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Note: There is more than one player to have played for Celtic with the same name, so please check the other namesakes if need be.
Personal
Fullname: Robert Craig
aka: Bobby Craig
Born: 8 April 1935
Died:1 Oct 2010
Birthplace: Airdrie, Scotland
Signed: 24 Oct 1962 (from Blackburn Rovers)
Left: 6 Aug 1963 (to St Johnstone)
Position: Inside-right
Debut: Celtic 2-3 Valencia, Intercity Fairs Cup, 24 Oct 1962
Internationals: none
Biog
Bobby Craig was a seasoned professional when he came to Celtic in October 1962 from Blackburn Rovers (£15k transfer).
The former Third Lanark and Sheffield Wednesday man was a cultured inside-right who made his Bhoys debut on the same day he signed, a match that was the first European tie to ever be played at Celtic Park with the Hoops drawing 2-2 with Valencia in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He impressed that night, but Celtic were knocked out by a 6-4 aggregate scoreline v Valencia but it boded well.
Continuing that form, in his early games for Celtic he showcased his play-making talents with some aplomb, He impressed with a double in his first league match, a 6-1 win over Airdrie, and then ran the show a week later in a 7-0 win over St Mirren. Later he again ran the show in a 5-1 win v Aberdeen in January 1963.
The winter months of early 1963 saw few games played, but many say Bobby’s form thereafter take a serious dive and the once assured and elegant performer was now looking somewhat slow and cumbersome. It was said his form could change from game to game, where in one game he might be the inside-forward that Celtic needed, bringing players into the game and scoring, and in the next game he could be invisible.
Most pundits of the game agreed that when he was on form he brought a real incisiveness into the forward play, but when he wasn’t the team languished.
He was thought of as a strong performer, and scored a hat-trick v Queen of the South in a 5-2 victory and was a regular enough scorer. In a twist of fate, he played against his old club Third Lanark in the Glasgow Cup final which Celtic lost 2-1, but then he scored both goals against them a fortnight later as Celtic defeated Third Lanark 2-1 at home.
What might seem surprising now is that he was picked in place of Jimmy Johnstone for the Scottish Cup final replay match in 1963. However he didn’t have a good game like the rest of the team and reportedly made Ranger’s Davie Provan look good that day. Celtic lost 3-0 in a performance that was utterly appalling and had supporters leaving at half time. Bobby Craig had NEVER played at outside right before being picked to play there on the day of that game, and he hadn’t played in the original final match (1-1 draw).
Why was he picked ahead of Jimmy Johnstone? There was a train of thought that Celtic had paid a few thousand to Blackburn Rovers for him and they wanted to show it had been money well spent by a board of directors who would never become famous for throwing cash around. Now they were looking to get something back for their investment, but it could be said to have backfired. In fairness, Bobby Craig had scored in the previous game, a 6-0 victory over Motherwell, and as the match reporter for that game had said: “Craig adds shrewdness to the attack“.
Celtic were quite poor in the early 1960s and not the best place for aspiring footballers. The club hadn’t won a league title or the Scottish Cup since 1954, or the league cup since 1957. The club were desperate to end the barren spell. Management at both the team and board level was woeful.
In the close-season he found himself being asked to sign a reduced contract for the next season and found his wages for the close-season slashed to £7 a week. As a married man with four children he refused to re-sign. After 21 appearances and a great 13 goals, Bobby was transferred to St Johnstone in August 1963 in a swap deal which saw Robert Young head the other way. It was a doubly poor transfer as Robert Young was to never even play for the first team, and only ended up with the reserves.
Bobby Craig was to leave with a very good record, in what was possibly a premature departure. Celtic definitely were looking for two inside forwards and the management thought they had found one in Bobby Craig. Maybe with better coaching and management at the club (very much absent at Celtic at this time), then Celtic could have retained him and got so much more from him.
Despite the departure, Celtic were always in his heart. After a spell in England with Oldham before moving over to Toronto, and having settled there he was instrumental in helping to establish the Toronto Celtic Supporters’ Association. Interestingly, as a player with Toronto City, he partnered none other than the legendary English player Stanley Matthews in attack. A great honour.
Bobby Craig did have a special place in his heart for Third Lanark too (his first love). He had returned to Scotland to play for Third Lanark in Feb 1967, just as the club were dying and going out of business. He played in their last match, a 5-1 league loss to Dumbarton on 28 Apr 1967.
