Gallaghers and the Glasgow Celtic F.C. Connection.
Gallaghers – With Celtic from the Start
1888: The First: Paddy Gallagher:
Celtic lured him away from Hibernian along with a number of others in 1888.In 1887 Hibs had won the Scottish Cup and then beaten Preston North End, the “Invincibles” for the Association Football Championship of the World.
Paddy played as No. 4 for Celtic from 1888-1889 until the 1892-93 season.
In one game in the League on Aug. 20, 1892 the No. 7 was reorted as A. Gallagher. Does anyone know who he might have been?
Patsy Gallagher – The Mighty Atom
Born in No.1, Bridge St., Ramelton, Co. Donegal in 1893
Served his time as a shipwright
In 1911 Joined Celtic
Played at No.8, inside right.
Scored 187 goals in 432 appearances.
Transferred from Celtic to Falkirk in 1926 for £1500 as Celtic thought he was “past it” and only offered him the minimum wage.
Last played with Falkirk 1932.
Patsy Gallagher –The Maradonna of His Age
Celtic, Scottish Cup Winners 1914
(Patsy is 2nd from left front row)
Patsy Gallagher’s Scottish Honours List
Scottish Cup
1911, 1913, 1922, 1924
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League Championship
1913,1914,1915, 1916, 1918, 1921, 1925
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Glasgow Cup
!911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,
1919,19201923,1925
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Patsy in Action
(On left in picture on right)
Patsy's IrisInternational Honoursh international Caps
v. Scotland
1920,1922, 1923,1924,1925,1927.
v. England
1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925.
v. Wales
1923, 1924, 1925.
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Irish Free State v. Spain, 1931
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Scottish Tour in Canada, 1927
Magic Moments in the Scottish Cup Final 1925 from “The World’s Greatest Soccer Player, Patsy Gallagher”
“Dundee were leading 1-0 and despondency was creeping into the fans when Patsy, as so often before, produced a moment of pure elation. Getting the ball just inside the Dundee half, he rolled past challenge after challenge, sometimes appearing in danger of toppling over as he swerved and swayed dangerously close to the ground. No Dundee boot or body could stop him completely as he veered, sure foot as a young deer, towards their goalmouth. Finally a heavy, desperate tackle grounded him inside the six-yard box. Patsy hit the ground and for an instant his brave effort seemed to be at an end. But Patsy had not yet parted company with the ball, which remained between his feet. A quick somersault and both Patsy and the ball ended up entangled in the Dundee net for the most unorthodox goal in a Scottish Cup Final.
‘There was something magical, “out of this world”, about it’ the Dundee players said. It was the greatest feat of skill and determination they had ever seen on a football field.’”
He was then aged 32.“Anyone who treated Gallagher badly got his own medicine back, nor did it matter the size, the bigger they were, the harder they fell.”
A souverir programme booklet from Patsy's testimonial can be seen here
Other Gallaghers
Hughie Gallagher was the star for Airdrie c. 1923-24 and they had won the Cup and been runner-up in the First Division four times. He also played for Scotland as well as Newcastle and Chelsea.
Tommy (Dundee) and Willie (Celtic inside left) sons of Patsy played against each other in 1948.
Charlie Gallagher
A man with strong family ties with Donegal, Charlie was provisionally signed for Celtic on 25h September 1958 and he made his full debut on 6th March 1959 the day Jock Stein signed him as a full professional.
Celtic FC Team 2005
 |
| Charlie Gallagher is 2nd from left on front row |
He is best remembered for his part in the "Lisbon Lions" squad that won the 1967 European Cup Final having played an important part in the campaign to win the trophy. Although the team that won the European Cup in 1967 will always be Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld and Lennox, other players played their part as well. John Hughes made 5 appearances in the European Cup that season. Joe McBride made 2 appearances and scored 2 goals. Willie O'Neil played 4 games in Europe (1 more than Willie Wallace) and another 28 in other competitions. Charlie Gallagher made 2 appearances in Europe and 16 in the others. In the European cup winning run Charlie played for Celtic v. Nantes and v. Vojvodine (Belgrade) where he set up the winning goal with a beautiful pass to Billy McNeill
In the same year, Charlie became the first Scottish born player to play for the Republic of Ireland when he travelled to Ankara on 22 February 1967 to represent Ireland against Turkey.
He was to remain at Celtic for over ten years, with Charlie being last named on the domestic Celtic team in 27th Sept. 1967 v. Ayr. On the 1st May 1970 he transferred to Dumbarton F.C.. By then Charlie had made a total of 171 appearances and scoring 32 goals including 106 Scottish League appearances and 17 league goals. He also played in 13 European games.
He retired from playing in April 1973.
He worked as a scout for Celtic from April 1976 to April 1978 and is presently a taxi driver in Glasgow. Not for him the earnings of todays football players, where wages are talked of in millions. His wages were £45 per week at the beinning of his professional career.
Charlie's cousin, Pat Crerand, was also part of a European Cup winning team playing for Manchester United when they won the European Cup a year after Celtic, in 1968..