Know Your History – Celtic In The Thirties Volume One – Book Review by Celtic book collector Peter Marshall…

Know Your History

Matt Corr has come up with a couple of new books which take us through a decade of performances by our Bhoys, namely the 1930s. I was curious to know why he picked this decade in particular, but I’ve just read The Celtic Star article “Know Your History,” so now I know!

Matt, I’m impressed, you’ve excelled in its simplicity. It’s so easy to read. Normally with this level of detail, some books are difficult to follow, Well done.

Rangers had their own TavPen in the shape of Alan Morton

For our younger generation of highly-rewarded fans who have seen our most productive decades – i.e. 2000 to date where we have accumulated 41 trophies – the 1930s was rather different.

I don’t want to steal Matt’s thunder here but it’s perhaps worthwhile to set the scene, as there are probably not many fans left who can actually say “I remember those times.” They were very different, politically and economically from what we have today, although reading through this I notice the original Rangers had their own TavPen in the shape of Alan Morton!

And one noticeable fact within the book is the size of the crowds in these days, even in barren times.

Two League Championships and three Scottish Cups

In those 10 years we managed just two League Championships and three Scottish Cups. There was no League Cup in those days, of course. There were the lesser cup tournaments, such as the Glasgow Cup and the Charity Cup, of which we won five in that time, but the crowning glory was winning the Empire Exhibition Cup in 1938. More of that later in Volume Two.

Can you imagine what it would have been like if there was social media as we know it today during those 10 years?

His photographs were destroyed in a fire

I’ve said many times on social media that the early Celtic years – very well documented by Ian McCallum, Brendan Sweeney and David Potter – is my favourite era, mainly as my grandad used to tell me stories of his days out watching Celtic (and other clubs) as he was a professional photographer. He was behind the other goal at the Johnny Thomson game, but sadly all his photographs were destroyed in a fire in his studio.

Mr Corr is building a nice little bibliography

So to Matt’s book. As expected, it is extremely thorough, with finite detail and is presented in an easy-to-read style, encapsulating the very identity of the club.

I do like the cover as it’s fits in perfectly with the style of The Celtic Star library that we’ve gathered over the past three or four years. It will sit nicely on the shelf and fair to say Mr Corr is building a nice little bibliography, wonderful.

This book, Volume One, takes us through the first five years of the decade. Following the prologue which sets the scene, the first chapter starts on 1st January 1930 with a match against Rangers. It’s hard to believe that at the beginning of this calendar year we had three games in four days! We are taken through each game in ‘deep dive’ detail, which I find very interesting, with little asides thrown in to keep you hooked. I like the summary at the end of the chapter. Nice touch. This is kept up throughout the book, an endearing trait.

And just wait till you get to the Epilogue! Wow!

Another trait is Matt referring to Willie Maley’s annual report, which is faithfully reproduced in some chapters from editions of The Celtic Football Guide. These make for wonderful and emotional reading.

Every chapter has a point to make. I won’t go through every one of these, but Matt’s description of the 1931 Scottish Cup Final and replay in Chapter Three is wonderful. And I like his quote “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” referencing Willie Maley’s frustration around circumstances at the time, but you’ll need to read the book to get the gist of what I’m talking about. Before that we have chapters about our first trophy of the decade and the US tour, then later we have the end of the season from hell, every chapter with a story to tell. And just wait till you get to the Epilogue! Wow!

It is extraordinary

I can’t over-emphasise the level of match detail within each chapter. It is extraordinary. I can see these two books becoming reference points for this particular time in our history.

The lengths Matt must have gone to in researching this is admirable. I expect the library and the Celtic Wiki have been frequented multiple times! In addressing the club’s history of that time, Matt’s insights are illuminating.

He is reverent to Willie Maley, Celtic’s illustrious manager, who was in the last decade of his career. He treats the dreadful Johnny Thomson and Peter Scarff situations emotionally and with utter respect. Particularly a section around the impact the Thomson tragedy had on Sam English.

All in all this is a super addition to the Celtic library. Looking forward to Volume 2 now!

Peter Marshall