, Baillieston. He had been suffering from carcinoma of the stomach for nine months. The death was registered by Jimmy, who was present, and the certificate noted that his normal place of residence was 17 Greenshields Road, Baillieston, so literally around the corner from his dad.

Jimmy and Margaret had moved from their previous tenement home on Baillieston Main Street to a ‘three-bedroomed ground floor flat with a large and stunning front garden’ in the mid 1930s, and they would remain at the house in Greenshields Road for the rest of their lives. His daughter Betty was living there at the time of his passing in 1976 and her son – Jimmy’s grandson Charles McCaig – remains at the family home there to this day.

Hail Hail!

Matt Corr

With grateful thanks to Pat Woods, Tom Campbell, Manus Gallagher, Ken Ross, Nikki Guthrie, Elaine Currie, Margaret Gribbon, John Gribbon, John Tracey, Philomena Tracey and the wider Gribbon family.

Follow Matt on Twitter/X @Boola_vogue