G | Player Pics | A-Z of Players
Personal
Fullname: Ronald Michael Glavin
aka: Ronnie Glavin, Ronald Glavin
Born: 27 March 1951
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: November 1974 £80,000 from Partick Thistle
Left: June 1979
Position: Midfielder
First game : Airdrie league home 16 November 1974 6-0
Last game : Hibernian league away 31 March 1979 1-2
First goal: Airdrie league home 16 November 1974 6-0
Last goal : Hibernian league away 31 March 1979 1-2 – penalty
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 1 cap
International Goals: 0
Biog
Talented midfielder Ronnie Glavin was signed from Partick Thistle in November 1974 for a club record £80,000.
Boyhood Celtic fan Glavin had impressed many in Scotland with his performances for the Jags and he had even attracted the interest of clubs down south, with Manchester United keen to take him to Old Trafford. Jock Wallace at Rangers was also impressed but the Ibrox club quickly cooled their interest once they had established Glavin was a Catholic.
Ronnie Glavin had sprang to prominence as a right half in Thistle’s legendary 4-1 League Cup Final against Celtic in 1971. He established a reputation as an attacking midfielder with an eye for goal and impressed Jock Stein when scoring both Thistle’s goals in their surprise 2-0 win at Firhill against Celtic in March 1974.
For Ronnie Glavin it was always going to be Celtic and he got his Hoops career off to an ideal start when he netted in a 6-0 home league win over Airdrie on November 16th. He was immediately a regular in the number 8 shorts, scored an important winner against Dundee in the 1975 Scottish Cup semi final and was in the team that defeated Airdrie in the final in May 1975.
Sean Fallon took over after Jock Stein’s car accident in the summer of 1975 and surprisingly chose to play Ronnie Glavin in a more defensive role. This, together with injuries made the season one of disappointment for Ronnie Glavin.
Stein returned in July 1976 and appointed Ronnie Glavin’s Thistle mentor Davie McParland as his assistant which was to prove an inspirational move. Pat Stanton’s arrival bolstered the defence and Roy Aitken’s inclusion allowed Ronnie Glavin to move forward with immediate success. In October 1976 Celtic hit top form and thrashed league leaders Dundee United 5-1 with Glavin scoring a devastating hat trick from his midfield role with a display of power shooting not seen at Parkhead since the days of Tommy Gemmell. Ronnie Glavin found top form and scored a spectacular winner against Hearts in November in an exciting 4-3 victory at Tynecastle. He became noted for his explosive shots especially from free kicks and penalties. In the 1976/77 season his form was so good that he was well in contention for the Scottish player of the year awards but narrowly lost out to the majestic Danny McGrain.
After winning the league championship he made his Scotland debut on April 27th 1977 against Sweden and sadly picked up an injury which meant he missed the Scottish Cup final win against Rangers. After Dalglish’s departure in August 1977 Celtic fell on hard times. Ronnie Glavin continued to make the same runs but without Dalglish the supply line had dried up and the goals became more scarce.
In the Far East tour in the summer of 1977 Ronnie Glavin was tried out as an auxiliary forward and had some success, scoring twice in a 3-2 win against Arsenal. However, Jock Stein elected not to play this formation on the team’s return to Scotland.
After the huge disappointment of season 1977/78 Billy McNeill arrived in June of 1978 and initially relied on his experienced men like Ronnie Glavin, Conn, Edvaldsson and Doyle. However, as the season wore on McNeill came to look more to his younger players and after the emergence of Conroy and the arrival of Provan and MacLeod, Ronnie Glavin found himself excess to requirements and it was clear he would require a move to reboot his career.
In January 1979 he had to endure the ordeal of a strenuous court case after he was accused of setting fire to the sports shop he owned in East Kilbride in June 1978. After a 5 day trial he was found not proven and celebrated publicly with his wife, family and friends. Perhaps this experience led him to look for a new start in his career.
In later years he said: “I’m doing what I’m good at, getting forward, supporting the front men… I had a chance to go to Manchester United but my ambition was always to play for Celtic. In retrospect, I was daft!”. That can be interpreted in many ways. Man Utd weren’t exactly in a great position either however financially it would have possibly have been good for him.
By the time he headed south to Barnsley in June 1979 for a fee of £50,000 he had played 149 games for Celtic, scoring 48 goals.
Post-Celtic
Ronnie Glavin’s time in Yorkshire was hugely successful from a personal viewpoint as Ronnie Glavin established himself as an all-time Barnsley great. In a BBC poll for Football Focus, the Barnsley fans voted Ronnie Glavin their all time “Cult Hero” which he won with 81% of the votes. On Talksport (a UK radio station) the ex-England cricketer and Barnsley fan Darren Gough named Ronnie Glavin as his all time favourite player.
He moved to Portuguese club Belenenses in 1984, but returned to Barnsley for a brief spell as a player-coach within a year. In 1986 he moved on to a similar role at Stockport County, but finished the 1986/87 season as a player at Cowdenbeath in Scotland.
Ronnie Glavin was a great player for Celtic and much respected for his efforts and deserves a bit more recognition than has been given to date, too often overshadowed by the other big names at Celtic from his time at the club.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1974-79 | 101 | 12 | 29 | 7 | 149 |
| Goals: | 35 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 48 |
Honours with Celtic
Pictures
Articles
HIS GREATEST GAME – RONNIE GLAVIN – CELTIC 5-1 DUNDEE UTD 1976
HIS GREATEST GAME – RONNIE GLAVIN – CELTIC 5-1 DUNDEE UTD 1976
Posted by St Anthony | Dec 28, 2015 | Season 2013-2014 | 0 |
HIS GREATEST GAME – RONNIE GLAVIN – CELTIC 5-1 DUNDEE UTD 1976
In November 1974 Ronnie Glavin became Celtic’s most expensive signing when he arrived from Partick Thistle for a considerable fee of £80,000. Media reports at the time stated that Ronnie had declined the advances of Tommy Docherty’s Manchester United to join Celtic although it should be noted that the Old Trafford outfit were a second division side at that time.
Although Ronnie won a Scottish Cup final within months of his arrival, things did not go smoothly and he struggled for a considerable period to find his best form in the Celtic midfield. By the summer of 1976 there were doubts about his Parkhead future as Jock Stein returned to the helm as manager after a year’s absence whilst recovering from a serious car crash.
Stein’s master stroke was to sign the experienced Hibs’ captain, Pat Stanton, which allowed him to push the eager, young, Roy Aitken into midfield. This move allowed Ronnie Glavin to have a free reign as an attacking midfielder in the knowledge that Aitken would then look after any defensive responsibilities in that area.
On Wednesday 20th October 1976, Dundee United proudly arrived at Celtic Park unbeaten and as league leaders. Jim McLean was in the process of moulding a fine young team and his developing players, David Narey, Paul Sturrock and Graeme Payne were earning admiring glances from Britain’s major clubs.
Although this was a top of the table clash the main media focus on the night was on the big two Edinburgh clubs who were Scotland’s two remaining competitors in European competition. Hearts went down bravely by 4-2 to the eventual winners SV Hamburg in the European Cup Winners Cup in West Germany whilst Hibs defeated the Swedes of Oesters Vaexjoe in the UEFA cup at Easter Road.
Back in the east end of Glasgow Ronnie Glavin was about to blaze on to the scene. Only one minute was on the clock when he ran on to a loose ball outside the area to send a glorious volley crashing past Hamish McAlpine to give Celtic the lead. United were not to play badly on the night but they lacked Celtic’s cutting edge and in the second half the Celts ran riot.
Firstly, the peerless Kenny Dalglish sent through a typically perfect through ball for Joe Craig to score Celtic’s second before Glavin was to hit peak form.
In 75 minutes David Narey lost possession to Ronnie outside the area and the Celt then advanced on goal to beat the United keeper with a delightful chip into the net. As the Celtic fans roared on with approval, Ronnie clinched his hat trick five minutes after that when Roy Aitken set him up to score with a powerful shot on the turn.
Veteran striker Bobby Lennox rounded off Celtic’s scoring before United’s Paul Sturrock scored a late consolation goal. However, there was no doubt that this had been Ronnie Glavin’s night with a stunning hat trick as he gave an attacking midfield performance that drew comparisons with the great Bobby Murdoch at his peak and it was said that Parkhead had not witnessed such a devastating display of power shooting since the days of Tommy Gemmell which was praise indeed.
Any doubts about the merits of Ronnie Glavin’s ability were banished that night and the Celtic fans in the Jungle chanted his name loudly at the final whistle. This game had been a turning point and he continued this rich vein of good form throughout the season and was instrumental in Celtic’s success of winning the League and Scottish cup double. Many observers believed that he was desperately unlucky not to be awarded as Scottish player of the year, narrowly losing out to fellow Celt Danny McGrain in the end.
This game was the turning point in Celtic’s season and Ronnie Glavin had provided the inspiration by giving what was arguably his greatest performance as a Celt.