Jimmy McGrory

On the Celtic history dvd it states that McGrory was far from a being a great or even good manager.
Apparently he didn't have as much success as manager as when he was player and eventually the fans wanted him out.
Anyone on here know anything about when he was manager or know anyone old enough to have seen his teams?

 

Celtic recorded one of their most famous results, a 7-1 thrashing of the Rangers in the Scottish Cup final. when he was manager, apart from that there was nothing else.
no one really remembers what happened 40 to 60 years ago so it's easy to to put an angle on something and get away with it
If you think of it this way, I though Tommy Burns was a great manager but he only one 1 cup final against Airdrie.
When people look back in the record book they may say he too didn't do that well as a manager.

McGrory is a Celtic great and that will never be taken away from him, no matter what

 

from watching interviews of players who played for him, all of them say he was a gentleman who picked the team and made them run around the pitch at training and left the players to play football without guidance.
But many other managers did just that at that time, until Jock changed things and gave them a football and told them about tactics

 

When Jimmy finished playing he managed Kilmarnock then took over celtic in 1945. I saw all his teams from 1948 onwards. mostly playing entertaining football and always had some good charactors in the teams as well as good individual players, like Tulley, Auld, Mc Phail, Collins, Fernie, Evans peacock, Fallon Mochan Stein, McNiel, Crerand etc.
But in all that time we only won one League title 1954, 2 Scottish cups 51 & 54. 2 L/cups 57-58. Coronation cup 1953.
Writers say Jimmy was a misfit, and was only there for his name and manerism.

My old mum went through school with him and when they left he went out with her but gave he her up to marry a rich girl from a picture house owning family. But she always told me ( not out of vindictiveness ) that Jimmy was Bob Kellys puppet, as it was Kelly who made all the decisions and ran every thing. An example of this was, one of the best young players ever seen at CP, Paddy Crerrand, he was called to Kelly's office one day and in front of Mc Grory was told he had been Sold to Manchester United, Paddy went outside and cried and Jimmy followed saying Sorry Paddy, I new nothing about it, apparantly they needed the money.
Seems a lot like the way Hearts are run today.

I know of another incident when Jimmy loaned celtic £800 a lot of mony in the 1930s.
Maybe that is another reason why he got the job.

The year before Jock took over we had a taste of european football and I think supporters started to realize that things with celtic had been stale for too long and it was time for a change. This turned out to be perfect timing as you know what happened next.

 

one of my old boxing trainers (charlie kerr) used to train with celtic in those days,aparently he was the only non footballer to train at parkhead,he told me a few stories about those days but one that sticks in mind was he said the players used to get paid on a friday and without fail every monday charlie tully would come in and go round everyone for a tap to get him thru the rest of the week,said he was a bit of a gambler and bevy merchant,just shows you how lucky the players are these days,tully was apparently one of the greats yet he couldnt aford to last a full week on a footballers wage of the day.
this guy scored from a corner was told to take it again then scored it again,i would live to have seen that refs face,lol,and he was also ment to have been the first ever to sit on the ball,i would live to have seen that,i wonder how mutch a player like him would be worth nowadays or even what type of modern player he could be compaired to.

 

His goal scoring record speaks for itself, he SHOULD have been in the greatest starting 11 for Celtic

 

He is the most prolific goalscorer in brittish history. Not that I like to use the word britain but it shows hes better than any english center forward aswell.

 

Charlie was the funiest most enjoyable player I ever saw.
I was at the game when he scored from a corner kick, against Falkirk in a cup game away, circa 1958. I think the ref was stunned and did not know what to do, so he told Tulley to take it again, some man beside me shouted do it again Charlie, and he answered don't worry I F#####g will, and he did.
Rangers players would not go near him when He had the ball, he just done things that made them look stupid. Their defenders like big George Young etc used to push each other forward to tackle him. so funny too see.

One night I was in the Jungle. charlie was playng bad, he went to take a corner and a guy was slagging him, he jumped in to the jungle and dragged the guy out by his colar, stood him by the ball and said you take the F#####g corner if you think it's so easy.

The hundreds of memories I have of him, have kept me laughing for a lifetime.

 

Haha, nice stories bud.
How old are you if you don't mind me asking?

 

Only a bhoy, 2 months off 65.

 

How was the run up to Lisbon in 67? Did you make the trip over?

 

If you were at Seville it was no different to that. Everybody for weeks before, buzzing with excitement.
Me. I just moved in to a flat with a new girlfriend and was not happy as she was moaning that I should not go. 5 days before the game I could stand the pressure no more, I got in the car and went. The rest is well documented.

Got back 4 days after the game and walked in to an empty flat, but I could not repeat on here what was written on the walls. Cost me a fortune to decorate.

Anyway I still have her and Celtic and she knows who comes first.

 

Hahaha, well I'm glad you still have her.
My great grandad went to the game with all his coworkers at the docks, who were all young and decided to bring the old guy with them. I think they paid for everything. Said it was the greatest time of his life.

 

The bhoy loved a goal, no doubt about that.

 

410 in 408 league games. 550 in his career, and I think almost half with the head.
Still a record today.

 

I love it when oldies tell storys :icon_mrgreen:

 

Thank you Patto.

Its what ensures they never die, passing them on.

The crazy thing I find is that I remember more of the first half of my life than the second half, maybe I want to be a boy again. :icon_mrgreen:

Actualy there is something I seem to have blocked from my mind and it bugs me.

Around about 1950 to 1953 I went to Shawfield to see clyde v celtic, in those days the young boys were put to the front and would lean on the brick wall, the wall collapsed and all I remember was seeing the face of Charley Tulley through the dust as he lifted me and carried me to the other side of the pitch.
I was o.k and went home but could not tell anyone as I should not have been at the game.

I think some boys got killed but can't find anything about it.If anyone can shed any light on this i would be grateful.

 

Really interesting stuff here.
I would love to have experienced going to a football match in those days. Would be so different to what it is now.

 

my grandad prefered it in those days than now, the atmosphere must have been amazin

 

Will attempt to explain this for you in the morning, got to go out in a moment.