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Note: There has been more than one player to have played for Celtic with the same name, so please check the other namesakes if need be.
Personal
Fullname: John Curran
Born: 17 May 1870 (see notes below)
Died: 10 January 1953 (see notes below)
Birthplace: Bellshill
Signed: July 1892
Left: 6 October 1894 (Liverpool)
Position: Half-back
Debut: Renton 0-2 Celtic, League, 25 Mar 1893
Internationals: none
Biog
Half-back John Curran signed for Celtic in 1892 from Benburb.
The Bellshill-born ‘sturdy miner‘ played his first league game for the Bhoys in a 2-0 league win at Renton on March 25th 1893, taking the place of Willie Maley, and played in the second half of the 1892/93 season to help Celtic to the club’s first league title. A great achievement.
He was a tough tackling defender (in the era when it was generally only one or two man defences), and was a steady member of the team which retained the league championship in 1894, Celtic’s second league title. He didn’t play in the Glasgow Charity Cup run at the end of the season which Celtic won.
He played in the side that defeated Rangers 5-0 in the Charity Cup (1893), and played under Celtic’s first electric lights in a game against Clyde on Christmas Day 1893.
Against Hearts in a friendly in May 1894, John Curran was accused of “shady tactics” and being “part of the rough element“, and by implication a “bad loser“. This reputation seems to have stuck with him as when he moved to Hibs later in his career from Liverpool, he was described as:
“…while Leighton is not a first-class man. Nor is John Curran, the transfer from Liverpool, equal to Tom J. Robertson in ability…”
(Edinburgh Evening News: December 2, 1895)
However Curran then fell out with members of the Celtic committee and was transferred to Liverpool in October 1894 after 26 league & Scottish Cup appearances as a Celtic player.
He played his part in history to help Celtic to the club’s first two league titles, so a lot to look back to respect him for.
In reflection, despite the success Celtic did still concede a lot of goals over the course of the matches he played in, but partly this can be taken to be due to the tactics (if any) and style of the era, with 1-1-8 and 2-2-6 formations being the norm, and all attacking with little cover for defence. Celtic still won league titles so he must have been doing most of it right for the time.
His last two games were against the interestingly named team ‘Battlefield‘ in the Glasgow Cup, Celtic winning 6-3 on aggregate.
He played for Liverpool on 3 Sep 1895, in a 2-1 victory over Celtic in a friendly in front of 5,000 supporters.
He went on to make 24 appearances for Liverpool helping them to win the second tier league title and promotion in England, and then later went on to play for Hibernian and Motherwell.
‘Old John’, as he became affectionately known as in his district, passed away in 1953 after a long life.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1892-94 | 21 | 5 | n/a | n/a | 26 |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
Glasgow Charity Cup
- 1
Pictures
Forums
Notes
- Date of passing: Some sources say 1953, wikipedia said 1933. After investigation (thx to @andyboyd1967), we found the below obituaries and the date of passing is 9th January 1953 from the information.
- Some have his birthdate as May 1964 BUT that is wrong! His birthdate is 17 May 1870 (See: Scotland’s People, Church Registers Births & Baptisms; matches now to his obituary as below)
Articles
December 2, 1895
…while Leighton is not a first-class man. Nor is John Curran, the transfer from Liverpool, equal to Tom J. Robertson in ability…
(Edinburgh Evening News: December 2, 1895)
** The match in question is the Scottish 1st Division match between Hibernians and St Bernard’s at Easter Park on Saturday, November 30 – 1895.
** Note that Robertson mentioned is John Thomas Robertson who later played for Liverpool.
(source: https://playupliverpool.com/1895/12/02/john-curran-is-not-a-first-class-man/)
Obituary
The John Curran death obituary is from The Coatbridge Leader newspaper, dated Saturday January 17, 1953. It says he died Friday last, so that must have been Friday 9th January 1953. If it was the previous Friday, it would have said ‘yesterday’. However, official announcement of death states 10th January 1953 00:40, so we have the date of passing as 10th as that’s the official date/time. Looks as though he had a quick burial. Died on the Friday, buried on the Monday.
