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Personal
Fullname: Francis Brogan
aka: Frank Brogan
Born: 3 June 1942
Died: 4 May 2021
Birthplace: Stepps
Signed: 1 November 1960
Left: 11 June 1964 (to Ipswich Town)
Position: Outside-Left
Debut: Celtic 1-1 Clyde, Charity Cup (Neutral Venue), 9 May 1961
Internationals: none
Biog
Frank Brogan arrived at Celtic from junior club St Roch’s in 1960. He was a chartered accountant by trade.
The Stepps-born winger was blessed with lightening quick pace and could reportedly run 100 yards in a fraction over 10 seconds. His debut for the Bhoys came in a 1-1 Charity Cup final tie with Clyde at Hampden on 9th May 1961 though it was not until the latter part of the 1961-62 season that he started to get a regular slot in the first team and even so was constantly switched between outside right and outside left.
Notable performances included scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory over Aberdeen in the league in March 1962, and a goal in both the 1-0 win over St Mirren in the Scottish Cup quarter-final and a goal in the 5-2 win over Raith Rovers in the semi-final that took us all the way to final, which was sadly lost in a replay against Rangers.
However despite some excellent performances Frank Brogan failed to hold down a regular first team starting spot for long enough. He was a regular for much of the second half of the 1962-63 season taking over from Byrne, but into the next season he was mostly fighting with John Hughes for the same spot in the side and lost out to him.
One great note for Frank Brogan and his family is that he got to play along with his brother in the first team in a handful of matches, including his brother’s debut against Falkirk in September 1963. Frank Brogan is the brother of Jim Brogan who had a much more successful career with Celtic in the late 1960’s & early 1970’s.
“To have two boys playing for Celtic at the one time was a dream come true. I can’t remember my father ever missing a Celtic game that I played and that speaks for itself if you’re talking about family pride.”
Frank Brogan
Frank Brogan made a total of 48 appearances for the Hoops – and bagged 17 goals – before departing south to Ipswich Town in 1964 where he was a firm favourite of the support. He was too often out of the Celtic first team as in it, and the then management were not happy with his participation (irony overload).
Must add that this was a desolate time for the Celtic side. The First Team hadn’t won anything since the classic 1957 League Cup final, and the manager was undermined and totally demoralised by the board. All decisions used to be on the whim of the chairman, and this created a vicious circle that was destroying the side. Into this set-up no player could really do well. Even the Lisbon Lions (to be) who were in the squad at the similar time were seeing their career seriously dented by the environment.
Despite all the frustrations of the era, he had the great honour to be the Celt to score the landmark 5000th league goal for the club. The 2000th was scored by McLean, 3000th by McGrory and the 4000th by Delaney. So exceptional company to be in.
In later years, injuries were to be a curse. He missed most of the 1970-71 season with a broken ankle, and tried a come-back with Morton (where he walked out before a match). Then at Halifax, a bone snapping again meant he knew it was time to quit and duly did. He went on to become a coach for junior side Blantyre Celtic.
Overall, Frank Brogan had a fair record in returns for goals, so that is much to respect.
He passed away in 2021.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1960-64 | 37 | 9 | 1 | n/a | 48 |
| Goals: | 13 | 3 | 1 | – | 17 |
Honours with Celtic
none (barren years)
Pictures
Articles
Where are they now? Frank Brogan
By: Joe Sullivan on 17 Jun, 2013 16:01
OVER the past 12 months, the Celtic View tracked down some of the club´s unsung heroes to look back on their career highlights and discover what happened to them after exiting Paradise.
So interesting were these stories that, during the summer, we will be reproducing these interviews on the official website. Next up is former Celtic winger, Frank Brogan.
Frank Brogan was part of the team that pulled the Hoops from the mire of the early 1960s towards the heights of European glory but a move to Ipswich Town in 1964 saw him miss out on Celtic’s treasure trail.
However, he did pick up a few gems of his own thanks to his life down south and his career had moved on a long way since heand brother and fellow-Celt, Jim, first tested their football skill at St Joseph’s in Dumfries, where Celtic founder Brother Walfrid is buried.
