Joe Cassidy – “The smallest and cleverest thing ever to appear in a Celtic jersey”

Joe Cassidy signed for Celtic in 1912 at the age of 16 and made his first team debut the following year in a 1-0 league defeat at Motherwell…

‘Trooper’Joe was a gifted inside left but small in stature. He was once described as “The smallest and cleverest thing ever to appear in a Celtic jersey”. That didn’t deter him from being good in the air and he was said to be a great header of the ball with a keen eye for goal.

Joe’s career like many of that era was interrupted by the outbreak of World War One, with Joe himself winning a military medal for his brave efforts with the Black Watch. It was after his return from the war that he earned the nickname ‘Trooper Joe’.

‘Trooper Joe’ would come to prominence after the War and his performances and goals made him a firm favourite amongst the Celtic supporters.

His most impressive season being 1922-23 in which he almost single handedly won the Scottish Cup. It was a relatively poor season for the club but a success for Joe who scored 11 goals in the successful Scottish cup campaign, scoring in every match bar one.

Joe Cassidy scored a total of 104 goals in 204 games which was a good record for an inside left, although he did have a spell up front after the departure of Tommy McInally, but his record is very impressive all the same.

The great Jimmy McGrory a player whom Joe helped develop in the early part of his career rated Joe as the best ever inside left he had played with, and picked him in his all time XI. High praise indeed and a testament to Joes ability.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy