G | Player Pics | A-Z of Players
Note:
1) 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.
2) Some texts spell his name as “Gallacher” others as “Gallagher”. We’ve used Gallacher below, as that is believed to be how he spelt it, with his burial headstone spelling his name as such [see notes below for fuller details].
3) Some people spell his surname Gallagher, but the most common version is Gallacher. The Irish spelling is Ó Gallchobhair and legend tells us that it was originally given as Gallagher when the family first arrived in Scotland. However, through time, this amended to Gallacher, with one rumoured reason for this being that this was the spelling on their front door nameplate.
Personal
Fullname: Patrick Gallacher
aka: Patsy Gallacher, Patsy Gallagher, Patrick Gallagher
Nickname: The Mighty Atom
Born: 16 March 1891
Died: 17 June 1953
Birthplace: Milford, Donegal, Ireland
Signed: 25 October 1911 (from Clydebank Juniors)
Left: 29 July 1925 (to Falkirk)
Debut: Celtic 3-1 St Mirren, League, 2nd Dec 1911
Position: Right Winger, Forward
Internationals: Ireland (Belfast based IFA) / Ireland (Dublin based FAI) / Scottish League XI / Scottish FA Tour / Scotland (wartime)
International Caps: 12 caps / 1 cap for Irish Free State / 2 caps / 7 caps / 1 cap
International Goals: 0 / 0 / 0 / 7 / 1
Biog
| “So long as there is a Celtic the name of Patsy Gallacher will be revered, and his sons and their families can rightly be proud of that.” Robert Kelly Celtic Chairman |
There are few players in the history of Celtic so fondly recalled as the great Patsy Gallacher.
The Donegal-born (and Glasgow raised) forward is commonly regarded as one of the most gifted footballers to ever wear the famous green and white Hoops and some would argue that he was the most talented Bhoy of them all.
The man who would later be nicknamed ‘The Mighty Atom‘ first caught the eye at Clydebank Juniors but some thought the player was simply not physically strong enough to perform in the senior game. At 5’ 7″ Patsy Gallacher was a frail looking character who appeared capable of being blown away in even the mildest of breeze.
After a number of trial games he was eventually signed by Willie Maley on October 25 1911 and made his full competitive debut at Parkhead in a 3-1 league win over St Mirren. It was said on his debut that he was: “…looking more like a patient in a sanatorium than a football player”.
When Maley first introduced the fragile looking player to his new team-mates the legendary Jimmy Quinn remarked:
“You can’t put that Bhoy on the park boss. If you do it will be manslaughter!”.
But peerless Patsy Gallacher soon convinced Quinn and the Celtic support that despite his slim build he had the steel to go with his skill and that no opponent would be allowed to bully and kick Patsy Gallacher out of a game.
In terms of his ability with a football Patsy Gallacher was a revelation. A genius. He was the most wonderful of dribblers and his audacious talent saw him tease and terrorise defenders. He was an entertainer but his cheeky skills also had an end product as time after time Patsy Gallacher would deliver a killer pass or hit home an unstoppable shot.
The Celtic support had seen nothing like the unique brilliance of Patsy Gallacher and his dazzling runs and thunderous shots would brighten up the dourest of Scottish winter afternoons. His jinking, gutsy, jousting runs had the supporters roaring their approval year after year.
Possibly his most celebrated moment was in the 1925 Scottish Cup final, a match since dubbed ‘The Patsy Gallacher Final’. Getting the ball just inside the Dundee half, he rolled past challenge after challenge, sometimes appearing in danger of toppling over as he swerved and swayed dangerously close to the ground. No Dundee boot or body could stop him completely as he veered, sure foot as a young deer, towards their goalmouth. Finally a heavy, desperate tackle grounded him inside the six-yard box. Patsy hit the ground and for an instant his brave effort seemed to be at an end. But Patsy had not yet parted company with the ball, which remained between his feet. A quick somersault and both Patsy Gallacher and the ball ended up entangled in the Dundee net for the most unorthodox goal in a Scottish Cup Final. It was one magical moment.
The Irishman – who came to Scotland with his desperately poor family when just a young child – was a major factor in numerous Celtic successes as the Bhoys established themselves as the dominant team in Scottish football. His Parkhead career would last 15 years in which time the Hoops won six league titles four Scottish Cups, four Glasgow cups and eleven Glasgow charity cups.
He had a good sense of humour as well. Once, Patsy Gallacher played in the blue of Rangers in a benefit match for his Rangers’ pal Andy Cunningham. Not an easy thing to stomach for any proud Celt, but at the end of the game he took off his jersey to reveal that he was actually wearing a Celtic jersey underneath. Even the Rangers fans are said to have laughed.
His most audacious stunt, however, came when the Celtic manager Willie Maley took his side to a luxury hotel in Dunbar for a thoroughly modern spa-style period of training, rest and relaxation. The team were, for health purposes, put under curfew. Gallacher, however, decided he would quite fancy a nippy sweetie or two, and so persuaded a hotel chambermaid to lend him her uniform. Small and svelte enough to exude femininity, a glammed-up Patsy Gallacher sashayed past Willie Maley, on sentry duty in the hotel foyer, bade his boss a very good night in a comedic high-pitched squeal, and disappeared through the door Willie Maley was holding open for “her”. Prepared to go out on the town in drag, in the old austere environment in Scotland in the 1920s, he must have really wanted that dram.
During the war years, Patsy Gallacher had to work in the shipyards. He was actually fined for bad time-keeping by the shipyards and because of that he wasn’t allowed to play for Celtic on a Saturday afternoon for eight matches. Cynics may take something from this, but it didn’t stop Celtic from dominating the league during that time. Once a game had finished, Willie Maley made sure the results were telegraphed to the war office, who then sent it onto the trenches so the soldiers knew the score about half an hour after the full-time whistle. It was said that Patsy Gallacher was the most talked about man in the trenches among Scottish soldiers – more so than King George or the Kaiser.
In the summer of 1926, Willie Maley announced that Patsy Gallacher would be retiring but a furious Patsy denied all knowledge of this and subsequently joined Falkirk for £1,500 where he played on for another six years. Speculation among his fans was that the board wanted to save on Patsy Gallacher’s wages, which were considerably higher than those of any other Celtic player of the time. He was sadly missed by the Celtic support but his performances in the Green and White meant he would never be forgotten. Many believed that if he’d stayed we could and should have won even more.
In total, Patsy Gallacher played 464 times in the league and Scottish Cup for Celtic and scored 195 goals. He also won international caps for both Eire and Northern Ireland. He became the highest paid international player at the time, and over 50,000 turned up at Windsor Park (Northern Ireland) to see him in his debut.
He also won one wartime appearance for Scotland, in a Scotland v England charity match played on 8th June 1918 at Celtic Park. England won 2-0 (link).
Even after over 50 years after his death his name is revered like few others by Celtic fans, most of whom were not even born when he was still alive.
A brilliant and evocative encomium to Patsy Gallacher is found in James E. Handley’s The Celtic Story: A History of Celtic Football Club (1960):
‘From the days of Johnny Campbell, Willie Groves and Sandy McMahon, the ‘prince of dribblers’, to the era of Willie Fernie and Charlie Tully, the Celtic club has recruited a host of players whose cantrips with the ball have given ecstatic delight to the followers of soccer, but in that brilliant galaxy no star has shone with the effulgence of Patsy Gallagher.
‘Commentators exhausted their repertory of metaphors in trying to place him. To them he was ‘the mighty atom’, ‘the vital spark’, ‘the will-o-the-wisp’, ‘the Cinquevalli of the football field’ and a dozen other extravagances. It is hard to refrain from claiming that he was the greatest forward the Scottish game has ever seen.
‘From the beginning, fresh from Clydebank Juniors, a stripling of seventeen, he caught the popular fancy with his unorthodox style, his inexhaustible treasury of tricks, his magical elusiveness expressed in uncatchable wriggles, slips, swerves, hops and famous ‘hesitation’ stops. To see Patsy halt in mid-career, place a foot on the top of the ball an calmly wait for opponents, reluctant to approach and be fooled, to make up their minds, made many a supporter’s afternoon. Physically speaking, he should have been wafted off the field like thistledown. His small, fragile form seemed altogether out of place in First Division football.
‘Only his supreme cleverness saved him from annihilation, for he had incredible pluck an tenacity and took alarming risks. For such a puny frame his stamina was phenomenal, and at the close of play he was worrying the opposition with the same degree of doggedness that had marked the opening minute.’ (p. 89)
His achievements are made all the more remarkable when you consider the obstacles he had to overcome in life and the courage he showed in matches did not begin to compare to the strength of character he showed off it. Patsy Gallacher’s wife died aged 35 while giving birth to their sixth child. Patsy Gallacher became the sole figurehead of the house and combined games and training with Celtic, with his work as a shipwright in the Clydebank yards. This was dangerous work in itself and Patsy Gallacher once missed a match for Celtic after being hurt when a box of tools dropped on his foot.
In his later years he ran the International Bar in Clydebank, where he was a welcoming host and publican. His generosity and kindness was legendary and when he passed away his family discovered a stacked pile of IOUs from regular customers, dating back years, which Patsy Gallacher had never called in.
The dramas continued off-field for Patsy Gallacher. During the second World War, the war came very close to home for Patsy Gallacher, when during raids on Clydebank, extensive bombing from Luftwaffe near missed Patsy Gallacher’s pub and Patsy himself by a matter of yards.
Patsy Gallacher died on 17th June 1953 aged 62. His funeral mass was held at St Paul’s Whiteinch, and Patsy is buried in Arkleston Cemetery on the outskirts of Paisley.
He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in October 2019, with ex-footballer & grandson Kevin Gallacher receiving the award on his behalf. Kevin Gallacher played for Dundee Utd and famously scored the opener in the Scottish Cup final of 1988, Celtic’s centenary season, only for Celtic to fight back to win 2-1 with a goal at the death.