After completing his primary education at the boarding school, Frank qualified for St Mungo’s, a noted supplier of Celtic players, and it was there that his speedy wing play started to turn heads.
He joined the Hoops straight from school and after making his debut in 1961, he scored 17 goals in 48 games before leaving for Ipswich in 1964.
He finished his career in the early ‘70s with stints at Morton and Halifax but he will forever be remembered as the Celt who scored the club’s 5,000th league goal 50 years ago – and he returned to Paradise in Hoops´ first league game of last season to donate the ball he scored the goal with to the club.
Here, Frank talks about his life and times with Celtic.
Why did you end up at St Joseph’s?
My Dad was a St Mungo’s Academy boy and he was taught by the Marists but when he was playing for St Mungo’s FP, he went down for a game at St Joseph’s and I think, secretly, he would have loved to have been a pupil there. So I think he wanted that for his boys – but it was a boarding school and I hated it. Jim loved it but I didn’t enjoy it at all – I wanted my Mammy!
You were training to be a Chartered Accountant and your parents obviously prided themselves in the education of you and your brother. What was their reaction to you wanting to take up football?
I think my parents gave me a long rein and let me do what I wanted to do, within reason, as even when I was 17 or 18-years-old, I had to be in by 10pm. But as far as the organisation of my own life was concerned, I was given pretty much a free hand. My parents were both strong-willed and intelligent people but they realised that Jim and Ijust wanted to play football.
What role did Jock Stein play at the time?
Jock did a fair bit of coaching with the younger lads that were coming through and I can remember him taking various training sessions, and althoughhe had great success with the reserve team, I don’t think any of us thought that things would turn out the way they did. When he got the freedom to manage in his own way, then things changed. When he came back to Celtic, things were in such a bad way that Robert Kelly decided to give fullcontrol to Jock. That was an astute move that turned out to be fabulous for the club.
What do you recall of your ‘debut’ in the Charity Cup final of 1961?
I didn’t even know I was playing until I got there, which was maybe a good thing for a young lad as I would have been 18 at the time. The one thing I do remember was hitting the post with a shot in the second half that would have won the cup for us outright instead of sharing it with Clyde after a 1-1draw. We shared the cup for six months each but I never got a medal as you couldn’t give a player a medal for just six months. I never got a medal for the Scottish Cup final in 1963 either, as I only played in the first game and missed out on the replay.
Then there was your debut proper in the league against Hearts in February, 1962?
I remember that game as it was a good football match. We had just beaten them 4-3 in the Scottish Cup at Tynecastle a few days earlier. That was a great game as well as I was in the party and watched it – there were no subs in those days. It was 2-2 here and I enjoyed it, I was playing outside-right against Davie Holt at left-back. I remember turning in front of The Jungle early on in the game and he came rushing at me. He was a hard man and I thought, ‘watch out’ but I just basically stabbed the ball and it went right through his legs. Then I was around the other side of him right in front of The Jungle – that was me made.
In your sixth league game, your fourth goal for the Celts was the club’s 5,000th league goal. How did that feel?
It was a free kick maybe five or 10 yards outside the box and I ran over the top of the ball. Paddy Crerand pushed it around the wall to the side, I was in the penalty area by that time and I swivelled on my right foot and basically just hit it. It just flew into the top left-hand corner and it was ex-Rangers keeper George Niven who was in goal and that made it all the sweeter for me.
You were also pictured with other milestone scorers, Celtic legends Adam McLean (2,000th), Jimmy McGrory (3,000th) and Jimmy Delaney (4,000th). Mr McGrory was manager but how did you feel to be in such exalted company?
I was in their company for only 60 seconds really, but they were Celtic legends to me, especially McGrory. I mean, how do you score as many goals as he did? Jimmy Delaney was also a legend and he’s the only player to have won cup winner’s medals in Scotland, Ireland and England, so that speaks for itself. It wasn’t until later on that I realised what a great player Adam McLean was, but I found out he was a true legend.
How hard had it been to break into the side?
