James Edward McGrory (26
April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish International football player, who played for Celtic and Clydebank as
a forward, and then went on to manage Kilmarnock,
before returning to Celtic after the end of the Second World War, to manage
them.
He is the all-time leading goalscorer in top-flight British
football with a total of 485 goals (408 Scottish League/77 Scottish Cup),
he also scored 53 goals in secondary cup competitions, 6 goals for the Scotland international side and
another 6 goals for the Scottish League XI.
McGrory is a legendary
figure within Celtic's history, he is their top scorer of all time, with 469
goals in 448 games and holds their record for the most goals in a season, with
57 League and Scottish Cup goals from 39 games, in season 1926–27. He has also
notched up a British top-flight record of 55 hat-tricks, 48 coming in League games and 7 from Scottish Cup
ties. It could be argued he in fact scored 56, as he hit 8 goals in a Scottish
League game against Dunfermline in 1928, also a British
top-flight record.
He was at Celtic for 15 years between 1922 and 1937, although he
did spend the majority of the 1923–24 season on loan at fellow 1st Division
side Clydebank. 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.
Even although he was only
5 ft 6ins, he was renowned for his prowess and ability from headers. His
trademark was an almost horizontal, bullet header, which he performed and
scored regularly from and which earned him his nicknames, of the "Human
Torpedo" and the "Mermaid".
Early
Life
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.
Playing
Career
1921/22 season
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
equalizer 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.
1922/23 season
With many clubs now scouting him, 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.
1923/24 season
He was loaned out to Clyde bank on 7 August 1923and 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.
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