6. ANDY LYNCH AND 1977
Celtic were going well in 1977 and on Wednesday 13 April at Fir Park, Motherwell, they might well have won the Scottish League. Ten minutes remaining however and the team were 0-1 down. But then left-back Andy Lynch scored two goals! In other circumstances this would have won the League but unfortunately for Andy and Celtic, they were own goals, and Celtic lost 0-3.
Poor Andy had to suffer a certain amount of ridicule about forgetting the teams changed ends at half-time and “For goodness sake, keep the ball away from Andy, he’s after his hat-trick!”, but he had the last laugh. Not only was he in the team which won the League at Hibs a few days later, but he also took the penalty kick that won the Scottish Cup that year against Rangers.
7. THE FRAIL LAD THAT WORE THE GREEN
There was no greater servant for Celtic in the inter-war years than Alec Thomson. Alec came from Buckhaven in Fife and joined the club from Wellesley Juniors in 1922. Several years later from the same source came the other Thomson, the goalkeeper John, and indeed the the kindly Alec took John under his wing when he arrived at Celtic Park.
Alec had started life as a right winger, but it was as an inside right that he made his mark, particularly in the great 5-0 demolition of Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final of 1925 when he and Patsy Gallacher dominated the second half. Hard on the heels of that came the glory season of 1925/26 when, as part of the immortal Connolly, Thomson, McGrory, McInally and McLean, Alec provided great service to the goalscoring talents of Jimmy McGrory and Tommy McInally, and won for himself a Scottish cap in a 1-0 victory over England at Old Trafford in April 1926.
He was a fine passer, a hard worker and a purveyor of the ball, earning himself nicknames like “Mr Ever Ready” and “McGrory’s fetch and carry man” from a support who soon recognised his worth. His only problem was his slightness of build – he was also called “the frail lad that wore the green” – and he could be brushed off the ball.
Indeed without his false teeth, he looked less that totally intimidating for the opposition, but appearances were deceptive. He was also such an assuming character off the field that one would pass him on the street, and possibly lacked a little of the “devil” necessary to be a top notch football player.
Indeed when he went back to his native Fife in the summer he very soon became “Eckie Tamson” again, and no-one would realise that he was the great Alec Thomson of Celtic to whom Maley and McGrory owed so much.
It was possibly his unassuming, gentle nature that cost him more Scottish caps. He was a great character in the dressing room, very sympathetic and helpful and trying several times in vain to reconcile the prodigiously talented but self-willed Tommy McInally to the rest of the team. His value was also proved in the events of 1931 when Alec, although himself totally devastated by the death of his friend and namesake John, proved a strong character to the rest of the team.
He managed to win his fourth Scottish Cup medal in 1933 before he departed in 1934 to finish his career with Dunfermline Athletic.
David Potter
Also by David Potter on The Celtic Star…
The Mighty Quinn – Bhoy from Croy, seen in Glasgow’s East End…see HERE.
Celtic’s McStay Dynasty…see HERE.
And if you have enjoyed these Seven Magnificently Random Celtic stories then you should check back on our homepage and you’ll find that there have been seven similarly brilliant Celtic stories every day for the past week. All of these are well worth a read!
