Personal Heartbreak for Harry Hood and a Night of Scotland Shame

Personal heartbreak for Harry…

Back on the domestic front, three days later promoted Cowdenbeath made their first League visit to Celtic Park since a 7-0 defeat in September 1933, an afternoon when both Jimmy McGrory and Charlie Napier scored hat-tricks.

Two of ‘Happy Feet’ Napier’s goals had come from the penalty spot, the first award conceded by his elder brother George. The other was given away by Napier’s full-back partner Charlie Gronbach, who now returned to Glasgow’s east end as Cowdenbeath chairman. Small world.

Harry’s first task that afternoon was to gently remove a small dog from the field, the Blue Brazil perhaps bringing their own Pele with them! Half an hour later, Harry set George Connelly up for the opening goal, the big Fifer doubling the lead on the stroke of half-time following a glorious dummy from Jimmy Johnstone. Willie Wallace scored Celtic’s third with 15 minutes remaining and there was a brief blip just before the end, as Harry saw his penalty kick saved by visiting keeper Allan Wyllie.

 

Harry had yet again been overlooked for the full Scotland set-up, despite his impressive start to the season, Coventry City’s Willie Carr the latest inside-forward introduced by Bobby Brown for the match with Denmark at Hampden in midweek.

On this occasion, though, perhaps he would consider himself fortunate to miss out, spared the appalling abuse meted out to the two Celts in the team – Davie Hay and Jimmy Johnstone – booed every time they touched the ball by a large section of the crowd behind one goal, for the crime of playing for Celtic.

The crowd then started up a chant for Sandy Jardine, and shamefully Brown obliged, removing the young Celtic full-back from the fray. The Evening Times headline the following morning was “Night of shame – for fans,” which pretty much summed it up.

The excitement felt by Harry as he took his first steps into a business career by opening the Sherwood Manor hotel on Uddingston’s New Edinburgh Road would be followed by personal heartbreak, the new owner tragically losing both of his beloved parents within a three-week spell as November rolled into December.

Whether his father’s illness was a factor in Harry dropping to the bench for the home match with Kilmarnock on Saturday, 14 November 1970 is unclear, but he came on to replace opening goalscorer Bobby Murdoch, with Celtic already 3-0 up, Willie Wallace and Jimmy Johnstone the others on target. There would be no further scoring, largely due to the efforts of Kilmarnock’s impressive young keeper, Alistair Hunter.

At 1pm the following day, 66-year-old retired security officer Henry Ferguson Hood passed away peacefully in Glasgow’s Stobhill Hospital, just a mile or so from the current family home at 120 Burnbrae Street in Balornock. He had been suffering from prostate cancer. His son Henry Anthony Hood would register the death on the Monday, 16 November, as his Celtic teammates headed to London to play West Ham United in Bobby Moore’s testimonial that evening.

READ THIS...West Ham 3 Celtic 3, Bobby Moore Benefit, Monday 16 November 1970

As Harry and his family attended his dad’s funeral on the morning of Wednesday, 18 November 1970, the quarter-final draw for the European Cup in Paris paired Celtic with highly-fancied Ajax.

Jock Stein expressed his delight at the tie but in terms of Celtic’s hopes of progression it could scarcely have been more difficult, as events would later prove.

That would also finally put paid to plans to match up Celtic and Santos in Jamaica in February 1971 – an opportunity for Harry to face his hero Pele – the likelihood now being that the Bhoys would seek a game with Feyenoord in that window, ahead of the clash with their Dutch rivals the following month. UEFA also announced that the European Cup final would be played at Wembley, a huge incentive for Celtic and a mouth-watering prospect for the supporters.

Matt Corr

*An extract from Harry Hood – Twice as Good which is published by Celtic Star Books and is available now from the link below (you will receive a signed copy by both Matt Corr and also Harry’s close friend and former Celtic teammate Tommy Callaghan. The book is also available via the Celtic FC stores and online shop and also it’s also available on Amazon.

About Author

Having retired from his day job Matt Corr can usually be found working as a Tour Guide at Celtic Park, or if there is a Marathon on anywhere in the world from as far away as Tokyo or New York, Matt will be running for the Celtic Foundation. On a European away-day, he's there writing his Diary for The Celtic Star and he's currently completing his first Celtic book with another two planned.

Comments are closed.