The family connections continued further when his great grand-daughter Amy Gallacher moved to Celtic’s growing women’s team in 2022, and even scored on her competitive debut in a match v Hibs Ladies’ team. She created history in May 2024 by scoring the goal to defeat Hibs in injury time at the death to win the Women’s team their first Scottish Women’s Premership league title. History continues in the family.
We will never fully be able to underestimate the impact ‘The Mighty Atom‘ had on Celtic and the Celtic support. A Celtic great.
The Times, Wednesday, Nov 22, 1916;
Gallacher or Gallagher?
With regards to Patsy he was born ‘Gallagher’. This is the Donegal spelling of the name and the birthname given to Patsy. It is a very common surname in Donegal – so much so that Patsy’s mother’s maiden name was also Gallagher, although obviously no relation to her husband. The Irish spelling is Ó Gallchobhair.
It was only on arrival in Scotland that they adopted the ‘Gallacher’ spelling – the traditional Scots spelling of the name. This according to David Potter’s book came about as a consequence of a nameplate being put onto the door of the family home in Clydebank by a local tradesman who had assumed the name would be spelt the same as the Scots version.
Being illiterate Mr and Mrs Gallagher didn’t notice the difference and that was how their name was recorded from that point on.
Charlie seems to be a ‘Gallagher’ in most Celtic reference books, although Patsy is believed to have spelt it as “Gallacher”. Guess there is no right answer here.
Playing Career
| Appearances | League | Scottish Cup | Glasgow Cup | Glasgow Merchants’ Charity Cup | War Fund Shield | Victory Cup | Lord Provost Unemployed Relief Fund Trophy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911/12 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3 | – | – | – | 14 |
| Goals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | 4 |
| 1912/13 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | 42 |
| Goals | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | 12 |
| 1913/14 | 37 | 7 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | 48 |
| Goals | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 24 |
| 1914/15 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | – | – | 38 |
| Goals | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 16 |
| 1915/16 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | 41 |
| Goals | 28 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 30 |
| 1916/17 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 31 |
| Goals | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 22 |
| 1917/18 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 39 |
| Goals | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 19 |
| 1918/19 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 2 | – | 34 |
| Goals | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | – | 15 |
| 1919/20 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 25 |
| Goals | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 11 |
| 1920/21 | 39 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – | – | – | 47 |
| Goals | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 12 |
| 1921/22 | 39 | 3 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 1 | 49 |
| Goals | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 18 |
| 1922/23 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | 37 |
| Goals | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 10 |
| 1923/24 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | 39 |
| Goals | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | 6 |
| 1924/25 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 38 |
| Goals | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 9 |
| 1925/26 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 4 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 |
| Total Appearances | 432 | 32 | 30 | 25 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 526 |
| Total Goals | 186 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 209 |
Major Honours With Celtic
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
Glasgow Cup
Glasgow Charity Cups
- 11 times
Pictures
Books
Articles
Links
Memorial Plaque
A memorial plaque was unveiled at the childhood home of Patsy Gallacher on 4th June 2007 by the Celtic Chairman Brian Quinn and Patsy’s son Bernard Gallagher.
Although born in Milford, Patsy was actually raised at nearby Ramelton, a plantation town in north Donegal. It was a great way to mark the life of the man who warmed the hearts of many a football follower and worth a visit for anyone.
Note: This plaque uses the “Gallagher” spelling of his name, although not his gravestone.
Quotes
“If you put that wee thing out on the park, you’ll be done for manslaughter!”
Jimmy Quinn to manager Willy Maley after first seeing Patsy Gallacher
‘The Mighty Atom!’
Celtic supporter’s nickname for Patsy Gallacher
“To play alongside Patsy Gallacher in national cup final was a dream. Patsy was the fastest man over 10 yards. He moved at great speed and he could stop immediately sending opponents in all directions. He could win a game when the rest of us were just thinking about it.”
Jimmy McGrory
“Within 20 yards of goal Patsy Gallacher was the most dangerous forward I have ever seen. You never knew what he would do. Often he would wriggle through, past man after man, with defenders reluctant to tackle in case they gave away a penalty kick.”
Alan Morton of Rangers and Scotland
“Many people have asked me how Patsy would have stood up to the rigours of the modern game. He would have strolled through it. There is no present day player in this country that I would put anywhere near his class. Even Jimmy Johnstone, with all his talents, never reached the Gallacher heights. Gallacher was always advancing; there was no doubling back and playing across the field. Everything he did was positive.”
Jimmy McGrory
“There never was a player like him, and I often wonder if we shall see his like again. I wish we could, just to show the present day players that we of Patsy Gallacher’s time had something to boast about.”
Alan Morton
“He was the greatest wee ***** that ever kicked a ba’!'”
Tommy Cairns of Rangers at Patsy’s funeral
“Patsy was the complete footballer. He had wonderful ball control, he had tricks of manipulation all his own. His body swerve and ability to change pace, which never came from practice but obviously were natural gifts, were a sore problem to opponents.”
Robert Kelly
“So long as there is a Celtic the name of Patsy Gallacher will be revered, and his sons and their families can rightly be proud of that.”
Robert Kelly
