Jimmy McGrory
James Edward McGrory was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic, Clydebank and Scotland as a forward. He later managed Kilmarnock and Celtic.
McGrory is the all-time leading goalscorer in top-flight British football, with a total of 550 goals in 547 competitive first-team games at club and international level.
A legendary figure within Celtic's history, he played for the club for 15 years between 1922 and 1937, and is Celtic's top scorer of all time with 522 goals from 501 games and holds their record for the most goals in a season, with 62 goals from 46 games in the 1927–28 season. He has also notched up a British top-flight record of 55 hat-tricks, 48 coming in Scottish Football League games and seven from Scottish Cup ties. Some argue that he scored 56, as he hit eight goals in a Scottish League game against Dunfermline Athletic on 14 January 1928, a British top-flight record.
After a spell managing Kilmarnock from December 1937 to July 1945, he became Celtic manager, where he remained for just under 20 years, until March 1965 when he was succeeded by Jock Stein.
Although only tall, McGrory was renowned for his prowess and ability for headers. His trademark was an almost horizontal bullet header, which he used regularly in scoring, and which earned him the nicknames "the Human Torpedo" and "the Mermaid".
Early life
McGrory was born at Millburn Street in the Garngad neighbourhood of Glasgow. He was the son of Henry McGrory and Catherine Coll, both of whom were Irish Catholic immigrants from Ulster. Henry and Catherine had been married at Saint Baithin's Church in St Johnston, a village in The Laggan district in the east of County Donegal, before emigrating to Scotland. Catherine was from the townland of Cavanacaw and Henry was from the townland of Tullyowen, both in St Johnston, where Jimmy's elder brother was born before the family left Ireland. They lived in Glasgow's East End on his father's wages as a gasworks labourer.Playing career
St Roch's
McGrory began playing for St Roch's Juniors aged 16, earning £2 a week. In his first season of 1921–22, he helped the side win a Double. St Roch's won the Scottish Junior Football League and the Scottish Junior Cup, where he scored the equaliser in a 2–1 win over Kilwinning Rangers. In 2013, St Roch's renamed their ground in honour of McGrory, changing it from Provanmill Park to The James McGrory Park.Celtic
1920s
With many clubs now scouting McGrory, such as Third Lanark and Fulham, Celtic jumped in first and approached to sign him. He signed his first full professional contract for Celtic on 10 June 1922, for £5 a week, in the pavilion at Third Lanark's Cathkin Park. He made his debut on 20 January 1923, in a 1–0 away defeat, also at Cathkin Park. His first goal came two weeks later on 3 February 1923, in a 4–3 League defeat against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. In total, he made three League and one Scottish Cup appearances, scoring that one goal at Rugby Park.He was loaned out to Clydebank on 7 August 1923 and later that month scored on his debut against Aberdeen at Pittodrie in a 3–1 defeat. On 1 March 1924, he lined up in the Clydebank side to face Celtic at Parkhead. It ended up being quite a bizarre day for him, as he ended up scoring the winner in a shock 2–1 victory for Clydebank. Not long after this, and before the season was out, he was recalled to Celtic. In his time at Clydebank he played 33 League and Scottish Cup games, scoring 16 goals. Having returned to Celtic, he featured in the Glasgow Charity Cup semi-final against Queens Park on 6 May 1924, scoring in a 2–0 win. The final was two days later on 8 May 1924, where he played at outside-left in a 2–1 win over Rangers.
The 1924–25 season started poorly, with McGrory not scoring in his first three games, but worse was to come when his father was killed after accidentally being struck by a stone in a local park. McGrory played against Falkirk the following Saturday, just hours after having attended his father's funeral, and yet managed to get off the mark for the season with his first goal in a 2–1 win. With his goalscoring touch returned, he continued to add to his tally until a knee injury in November 1924 ruled him out until into the following year. McGrory returned in stunning form in the 1924–25 Scottish Cup, scoring a hat-trick against Third Lanark and a double against Rangers in a 5–0 semi-final victory. He then headed a last minute winning goal in the 2–1 Scottish Cup Final victory over Dundee on 11 April 1925, the first major honour of his career. He finished his first full season at Celtic with 30 goals.
The 1925–26 season was a successful one both personally and collectively, with Celtic winning the 1925–26 Scottish Division One championship and McGrory finishing the season with 49 goals in all competitions, including a streak of scoring in seven consecutive league games. Celtic reached their second successive Scottish Cup Final, but McGrory this time was on the losing side as they lost 2–0 to St Mirren.