He passed away in Oct 2010.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1962-63 | 17 | 3 | – | 1 | 21 |
| Goals | 13 | 0 | – | 0 | 13 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
Forum
Articles
Death of former Celt Bobby Craig
Newsroom Staff, 1 Oct 2010
Celticfc.net
EVERYONE at Celtic is saddened to hear of the death of former Celt, Bobby Craig, who has passed away at the age of 75.
Bobby, who was born in Airdrie, joined Celtic in 1962 from Blackburn Rovers and made his debut on October 24, 1962 against Valencia in Celtic’s first ever home European tie.
He went on to make a total of 21 appearances for the Hoops, scoring 13 goals, the first of which came just three days after his debut when he netted a double in a 6-1 victory over Airdrie at Broomfield.
He left Celtic in 1963 for St Johnstone and then had a spell in England with Oldham before moving over to Toronto.
Bobby settled there in recent years and had been instrumental in helping to establish the Toronto Celtic Supporters’ Association.
The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Celtic are with Bobby’s family and friends at this sad time.
(Torquemeda of KDS forum)
As I remember it, Bobby Craig was signed by Jimmy McGrory (probably Bob Kelly, on thinking about it) as the quintessential ”old head” who would nurse the exceedingly young Celtic team of the time. He was regarded as a very good player indeed in England.
I am astounded to learn he scored 13 goals in so few games because I’d always thought he was a disaster from start to finish. My abiding recollection of Bobby was on the wing against the huns in a cup final replay when he truly could not kick his own backside. He was that gash. What made it worse is that he replaced the very young Jinky who had torn Big Dave Provan a new one in the first game on the Saturday, which had finished 1-1. It was allegedly Bob Kelly’s insistence that led to Craig’s inclusion.
We lost the replay 0-3 after one of the most appalling displays ever seen from a Celtic team in a cup final. Perhaps that display forced the good things — and there must have been some — from my recollections of him.
Bertie Auld on Bobby Craig
https://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/exclusive-part-three-my-old-firm-memories-by-bertie-auld/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
You could always rely on Jinky rising to the occasion – as he did even as an 18-year-old in the 1963 Scottish Cup Final against Rangers. I was at Birmingham City at the time and would rejoin my old club two years later, but I was still keeping tabs on all things Celtic. I received reports that Jinky had been magnificent at Hampden and was hugely influential in helping the team to a 1-1 draw.
Chopper scored the goal and Frank Haffey, one of life’s truly eccentric goalkeepers, had a tremendous game to defy Rangers time and time again. But I was told Jinky had a stormer and worked the left-hand side of the Rangers defence all day with his outstanding dribbling.The Wee Man must have been looking forward to the replay. Remember, Celtic had lost both their league games to their opponents, 1-0 and 4-0, that season. Jinky hadn’t played in either of these defeats. So the 1-1 draw was a step in the right direction as everyone with Celtic at heart believed.
The winger’s reward for his scintillating performance in the first game? He was dropped! It could only happen at Parkhead back then. Rangers must have been overjoyed at the news.
There was a lot of meddling with the team, of course, and chairman Bob Kelly would have had made that unfathomable decision. Into Jinky’s place came a guy called Bobby Craig and he must have been as surprised as anyone that he got the nod over the Wee Man. Jinky watched from the Hampden stand as Rangers ran amok and eased to a 3-0 replay triumph.
Why did Craig get the go-ahead to play in the second game? Your guess is as good as mine, but there was a train of thought that Celtic had paid a few thousand quid to Blackburn Rovers for him and they wanted to show it had been money well spent by a board of directors who would never become famous for throwing cash around.
Now they were looking to get something back for their investment. It didn’t quite work out and, in fact, Craig never played for Celtic again. Jinky missed a handful of games at the start of the next campaign, but was back in his rightful berth on the right wing for pretty much the rest of the season.
Someone must have seen the error of their ways, but they never owned up! I wasn’t to know it at the time, but I would line up against Rangers in a Celtic jersey for the last time on January 3, 1970. After being involved in so many enthralling, engrossing, frantic, hectic Old Firm games throughout the years this one passed fairly quietly.
It ended goalless and there wasn’t much to note except it was a bitterly cold afternoon in the east end of Glasgow.