It’s always been heard to break into the first team of a huge club like Celtic and it will be the same just now for the young lads as was for myself and Wee Jinky, Bobby Lennox, Bobby Murdoch and so on. It was difficult and you had to improve and reach a certain standard very, very quickly. And even that, certainly in my case, wasn’t enough at times because, if your face didn’t fit then that was it, or at least that’s the way I see it.
Appearance-wise, season 1962/63 had been your most fruitful but by the following term, younger brother Jim was starting to pick up the odd first-team appearance. Was that a source of family pride?
It was, especially for my Mum and Dad. To have two boys playing for Celtic at the one time was a dream come true. I can’t remember my father ever missing a Celtic game that I played and that speaks for itself if you’re talking about family pride. It was the same with Jim as when I went down to Ipswich, my father came down for the odd game but I don’t think he missed very many games with Jim playing for Celtic.
After 17 goals in 48 games, you moved to Ipswich Town on June 11, 1964. How did that come about?
The reason I moved was basically over money as I wanted my wages to be made up to the average for the first team. Football contracts ran until June 30 and about 10 days before that I got a phone call from Jimmy McGrory to go up to Celtic Park. I thought to myself, ‘Great, they’re going to give me the money’. So up I went and the boss asked me if I was still of the same opinion and wouldn’t sign for the same terms as the previous year. I said no and that I wasn’t signing for anything less than what I asked for. He then told me that Ipswich Town manager Jackie Milburn was up, and Jackie was a legend with Newcastle so I said that I would speak to him, never believing for a second that I was going to go. Basically, I didn’t want to leave Celtic, all I wanted was four quid – taking me from £26-a-week to £30 which was the average wage in the first team at the time. I spoke to Jackie and apart from being an absolute legend in the game, he was such a nice man who inspired me with confidence as he really wanted to sign me. The money I was offered was three times what I was getting at Celtic Park – three times! But I still hadn’t made up my mind because I thought I could stay and fight to get my place back in the team. But I was adamant about the money, I wanted that £4 and I thought to myself that if they can’t give me £4 on trust for being in and around the first team then there wasn’t much hope for the rest of my career here. All these things were going around in my mind so I went into Glasgow to meet my father who was a florist at Agnes Brogan Florist’s in Castle Street. He spoke to Jackie and he got on as well with him as I did and Jackie said, ‘I can see you’re in a quandary. I know what it’s like to love a club, Newcastle United were my great love.’ So he asked me to come down just to see the place. My father arranged for me to get a flight down to Heathrow and from there I went over to Liverpool Street to get the train up to Ipswich.
What happened next?
Jackie was there waiting for me with a local reporter and photographer to take me to the stadium. It was a lovely stadium with an absolutely magnificent pitch. It was so wide, I thought to myself. ‘I’m going to run amok here – they’ll never get near me.’ It was a beautiful playing surface with it being in the farming country of Suffolk and it was well known in England that only Wembley had a better pitch and, of course, Wembley was only used for a handful of games a year. The Ipswich Town pitch was immaculate so I hummed and hawed and Jackie did his best. I met the chairman and I thought, ‘I’m going to go for it.’ I came back here once to collect my boots and old trainer Jimmy Gribben had them for me. He was sorry to see me go and I was sorry to leave him. It was the same with Sean Fallon who also said he was sorry to see me go and I told him I had my regrets as well but I had signed now and that was me – so off I disappeared into the sunset.
You then missed out on the Jock Stein years. Did you ever think ‘What if?’
I’ve asked myself that question so many times but I met my wife down there and I’ve got my two beautiful daughters and my five grandchildren which I wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t moved down there so it’s swings and roundabouts really. I had a great time at Ipswich with a good goal-scoring record. I was well thought of, I was well-respected and it was a nice quiet place to live so I can’t say I’ve any real regrets. On the football side of things, yes, but on the personal life side of things – no.
Did you watch Jim’s career from afar?
It was great to see Jim do so well as in a way it meant that I hadn’t really left as he was filling me in with what was happening when we talked on the phone. We did that about three or four times a week when I was telling him about Ipswich and he was telling about what was happening behind the scenes at Celtic Park.
Why did you decide to donate the ball back to Celtic?
