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Fullname: Owen McNally
Born: 20 June 1906
Died: 20 June 1906
Birthplace: Denny, Falkirk
Signed: 26 Feb 1927; 29 Apr 1929
Left: 16 Aug 1927 (loan to Arthurlie); 23 July 1928 & 23 Feb 1929 (loan to Hamilton); 17 Sep 1930
Position: Centre forward
Debut: Dundee Utd 3-3 Celtic, League, 9 Apr 1927
Internationals: none
Biog
Owen McNally was a centre-forward signed by the Bhoys from hometown side Denny Hibernian in February 1927 in a Celtic side faltering to retain their league championship title.
He made his competitive debut in place of the injured Jimmy McGrory in a 3-3 league draw at Dundee United on April 9th. A prolific scorer at junior level he was leased out to Arthurlie before returning to Parkhead.
Owen played 11 league matches for Celtic and scored three goals, not a bad record but never seen as good enough by the management for a regular run to prove himself further, but he was competing with Jimmy McGrory who is undoubtedly one of the greatest strikers ever in football. He was only given sporadic appearances over his three seasons at Celtic.
His first league goal was in a 1-1 draw v Hamilton in September 1928.
The next season, he scored the equaliser v Dundee in a 1-1 draw (Sep 1929) and then scored one goal in a 4-0 rout of Hibernian (Nov 1929). A big disappointment was in this same season he was deputising in place of Jimmy McGrory in the league away to Rangers, but sadly Celtic lost 1-0. He could hardly be faulted though, as Celtic only a few weeks earlier had lost to Rangers in the Glasgow Cup final (replay) 4-0 which included all the first team Celts.
After a loan at Hamilton he departed the Hoops for good in September 1930 to join Bray Unknowns (Ireland).
He was to sadly leave Celtic without any silverware from major honours, Celtic had begun to hit a poor spell that was to accelerate in time.
While on loan to Second Division Arthurlie, he scored eight goals in a 10-0 win over Armadale in October 1927. A remarkable achievement no matter what the level. It remains a joint record for the most goals scored by a single player in a league game in Scotland.
He actually found great form at both Arthurlie and Hamilton in his loan spells, scoring 32 in 33 league games for Arthurlie and 7 in 10 league games for Hamilton.
Post-Celtic
Despite the poor luck at Celtic, he was to find some redemption at Bray Unknown, scoring 21 goals in his one season there.
It was to be the start of a nomadic life for Owen McNally, and he was to move around yearly across a number of countries.
He played for Cardiff, Norwich City, Lausanne (Switzerland), Stenhousemuir, Sligo Rovers, Lisburn Distillery, Leicester City, Calais (France) and finally at Shamrock Rovers.
He passed away in 1973 after a long life back home in Denny.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1927-30 | 11 | 0 | – | n/a | 11 |
| Goals | 3 | 0 | – | n/a | 3 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
Forums
McNALLY, Owen (1929)
Hamilton Academical Memory Bank
-https://sites.google.com/site/hamiltonacademicalmemorybank/players/mcnally-owen-1929
Overview
Owen was a prolific scorer as a junior with Denny Hibernian, his home team, being born there on 20th June 1906. Celtic signed him in February 1927. With Jimmy McGrory as the man wearing the number 9 jersey at Parkhead Owen found it difficult to get a game.
At the commencement on season 1928-29 he went on loan to Second Division Arthurlie and soon found his scoring touch, in fact in one game against Armadale he score eight goals on 1st October 1927 in a 10-0 home win.
In February 1929 he came to Accies on loan, his Hamilton debut was particularly pleasing to the local critics and in his time at Douglas Park he was popular with his scoring exploits pleasing the fans, before going back to Celtic Park.
He then went to Ireland where he appeared for Bray Unknowns, this was in 1930. After spending two seasons there he went abroad where he played for Lausanne FC, next came Sligo Rovers in 1935, Distillery also 1935, Leicester City, April 1936, abroad again, this time with Racing Club de Paris, in 1937 before his final club, Shamrock Rovers in 1938.
He was 5’8” and scaled at 11sts 10lbs.
He died in 1973.
Debut on 23rd February 1929 in a Scottish League match at home to Partick Thistle in which he scored.
Scottish League 10 Appearances 7 Goals (1 Hat trick)