There is a lot of talk about managers at the moment. It’s all a bit deflating, so I turned to the history books, as I often do, for a bit of escapism.
In reading about the Celtic greats, I discovered a managerial fact, which I felt compelled to share.
The first and longest serving Celtic Manager was Willie Maley. He held the role at Celtic Park from September 1897 until January 1940. His record was impressive: Played 1758, Won 1112, Drew 352, Lost 294 – Win Percentage 63.23%.
Whilst having such longevity, Maley also delivered unprecedented success.
Trophies: 16 league titles, 14 Scottish Cups, 14 Glasgow Cups, 19 Glasgow Charity cups & The Empire Exhibition Cup.
He is the most decorated Manager in the club’s illustrious history.
Some Willie Maley quotes courtesy of the wonderful Celtic Wiki.
“The club has been my life and I feel without it my existence would be empty indeed.”
“It’s not the creed nor his nationality that counts. It’s the man himself.”
“A man must be a Celt on and off the field, otherwise he is of no value to this club.”
“My love for Celtic has been a craze.”
“Much has been made in certain quarters about our religion, but for forty-eight years we have played a mixed team, and some of the greatest Celts we have had did not agree with us in our religious beliefs, although we have never at any time hidden what these are. Men of the type of McNair, Hay, Lyon, Buchan, Cringan, the Thomspons, or Paterson soon found out that broadmindedness which is the real stamp of the good Christian existed to its fullest at Celtic Park, where a man was judged by his football alone.” Willie Maley from “The Story of The Celtic” (1939)
“Willie Maley was a great man but a person I used to regard with awe. Most of the time he was ensconced in his office and was not directly involved with our training. Now and again he would walk out the tunnel and when the players saw the familiar figure with the black crombie coat and stetson type hat you never saw such activity on the track.
It was a situation similar to the headmaster and pupil type of relationship, yet it was a style of management that brought results. Jimmy McStay was different in character. A quiet man he was there in difficult circumstances, similarly Jimmy McGrory was also very much a gentleman and although it’s often been repeated both seemed too nice to be really successful managers.” Matt Lynch (Celtic Player)
“He was in his tower, but when he came down from it you didn’t wait long, you got yourself out of the road. I’ve never known him to come in and wax eloquent about a performance. He could always pick the Achilles heel and lambast you for doing this or that or the next thing. Some weeks the secretary [James Maloney] would come in with the wages and say to me the boss still had mine. I knew them so I would then have to goto into the office.”
Malcolm MacDonald’s anecdote of Willie Maley’s style at Celtic is quite interesting in depicting the manner of management at the club
‘To me, Willie Maley was Celtic.’ Willie Buchan
‘You always expected to see him well-dressed, with the soft hat, you know.’ Willie Buchan
“I am the last survivor of the little band that set out heroically to launch the Celtic ship.” Willie Maley during his speech in 1938 at the Celtic 50 year Jubilee dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel in Glasgow. He was also presented with 2,500 guineas – 50 for every year he had served Celtic.
Liam Kelly