I spoke to one of the guys from the higher echelons of the supporters’ clubs, Alan Horne from Grangemouth. I told him I would like to make a wee gesture to the club. I actually made up my mind the day that Celtic hammered Kilmarnock to lift the title and I thought to myself, ‘I’ve had this ball for 50 years so I’m going to give it back to the club.’ Well, not give it back, but give it to them because they never had it in the first place, it was Thistle’s ball as they were the home side. So I spoke to Alan and he fixed it up for me to come through and I was treated like absolute royalty. I couldn’t believe how well I was treated. I was with my grandsons and met Peter Lawwell who introduced me to the chairman, Ian Bankier, and the other directors. It was nice to see Big Billy in there and I met Bobby Lennox later on for a wee bit of patter. They asked me to make a speech at half-tine and I managed to get through that and then the chairman took me out on to the pitch for the presentation and I was really happy about the cheer from the crowd. It was a great day and it was the day after my 70th birthday and I was having my party on that Saturday night so, all in all, it turned out to be possibly the greatest weekend of my life
Condolences after the passing of former Celt, Frank Brogan
By Paul Cuddihy, Celtic View Editor
May 2021
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2021/may/Condolences-after-the-passing-of-former-Celt-Frank-Brogan/
Everyone at Celtic is saddened to hear of the passing of former player, Frank Brogan, who has died at the age of 78.
Frank joined Celtic in 1960 as an outside-left, and after being farmed out to St Roch’s Juniors, he made his first team bow for the Hoops in the Charity Cup final against Clyde in May 1961. That game finished 1-1, with both teams sharing the trophy.
It would be the following 1961/62 season that Frank made the breakthrough into Jimmy McGrory’s Celtic side. He made his competitive debut in a 2-2 league draw at home to Hearts on February 21, 1962, and 10 days later, he scored the first of 17 goals for the club in a 2-1 win over Dundee. In that first season, he made 13 appearances, scoring five goals, including a double against Aberdeen.
And his goal in a 2-1 win over Partick Thistle at Firhill on April 4, 1962 created a little piece of Celtic history as it was Celtic’s 5,000th league goal in their history. He would later donate the ball from that game back to the club in 2012 (picture below).
During his time at the club, Frank was joined by his brother, Jim, and they both played in the same Celtic team on a handful of occasions, including Jim’s debut against Falkirk in September 1963.
At the end of the 1963/64 season, Frank left Celtic, having made a total of 48 appearances for the club, scoring 17 goals.He joined Ipswich Town, where he spent the next seven years, before short spells at Morton and Halifax Town before retiring from football.
The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Celtic are with Frank’s family and friends at this extremely sad time.
Frank Brogan, scorer of Celtic’s 5000th league goal, has passed away
By David Potter 4 May, 2021 No Comments
FRANK BROGAN (1942-2021) RIP
We were sorry to hear of the death of Frank Brogan. Frank Brogan was a great Celt, or at least he would have been under better management. He was a winger, very fast and a good crosser of a ball, but being a youngster, he lacked consistency, and this was 1962 and 1963 when there was no-one at Celtic Park to give him any coaching or advice, and his talented career was allowed to fester and eventually wither away until he was transferred to Ipswich, than managed by the famous Jackie Milburn of Newcastle United fame. Now there was a man who knew a football player!
Frank played only 37 times for the club. He played his debut (after a Glasgow Charity Cup game) against Hearts in February 1962 and could play on either wing, although he preferred the left. He could take a goal as well, and there was no reason to doubt that there were the makings of a great Celt there.
He had the honour of scoring Celtic’s 5,000 Scottish League goal (although some of the calculations were suspect, to put it mildly) against Partick Thistle in April 1962. This put him in the same bracket as Adam McLean, Jimmy McGrory and Jimmy Delaney who had also scored landmark goals, and were generally considered to be great players. Might Frank Brogan join them some day?
No. This was the time of Bob Kelly and the team was constantly tinkered with in a whimsical disorganised sort of way by a man who knew little about football. Nowhere was this more obvious that in the Scottish Cup final of 1963. In the first game against Rangers, the Celtic wingers Jimmy Johnstone and Frank Brogan played respectably and there was always the hope on the rain soaked Celtic end that one or other of them might yet win the day. But the game ended 1-1 and the replay some 11 days later saw a totally different Celtic forward line, no Frank Brogan or Jimmy Johnstone, and a crushing Celtic defeat.
