| Match Pictures | Matches: 1916 – 1917 | 1916 Pics – 1917 Pics |
Trivia
- Celtic & World War One
- This Scottish League War Fund Match was considered a success even though the crowd was smaller than anticipated. The Glasgow Herald report made Jimmy Simpson of Falkirk the star man and Willie Cringan the best of Celtic's men.
- The Glasgow Herald of Monday 28 May reports that 76 civillians were killed and 174 injured in a bombing raid by 16 German aeroplanes over the South East of England. LINK
- The Glasgow Herald of Saturday 26 May reports that the first American unit comprising troops drawn from universities has arrived at the Western Front. LINK
- Page 6 of Saturday's Herald also carries the story of an ambush on a potato lorry in Crow Road, Partick by a crowd of between 480 and 500 women, led by one ringing a bell. Four women appeared in Glasgow Police Court in connection with this incident.
Review
Teams
THE REST OF THE LEAGUE:
Brownlie (Third Lanark), Manderson (Rangers), Blair (Rangers), Robert Anderson McIntosh (Dundee), Mercer (Hearts), Nellies (Hearts), Simpson (Falkirk), Bowie (Rangers), Ferguson (Motherwell), Cairns (Rangers), A L Morton (Queen’s Park)
Scorers: Bowie; (2).
CELTIC:
Shaw, McNair, Dodds, Wilson, Cringan, Brown, O'Kane, McMenemy, McColl, Browning, McLean
Scorer: McColl.
Referee: G. H. McKenzie (Glasgow)
Attendance: 30,000
Gate receipts: £885
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
- Match Pictures
Articles
The Glasgow Herald – Monday, May 28, 1917
FOOTBALL’S EXIT.
The match between Celtic and the Rest of the League was an unqualified success in every respect. The appetite of the football enthusiast is not quite insatiable, and so it was not surprising to find that the gate was less than that of the previous Saturday, but drawings which approached £800 must be regarded as satisfactory.
The play was in every respect worthy of the occasion, and the Champions did well to lose by a single goal, particularly as they were without the robust McStay and McAtee and the whip-like Gallagher. Even under this handicap they almost managed, as the result of a typical Celtic rally in the closing minutes, to save the game, and if they had done so no one would have grumbled at their magnificent determination receiving reward, even though on the balance of play they did not deserve to draw.
There was a flavour of stronger personality about the work of the opposition eleven, and that was particularly evident at half-back, where the reposeful Mercer and the restless Nellies played with rare effect. Of the Celtic halves Cringan alone could bear comparison with the masterly Hearts, and the Sunderland man has fitted perfectly into the Parkhead machine.
Bowie played one of his very best games, scored two goals, and generally gave craft and subtlety to the Rest forward line, which was otherwise inclined to be over-dashing and lacking in calculation. Ferguson, Cairns and Morton failed to reach expectations because of this, but Simpson must be excluded from this criticism. At times he was positively brilliant and showed all the unexpectedness of genius.
Dodds had rather a trying time with him, and was by no means outplayed, though frequently outwitted. McColl is developing in every respect and played yet another fine game, although he scarcely received his customary assistance from his inside men, McMenemy and Browning, the former of whom found the activity of Nellies rather embarrassing, and the later seemed to want more room for manoeuvring than is permitted to the occupant of an inside position.
With this match ends the third season of war football, and if circumstances be unchanged next winter, it may be presumed that there will be changes in football procedure.