Jimmy McGrory

Jimmy McGrory
Personal information
Full name James Edward McGrory
Date of birth 26 April 1904(1904-04-26)
Place of birth Garngad, Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death 20 October 1982(1982-10-20) (aged 78)
Place of death Glasgow, Scotland
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position Centre forward
Youth career
1918–1921 St Roch's Boys Guild
1921–1922 St Roch's Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1922–1937 Celtic 378 (395)
1923–1924 → Clydebank (loan) 30 (13)
National team
1928–1933 Scotland 7 (6)
1926–1935 Scottish League XI 6 (6)
Teams managed
1937–1945 Kilmarnock
1945–1965 Celtic
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

James Edward "Jimmy" McGrory (26 April 1904, Garngad, Glasgow – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish football player and manager for Celtic who holds the record for most career goals in British football. He is regarded as a legend at Celtic, whom he managed for 20 years, and as one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the game.[1]

He was nicknamed the "Mermaid" for his heading abilities, even though he was only 5 ft 6 in. In his career he scored 550 goals, the highest tally in British football history.[2]

Contents

Background

McGrory was born at Millburn Street, Glasgow. He was the son of Henry McGrory and Catherine Coll, both of whom were Irish Catholic immigrants. Henry and Catherine had been married at St. Baithin's Church in St. Johnston, a village in The Laggan district in the east of County Donegal, before emigrating to Scotland. While Catherine may have been from The Laggan, Henry may have been from elsewhere within County Donegal. Jimmy's elder brother was born in St. Johnston before the family left for Glasgow. They lived in Glasgow's East End on his father's wages as a gasworks labourer.

When McGrory was 16 he began playing for St. Roch's Juniors for £2 a week. The following year, in 1922, he joined Celtic from St. Roch's, before going on loan to Clydebank for the 1923 – 1924 season. Between 1922 and 1937, he scored 395 league goals for Celtic (as well as 13 while on loan at Clydebank). He played alongside club legends such as John Thomson and Patsy Gallacher under manager Willie Maley.

He was the Scottish league's top goalscorer in 1926/27, 1927/28 and 1935/36. Over the course of his career, he amassed 550 goals in first-class matches, including 408 goals in 408 league games, making him the most prolific scorer in British football history.

Despite McGrory's success, Celtic had to wait a decade after 1926 before again winning the Scottish league championship. After leaving Celtic, he joined Kilmarnock as manager, before returning to manage Celtic in 1945. He held this position for nearly 20 years, before Jock Stein succeeded him in 1965. As Celtic boss, he won the 1953/54 Scottish League Championship, the 1950/51 and 1953/54 Scottish FA Cups, and the 1956/57 and 1957/58 Scottish League Cups.

During his time in charge, Celtic recorded one of their most famous results, a 7–1 thrashing of arch rivals Rangers in the 1957 Scottish League Cup Final. To this day it remains the greatest margin of victory in the history of cup finals played in either England or Scotland. The game and McGrory are remembered in the supporters' song "Hampden in the Sun". McGrory is also remembered in another popular song amongst the supporters named after his manager, the "Willie Maley Song".

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup Glasgow Cup Glasgow Charity Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celtic F.C. 1922–23 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
Clydebank F.C. 1923–24* 30 13 3 3 0 0 0 0 33 16
Celtic F.C. 1923–24* 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 1
1924–25 25 17 8 11 2 2 1 0 36 30
1925–26 37 35 6 6 6 6 3 2 52 49
1926–27 33 48 6 9 2 2 0 0 41 59
1927–28 36 47 6 6 3 9 1 0 46 62
1928–29 21 21 6 10 4 3 3 8 34 42
1929–30 26 32 3 4 5 4 1 1 35 41
1930–31 29 36 6 8 2 1 1 2 38 47
1931–32 22 28 1 0 3 2 2 0 28 30
1932–33 25 22 8 8 3 2 2 3 38 35
1933–34 27 17 3 1 1 1 0 0 31 19
1934–35 27 18 4 2 1 0 1 1 33 21
1935–36 32 50 1 0 2 0 2 1 37 51
1936–37 25 18 8 9 0 0 0 0 35 28
1937–38 10 5 0 0 1 1 0 0 11 6
Career total 408 408 70 77 35 33 21 20 534 538

Internationals

McGrory gained 7 caps for the Scottish national team, although he did have a very respectable return of 6 goals in those games. He was often overlooked in favour of Hughie Gallacher, who along with Dixie Dean of England (& McGrory), were easily the most prolific scorers in British Football throughout the 20's and 30's. While neither would be as prolific as McGrory at Club level, both men had extremely admirable International tallies, Dean with 18 goals from 16 England caps and Gallacher, with 23 from 20 outings, for Scotland.

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 25 February 1928 Firhill Park, Glasgow  Ireland – 0–1 BHC
2 28 March 1931 Hampden Park, Glasgow  England 2–0 2–0 BHC
3 19 September 1931 Ibrox Park, Glasgow  Ireland 3–1 3–1 BHC
4 31 October 1931 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham  Wales 2–3 2–3 BHC
5 17 September 1932 Windsor Park, Belfast  Ireland 0–3 0–4 BHC
6 1 April 1933 Hampden Park, Glasgow  England 1–0 2–0 BHC
7 1 April 1933 Hampden Park, Glasgow  England 2–0 2–0 BHC
8 16 September 1933 Celtic Park, Glasgow  Ireland – 1–2 BHC

McGrory, also played in the following 6 Inter League matches, scoring 6 times.[3]

Honours

Playing Career

Celtic

Managerial Career

Celtic

References

  1. ^ John McManus. "Jimmy McGrory – LIVES AND TIMES". The Scotsman. http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1018&id=1575302006. Retrieved 5 June 2007. 
  2. ^ FIFA.com – Celtic spirit shines on
  3. ^ http://www.londonhearts.com/SFL/players/jimmymcgrory.html

Career Statistics, Internationals and Honours Sections, are taken from

General Reference
Kilmarnock F.C. – managers
Celtic F.C. – managers