Carruth, Joe – The Celtic Wiki

Personal

Fullname: Joseph Carruth
aka: Joe Carruth
Born: 12 Mar 1916
Died: 26 Nov 1988
Birthplace: Springburn, Glasgow
Signed: 14 Aug 1936
Left: 6 Sep 1941 (St Mirren, trial)
Position: Centre Forward
Debut: Falkirk 0-3 Celtic, League, 5 Dec 1936 (scored once)
Internationals: n/a

Biog

Joseph Carruth was a fine centre-forward who was handed the near impossible task of replacing the legendary Jimmy McGrory. He was said to be the nearest deputy to Quinn & McGrory that Celtic had discovered with the head for leadership, but still quite a bit to have placed on anyone’s shoulders.

Signed in August 1936 from Petershill Joe made his first team debut in a 3-0 league victory at Falkirk where he helped himself to a goal. On 9th April 1938, he weaved his way through the Motherwell defence to walk the ball into the net for “Parkhead’s goal of the season“.

As a measure of his ability & talent, in the Ne’er day derby (v Rangers) in 1939, before 118,567 people:

“…he got the ball in his own penalty area beat the first man by lifting it over his head, the second he pushed the ball one way and ran the other; he dummied three players with one move, tricked another two, walked round Dawson and shot. Even Bill Struth [arch-bigot Rangers chairman] congratulated him“.

He was a key man in helping Celtic win the league in 1937-38, the last time for almost a generation thereafter. He scored an exceptional 16 goals in 20 games, which included two hat-tricks. Most of his goals came in the first half of the season, but seemed to struggle more for goals in the second half of the season as injuries likely began to hamper him. His opening day hat-trick v Hamilton in a 4-2 victory set the tone for the rest of the season. Scored some vital goals including a winner in a 3-2 win v Dundee late in the season which helped seal the title.

He was also part of the squad who won the Exhibition Cup for Celtic in 1938, but he didn’t play in the final. His only appearance was in a 0-0 draw with Sunderland.

Combining strength with no little ingenuity, Carruth was a danger to any defence on his day but a serious knee injury and long shifts in a railway engineering company (Hydepark Loco Works) meant that Joe found it difficult to keep sharp. It all was likely to have paid a heavy toll on him combining the two jobs (Celtic training & rail work) in war time and he was to play few games for Celtic during the war years to the club’s detriment.

If the wartime circumstances weren’t hard enough, coming up against establishment bias further hampered his opportunities. He had 2 goals disallowed against Rangers for what the press described as “reasons unknown” which will come as no surprise to anyone.

However, he began to drift from the scene and eventually – after various loan spells – he was freed by the club in January 1945. His last game for Celtic was actually way before in a 5-0 defeat to Hamilton in the league in April 1940.

Possibly his talent was fading with injuries, however he managed to fight through all the setbacks. For example, he had an operation for cartilage in 1940 yet in his return match, he scored four goals for Albion Rovers defeating Morton 5-2.

Joe Carruth played 56 times in competitive matches for Celtic and netted a fabulous 35 goals. A great scoring record, yet amazingly, he often didn’t hold down a first team place despite his great return of goals, even when he was at his peak. Club and board management at this time were increasingly poor, and Carruth likely suffered badly from it and in turn so did Celtic, although injuries accounts for it as well.

Celtic were to experience a period of steep decline during the war years, and the loss of Carruth is another reason for Celtic’s fall from grace. Possibly, if it weren’t for the war then Celtic could have achieved more with a better conditioned Carruth who could have been given more opportunities as he was entering his peak years (in age) for football just as the war began. Nevertheless, all the Celtic support should still remember this wonderful man for his great record and wonder just how even greater it may all have been.

Carruth, Joe - Pic One notable fact is that his name may ring a bell to some. His family owned the much recognised ‘Carruth Grotto‘ on the High Street in Glasgow. It was a religious articles store that for decades supplied the Priests’ vestments and may still do.

He remained a good Celtic follower, and had the good fortune to have been one of five Celts to have been a guest of the club present at both the 1938 and 1988 Jubilee dinners.

Sadly, he passed away later in that Celtic Centenary year. A good Celt and a fine man.

His name & memory lives on with ‘The Primary Cup’/’Carruth Cup’ having been sponsored by the son of Joe Carruth, George Carruth, in memory of his father, see below for further details. It is part of the Glasgow Catholic Schools Football Association tournaments (@GCSFA2019).