While Celtic relinquished the Scottish League title in 1926–27, finishing in third place, McGrory had his best goalscoring season. He started well, twice scoring four goals and twice scoring five, and by New Year had 34 League goals, only one fewer than the previous season's final tally of 35. He was just as prolific in the 1926–27 Scottish Cup, where he scored nine goals in only six outings, although he missed out on playing in the final, which Celtic won 3–1 against East Fife, due to breaking two ribs in an April league defeat to Falkirk. Despite missing the final, he still received a winner's medal on manager Willie Maley's recommendation due to the goals he had scored during their cup run. His 48 league goals throughout the season, including seven hat-tricks, saw him finish the top scorer in the Scottish top flight for the first time. He also scored a further hat trick in the Scottish Cup, in a 6–3 win away at Brechin City, to make a total of 8 hat-tricks for the season. A further two goals in the Glasgow Cup brought McGrory's total for the season to 59 goals.
By the late 1920s McGrory was a wanted man; in five seasons he had scored 143 League and Scottish Cup goals in just 152 games, and Celtic had already received and turned down countless offers for him. However, in August 1927 they decided to accept an offer from Arsenal for £10,000, which would have set a new world football transfer record. McGrory accepted a paid holiday invitation from Celtic to make a pilgrimage to the shrine at Lourdes, as a guest of Celtic manager Willie Maley; however, Maley had arranged a meeting with Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman and chairman Sir Samuel Hill-Wood MP in London, which surprised McGrory when he and Maley arrived at Euston railway station. Chapman tried his hardest to persuade McGrory to sign for Arsenal, but he turned him down flatly. Upon their return from Lourdes, McGrory and Maley were again met in London by Chapman and Hill-Wood and made one last attempt at getting McGrory's signature, but again failed to persuade him. In the aftermath of his refusal to leave Celtic, McGrory's weekly wage was reduced from £9 to £8 from the beginning of the season, with no warning or reason given. It is generally assumed that this was done out of spite for his refusal to sign for Arsenal and the club's loss of a £10,000 windfall. McGrory would later quip about the episode that "McGrory of Arsenal just never sounded as good as McGrory of Celtic".
It was ultimately an unsuccessful season though, with Celtic finishing second in the Division One and losing the Scottish Cup Final. Despite all his disappointment, he kept up his exceptional goal scoring feats, completing back to back finishes as top League scorer in Scotland with 47 goals in 36 games. He scored a total of 53 League and Scottish Cup goals in 42 games that season, and a further nine goals in the Glasgow Cup brought his tally up to a total of 62 goals for the season. Among these goals, which again included eight hat-tricks, he created what is still a Celtic, Scottish and British record for the most goals in a top-flight League match by one player, with 8 goals in a 9–0 win over Dunfermline on 14 January 1928.
Celtic finished second in the 1928–29 league season, but were 16 points behind winners Rangers. They were knocked out of the Scottish Cup at the semi-final stage, losing 0–1 to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. McGrory spent a lengthy spell on the sidelines after picking up a very bad injury in an appearance for the Scottish League XI at Villa Park in November 1928, and due to this prolonged period on the treatment table he missed a lot of matches and in turn his goalscoring tally was down on the previous three seasons. Nevertheless, he still managed 31 League and Scottish Cup goals in 27 games.
1930s
No honours were achieved either in 1929–30, although McGrory continued to score regularly, netting 36 goals in 29 League and Scottish Cup games. Injuries were by now starting to take their toll on McGrory, who was always a regular target for some brutal 'defending'. He missed the first six games of season 1930–31 due to such an injury. While the League campaign was to ultimately prove disappointing, the team had shown promise and improved on the previous seasons finish of fourth place, running eventual winners Rangers close and finishing in second place only two points behind them. Celtic scored 101 goals in the process, with McGrory helping himself to a very credible 36 of them in only 29 games. The 1930–31 Scottish Cup was to prove more fruitful all round, where he ended up with a winners medal and eight goals from six games. In the Cup Final on 11 April 1931, he scored the opening goal in a 2–2 draw against Motherwell in front of crowd of 104,863 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. The replay took place on 15 April 1931, which Celtic won 4–2 thanks to two goals each from McGrory and Bertie Thomson.Celtic found themselves way off the pace again in the 1931–32 Scottish Division One, finishing in third place, 18 points behind champions Motherwell. A huge factor in the indifferent season was the death of their goalkeeper John Thomson on 5 September 1931 at Ibrox Park. Rangers forward Sam English collided with Thomson and his knee struck the goalkeeper's temple, fracturing his skull. Thomson was rushed to the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow, but died later that evening. The effect on the Celtic team was evident in their general performance from that point onwards. McGrory, on top of losing a teammate and friend, was succumbing to more serious injuries and missed large chunks of the season, only playing in 22 of the 38 League games. He and Celtic fared little better in the Scottish Cup, again losing out to Motherwell at the first round of entry, in round three. The injuries put paid to his usual high goal tally, and he suffered his lowest seasonal total since his first full season in 1924–25 season, with 28 goals in 23 League and Scottish Cup games.
On 14 March 1936, McGrory achieved the fastest hat-trick in Scottish League history, scoring three goals in less than 3 minutes, during a 5–0 win over Motherwell. He was allowed to leave Celtic in December 1937 to become the manager of Kilmarnock, on the condition that he retired from playing.