With today being Charlie Gallagher’s 80th birthday, I began to think about his phenomenal contributions to Celtic’s greatest period in history. Two moments stand out above the rest, both were corner kicks and both were dispatched by Billy McNeill. The first was his corner against Dunfermline in the 1965 Scottish Cup Final, which heralded the start of a new golden era. The second was his corner against Vojvodina in the final minute of the 1967 European Cup Quarter Final, which sent Celtic into the in last four of the competition.
Thinking on, two other corner kick takers sprung to mind and both were also named Charlie!
The tales of Charles Patrick Tully scoring direct from corners in the 1950s are legendary. He did this against England for Ireland in 1952. Then, in 1953, he wrote his name into Celtic folklore during a trip to Brockville. Celtic were awarded a corner against Falkirk that day and Tully curled it directly into the far corner of the net. The referee disallowed the strike and ordered Tully to retake. Incredibly, the Irishman just placed the ball back down and did the exact same thing again… this time it counted!
The last Charlie in my mind was Charlie Mulgrew. He had a wonderful delivery from all set pieces, but his corners were such a threat during our 2012/13 UEFA Champions League run to the last 16. The defeat of Barcelona was one of the greatest nights in the club’s history and the first goal that evening came from a Mulgrew corner. Charlie also set up Samaras’ goal to give us the lead in Benfica through a corner kick.
