Cantwell, Jack

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Fullname: John Cantwell
aka: Jack Cantwell, Jackie Cantwell
Born: 21 Nov 1923
Died: 24 Mar 1989
Birthplace: Glenboig
Signed: July 1946 (Glenboig St Joseph’s)
Left: Apr 1947 (free); 9 June 1947 (Dumbarton)
Position: Centre-Forward
Debut: Clyde 2-2 Celtic, League, 14 Aug 1946 (scored twice)
Internationals: none

Biog

Centre-forward Jack Cantwell scored five goals in nine league & Scottish Cup appearances during his one season with the Hoops.

The former Navy man joined Celtic in July 1946 after impressing and scoring as a trialist in a game against Morton the previous month (the Central War Relief Fund match). He scored a brace on his league and competitive debut but it wasn’t enough to secure the victory as Celtic were held 2-2 by Clyde at Shawfield on 14th August 1946.

He’d scored both goals quickly in two minutes and it boded well for him, but the support is said to have staggered out of the ground in a daze, shocked into silence at the dismal shambles just witnessed. Jimmy McMenemy is said to have put his finger on the problem that there were too many apprentices, not enough journeymen (but Cantwell was no journeyman but an apprentice and had scored twice on the day).

Said to be ‘a grafter of the McGrory type‘, which was good taking in he was not playing under Jimmy McGrory who was now the Celtic manager.

He had a run of games from Aug-Oct 1947, which wasn’t a spectacular run, as Celtic were losing matches and vastly underperforming. The management appeared to prefer Joseph Rae in Cantwell’s place.

Incredibly, Celtic only won one game in which he played in (not that it was all his fault), and he was the scorer that day as Celtic defeated St Mirren 1-0 on 31 Aug 1946. Celtic lost five of the other matches and drew three.

He other goals were against Third Lanark (4-1 defeat) and Hamilton (2-2 draw).

He played in a 3-2 defeat to Rangers, prior to which he had scored a goal in the prior three league games, but he couldn’t carry on that record to help the first team. The news reporter had stated that:

“[Celtic were] Playing with something like the fighting spirit of their teams of the past, Celtic came near to winning their first home game of the season“.

He was soon dropped, and Cantwell was to be freed after just one year with the Celts after failing to agree new terms (said to have disputed them) and he moved on to Dumbarton.

On paper at least, it’s disappointing to see him that he moved on when you look at his record, as 5 goals in 8 league games is a terrific return in a poor side. However, Celtic were continuing their drought from the war years and management was poor (both at board and coaching level).

Celtic were to finish the 1946-47 league season in seventh, a long way behind not only league title winners Rangers but even behind Morton, another indicator of how poor the side was at that time.

The club was lacking good management across the board, and Jack likely suffered as a result. Maybe a better environment could have seen him achieve far more but it wasn’t to be at Celtic.

At Dumbarton in the second tier, he had a fair record being their top scorer in the 1947-48 season, scoring 16 goals, but his goalscoring touch seems to have deserted him in the next two seasons following this one.

He later moved to Morton and Stenhousemuir for whom he played for only in a brief number of games. He wrapped up his career in 1952.

He passed away in 1989.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

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