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Personal
Fullname: Joseph Leo Coen
aka: Joe Coen, Joseph Coen
Born: 4 Dec 1911
Died: 15 Oct 1941
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 7 March 1931
Left: May 1932 (free); 1 Aug 1932 (Guildford City)
Position: Goalkeeper
Debut: Celtic 1-1 Clyde (League), 10 Oct 1931
Internationals: none
Biog
Goalkeeper Joe Coen was signed by Celtic from Clydebank in March 1931 as cover for the great John Thomson, and meant that Joe Coen had to give up his studies for the civil service. He had played for Glasgow Schools v London in 1928-29 and worked as a timekeeper’s clerk in the yards at Clydebank.
He was said to have “the same flair for the spectacular as John Thomson” and “the same confident manner in cutting out a cross or lifting the ball from the head of an opposing forward“.
Following the tragic death of Thomson it was Johnny Falconer who initially took over in goals. When Johnny Falconer broke a finger in the Glasgow Cup v Rangers, Joe Coen eventually got his chance, and was Celtic’s first team goalkeeper whilst Joe Kennaway got married and sailed from the US.
Joe Coen made his Celtic debut in place of the injured Falconer in a 1-1 league draw at home to Clyde on 10th October 1931. He was unfortunate to concede as one reported:
“When the game was apparently finished so far as goals were concerned, McGurk took a cross from Moyes with his head and beat Coen”.
The then 19-year-old Joe Coen played a total of three first team games in a short stretch in October 1931, which included a 2-0 defeat by Dundee and a 4-2 victory over Ayr.
So in three games (all in the league) he conceded three goals, which was a fair record. The problem was that Celtic did concede a large number of goals that season regardless who was in goals, so defence was a tricky area especially away from home. He still managed a fair record of one win, draw & defeat in a brief run.
His final game v Ayr Utd had a dark post-note, as Peter Scarff was taken off prematurely in the match, suffering from shortage of breath. Later in time he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and sadly died prematurely.
Joe Kennaway took over from Joe Coen and Johnny Falconer was preferred as his deputy.
Celtic finished the 1931/32 league season on 48pts far behind champions Motherwell and Rangers, but Joe Coen was well out the picture, and Celtic clearly still had a lot to work on.
Celtic were slipping this era, and the old days of Celtic’s hegemony domestically in the league were long past, but the club were becoming more a cup specialist side.
Joe Coen was freed in May 1932, but age was on his side.
He moved to Guildford Town and Bournemouth, and then joined Luton Town in 1934 establishing himself as their first choice keeper. He was to marry and settle in Luton.
At the outbreak of WW2, he joined the RAF but was killed in a mid-air collision while training to be a fighter pilot on 15th October 1941 aged just 29.
He is on the Footballers’ Roll of Honour and buried at Holy Trinity Churchyard, Biscot, Luton.
Note: There was speculation that Joe Coen could be the first Jewish player to have played for Celtic and referred to in a quote by Willie Maley. However, investigations to date don’t seem to confirm this, and information appears to point to that he wasn’t of the Jewish faith. Possibly he was of descent from those of the Jewish faith, but not yet confirmed.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1931-32 | 3 | 0 | n/a | n/a | 3 |
| Shut-outs: | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
none
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Leading Aircraftsman
Joseph Leo Coen (1924) , like Billy Devine, was killed before his training was completed. Joe was the goalkeeper who was taken from Celtic’s A team to replace John Thomson who had died from fatal injuries; and thi s meant his definitely relinq uishing his studies for the Civil Service. He was playing for Guildford two years later, then for Bournemouth ; and was finally Luton Town’s regular goal– keeper. He took up insurance work as a sideline, married , and had been settled down in Luton seven years when he volunteered for the R.A.F. in 1940, intending to make flying his career. He began his training at Torquayin May 1941,completed No. 2 Course at St. Andrews, and began his flying training at Cranwell, play– ing for Luton Town whenever he could get away; indeed he was due to play the Saturday of the week in which he was killed. This took place on October 15th when he was finish- THE WA R I N TH E A IR Joseph Leo Coen 1924-1925 Killed on A ctive S ervice 15 th October 1941 ing a solo flight at Cranwell; a collision occurred at three hundred feet with another plane just taking the air; both men were killed. Joe had hoped to pass out as fully trained pilot in early December.
Joe Coen (Goalkeeper)
Before moving to play in England Joe played for Clydebank and Celtic.
Celtic signed Coen as cover for their legendary keeper John Thomson who was better known to many as “The Prince of Goalkeepers”.
On 5 September 1931, Celtic were playing rivals Rangers at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow in front of 80,000. Early in the second half Thomson and a Rangers player, Sam English, went for the ball at the same time. Thomson’s head collided with English’s knee, fracturing his skull and ruptured an artery in his right temple. Thomson was taken off the field in a stretcher and Chic Geatons took over in goals, most people assumed that Thomson was ‘just’ badly concussed, but a few people who had seen his injuries suspected possibly worse. A section of the home support (Rangers) were unaware of the seriousness of the injury and cheered until they were silenced by one of the Rangers players. One source said “there were gasps in the main stand, a single piercing scream being heard from a horrified young woman”, this was believed to be the scream of Margaret Finlay who was watching with Jim Thomson (brother of John). One Rangers player who was also a medical student said later that as soon as he saw him he gave little chance for his survival. After having treatment from the St Andrew’s Ambulance Association, he was taken to a stretcher. According to The Scotsman he was “seen to rise on the stretcher and look towards the goal and the spot where the accident happened”. The game ended 0–0. Thomson was taken to the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow. He had a lacerated wound over the right parietal bones of the skull, which meant that there was a depression in his skull of 2 inches in diameter. At 5pm he suffered a major convulsion. Dr Norman Davidson carried out an emergency operation to try and lower the amount of pressure caused by the swelling brain, but the operation was unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead by 9.25pm. The death of a footballer in his prime is thankfully rare, and even rarer on the field of play. Even after this length of time, John Thomson’s untimely death at the age of just 22 remains one of football’s great tragedies. A young goalkeeper, already the first choice for his club and country, with a long and distinguished career seemingly ahead of him, dead as a result of an accident during a game.
Joe made just three appearances for the Glasgow club during the 1931-32 season, his debut being on October 10th. 1932 in a 1-1 draw at Ibrox Park. The Glasgow club released him in May of 1932 and moved to England signing for Guildford City.
He then moved to Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic in 1934. Making a total of 158 team appearances. Before moving to Luton, making his league debut on September 15th, 1934 against Crystal Palace that Luton lost 1-2. His final competitive match was for the Hatters on April 29th 1939 at St. James Park Newcastle when the Town lost 0-2 to Newcastle United. The Hatters finishing the season in seventh position of League Two. His Luton career was cut short by the start of war when all league football was suspended until the war was over. Whilst playing for Luton Joe also worked in insurance as a side-line, he also married whilst playing for the Hatters.
Joe volunteered for the R.A.F. in 1940, intending to make flying his career. He began his training at Torquay in May 1941, completed No. 2 Course at St. Andrews, and began his flying training at Cranwell, still playing for Luton Town whenever he could get away, indeed he was due to play the Saturday of the week in which he was killed.
This took place on October 15th when he was killed on active service 15th October 1941 ng a solo flight at Cranwell, a collision occurred at three hundred feet with another plane just taking the air; both men were killed. Joe had hoped to pass out as fully trained pilot in early December of that year.