In this dark hour, Brogan learned all about adversity, and the following season saw him little more than a fringe player, although he did score Celtic’s first goal of the season against Queen of the South in 1963/64 just before the potential riot of 17 August 1963.He was quite happy to disappear to Ipswich Town for whom he would play 223 times and score 69 goals until he moved on to Halifax.
It might have been different for Frank if Jock Stein had had more to do with his career, but he remained a true Celt and of course younger brother Jim played for Celtic during the later 1960s and early 1970s.
I met him once, and that was at the Celtic Graves Society’s memorial for Jimmy McGrory in about 2015. Jim was struggling with dementia and Frank was looking after him, but I talked to the pair of them, and both came across as being totally Celtic-daft with Frank nodding sagely when I said that he had a raw deal with Celtic. He was also delighted to hear that my first ever visit to Celtic Park (24 March 1962) had been characterised by him scoring twice against Aberdeen! (See press cutting below).
And then there was the time I met Jackie Milburn in a restaurant in Dunbar in the late 1970s. Jackie and his wife were en route to their holidays in Scotland. Bringing a tear to my eye, the great Tynesider told me how he loved Scotland and we got round to talking about Scottish football players of his time, and I mentioned Bobby Mitchell who played along with Jackie for Newcastle United on the left wing.
But Jackie then said he knew a Scottish left winger who had played for him when he was Manager of Ipswich and who was just as good – and that was Frank Brogan!
David Potter
Former Halifax Town winger Frank Brogan has died, aged 79
Former Haliax Town winger Frank Brogan has died in Falkirk, aged 79.
By Johnny Meynell
Tuesday, 4th May 2021, 9:37 am
Born in Stepps, Glasgow, in August 1942, his career saw him play top flight football in both Scotland and England, having joined Celtic straight from school.
He was handed his debut by manager Jim McGrory in the Charity Cup Final on 9 May 1961, which Celtic drew 1-1 with Clyde.
Blessed with lightning pace – it was reported that he could run one hundred yards in just over ten seconds – Brogan, however, never managed to hold down a regular place in the side and made 48 league appearances in four seasons with the Bhoys.
Yet, he netted an impressive seventeen goals for the club, amongst which was Celtic’s 5,000th goal in the Scottish League in the match with Partick Thistle at Firhill on 4 April 1962.
Whilst younger brother Jim followed him into the Celtic side and had a longer association with the club, in June 1964 Frank Brogan joined Second Division Ipswich Town, then managed by Bill McGarry, and became a real crowd favourite.
He made his league debut at outside-left in a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on 7 October 1964, and his 13 league goals he scored that term included the first of three hat-tricks he scored for the club in a 7-0 victory a month later.
Brogan became the regular penalty taker and in 1967-68 he made 36 league appearances and was top scorer with 17 goals as Ipswich won the Second Division championship.
He went on to make 203 league appearances and score 58 goals for the club but was sidelined throughout 1970-71 with a broken ankle.
Brogan went on loan to Scottish First Division side Morton at the beginning of the following season, scoring a penalty in a 4-1 friendly with the mighty Leeds United and making two appearances, both in the Scottish League Cup, before leaving the club.
He then moved to The Shay in November 1971, signed by manager Ray Henderson, and made an impressive start, scoring the game’s opening goal with a shot from outside the box on his debut in the match with Rotherham United, then notching Town’s goal in his second game in the 2-1 defeat at Brighton.
Sadly, however, Brogan had the misfortune to break his ankle for a second time in the 13th minute of his third match with Plymouth Argyle, an injury that ruled him out of the rest of the season.
He reappeared in time for the start of the following campaign, but lost his place in the side under George Mulhall and was released upon the season’s close, having made a total of 32 senior appearances for the club, scoring six goals.
Brogan gave up the professional game an moved back to Scotland where he had a spell coaching Blantyre Celtic whilst managing several public houses.
He latterly owned a fleet of taxis whilst living in Falkirk.