On this day in 1944…The impressive sporting family Hood gains a new addition…
As the first anniversary of the death of her beloved husband approached, a new Harry was introduced to the world of May Hood O’Gara. On Tuesday, 3 October 1944, her sister-in-law Mary Hood delivered a baby boy in Stobhill Hospital, just three years after she had said a heart-breaking goodbye to her own infant daughter Margaret in that same Springburn institution.
May’s new nephew Henry Anthony would be a fourth son for the Hoods and would complete the family unit when he arrived at their new home at 60 Menzies Road, Balornock, in a modern housing estate built just a short walk from Stobhill. Like his father and late uncle before him, he would be christened Henry but would be known as Harry.
That family unit would be rather unique, with four of the six surviving Hood children going on to enjoy careers in professional sport. Those genes had more than likely been passed down from Harry senior, described as quite a footballer in his day. Now aged 40, he had spent many years as a popular milkman with the Cowlairs Co-operative Society – the Co-op – then Scottish Farmers. Harry senior would later run a dairy and general grocery in Queenshill Street in Springburn.
Those familiar with the area would know that street as the home of Santi’s famous New Yorker fish and chip restaurant and takeaway, the mecca for many a Friday night treat in those days.
Mum Mary worked in Brownlee & Company’s City Sawmills, a well-known landmark at the junction of Keppochhill and Craighall Roads, just a few hundred yards from their first flat as a married couple.
Harry and Mary’s eldest son, Peter, now 19 years old, was a keen amateur boxer. Peter would soon have the opportunity to continue that whilst serving in the Royal Navy, which he entered in February 1946 as an engine room artificer. The story goes that famous boxing promoter Jack Solomons tried to convince him to turn professional, but Peter turned him down, suggesting that he would be happy to take the management role if Solomon took the punches! Peter would become the first of the six Hood children to take the plunge, marrying Margaret Winter, known as Meg, in Bridgeton in 1949.
The lives of Harry and Mary’s remaining two daughters – Irene and Patricia, known as Pat – would follow remarkably similar paths. Both girls would become professional ice skaters, the two beautiful, elegant Hood ladies appearing in venues across Britain and continental Europe throughout the 1950’s, performing with the major stars of the day, such as singer Frankie Vaughan. They would also both wed US servicemen before raising their families on the other side of the Atlantic. Irene’s childhood friend Delia would marry the well-known Glasgow criminal defence solicitor, Joe Beltrami, in 1959.
The Hoods’ second son, George, was just about to turn nine years old when Harry was born. George had suffered with polio as a child, thus perhaps putting paid to any hopes of a career in sport for him. However, younger brother John – known as Jack or Jackie and now approaching his seventh birthday – would already be showing the early promise which would take him to one of the biggest football clubs on these islands. It was quite a talented and impressive family cast for Harry to join.
The earliest recollections of the young Harry Hood and his family are provided by his first school friend, Bernie Curran.
“When I first met Harry, the family lived in a four-in-a-block house in Menzies Road, adjacent to a lane which led to the shops in Balornock Road. Just opposite Springburn Park. I lived in Drumbottie Road, just across from there. I remember the Hood house vividly because they had a chicken coup in the back garden. They later moved to a top floor flat in Barmulloch Road.”
“Harry and I were primary school pals at St Bede’s, which was a wooden structure at the top of the hill on the right as you came up Red Road from Petershill, just before the Broomfield Road roundabout.”
“Harry’s mum was a lovely lady, very elegant, and his dad was a real character, a milkman who drove a bright red float. Lunchtime at St Bede’s consisted of four or five of us jumping on to Harry senior’s electric milk float, chapping doors and asking, “Need any milk, missus?” We did it for the sheer joy of getting a free hurl. One particularly hot day, there was a bottle of Irn Bru at Harry senior’s feet. I grabbed the bottle, only to be told, “Don’t touch that!” When I enquired, I was told it was poison. Suffice to say there were no public toilets on Harry’s dad’s milk round!”
“Harry’s dad was his biggest fan and motivator. When we played Boys Guild football for Immaculate Heart of Mary, he was an ever-present at the games. Our strip was all green with a white diamond, similar to the Airdrie kit. He would run the line in those matches but was inclined to be a bit biased. His dad never, as I recall, gave as much as a throw-in to the opposing team and he always did it with a straight face.”
Aunt May would play a key role in the early development of young Harry beyond his spell at St Bede’s. Like her older sister, Betty, who had never married, she had set up her own business, in her case selling confectionery, whilst they also owned a hairdressing salon. In the language of the day used in Springburn, the sisters would be described as “financially comfortable.”
Hood family history suggests that May took a special interest in Harry, the namesake of her late husband. Through her ‘adoption’ he would then attend the private St Aloysius College – a prestigious fee-paying seat of learning in Garnethill, north of the city centre, rather than any of the local schools in Springburn or, indeed, the adjacent St Martha’s Primary in Menzies Road, which would not be completed until 1953.
Bernie picks up the story again.
“I remember that time vividly. Harry told me in the playground at St Bede’s. He was a bit quiet about it. I remember thinking at the time that this was obviously a family decision. Harry’s dad – as dad’s do – always wanted the best for him. Harry was very much younger than his older siblings and, in my opinion, he was treated as the special one. That is not meant as derogatory. Harry’s mum and dad were wonderful people.”
There would one huge problem with all of this for Harry, standing out amongst the other kids with his bright green school blazer. In 1954, after more than half a century as valued members of the Glasgow Schools Football Association, the trustees of St Aloysius College made a strategic change in its sporting direction which would have major implications for the 10-year-old Harry Hood and his football-mad classmates.
From that point onwards, the preferred sport at its Garnethill campus would be rugby rather than football, and although described as “a useful hooker,” a career chasing the egg-shape ball was not really for Harry. He was emerging as a real talent as a footballer, starring with the local street teams, such as Menzies Star. That would be his forte, and within a few years, the change of direction at St Aloysius would present a challenge to his hopes of forging a career in the game.
An extract from Harry’s official biography, Twice As Good by Matt Corr.
Happy heavenly birthday, Harry.
Hail, Hail!
Matt Corr
Follow Matt on X/Twitter @Boola_vogue
