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Personal
Fullname: John Lyon Gray
aka: John Gray
Born: 4 May 1881
Died: […]
Birthplace: Stenhousemuir
Signed: 28 August 1900 (from Elder Park)
Left: May 1902 (to Cape Caledonians)
Position: Inside-Right, forward
Debut: Third Lanark 1-2 Celtic, League, 1 Sep 1900
Internationals: N/A
Biog
Inside-right John Gray was signed from Elder Park on 28th August 1900 and just four days later made a scoring debut as Celtic won 2-1 in a league encounter at Third Lanark.
It was remarked that:
“Celtic expect much from the Stenhousemuir laddie…”
On the other hand:
“Gray has speed and judgement but is no advance on Gilhooly.”
The Stenhousemuir-born pacey forward was to play just the one more league game for the Hoops in a 4-3 league win away to St Mirren months later on 19th Jan 1901. This match was infamous for a bit of a melee. Celtic had run up a 4-1 lead against St Mirren but the Buddies fought back to 4-3 with two quick goals in the second half. Then Celtic’s Sandy McMahon kicked out at Brandon and the crowd invaded the pitch. In the melee, Celtic president John Glass was assaulted but Celtic held out for the points.
John Gray was in practise a deputy for John Divers, and John Gray was not to be a regular starter for Celtic.
John Gray later moved to South Africa in the Spring of 1902 to work for the Imperial Railway company at Salt River. The Salt River is a river in the Western Cape province of South Africa, with Cape Town being the most notable town along the river. Notably, the tragic second Boer War had ended just around that time, in May 1902, so a traumatic period in the country’s history to arrive in (albeit one of many such periods in that country’s history).
Records show he signed for Cape Caledonians in May 1902, which we assume was a side he played with in South Africa.
His younger brother, Archie Gray, was also a footballer and played for Hibs, Arsenal and Fulham, and won a single cap v Ireland for the Scotland national side too. On his return to Scotland in 1915, he used his savings to set up a dairy business in Govan, although he was also an assistant trainer with Third Lanark in the 1920s.
Sadly, Archie Gray was to die in tragic circumstances, when in later years he was working as a chauffeur and his car crashed into a tramway stop sign in 1943, killing himself and injuring four others.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1900-02 | 2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 2 |
| Goals: | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Note
Alphabet of the Celts states that he moved to play for Cape Caledonians in May 1902. Need to check if this is a side in South Africa and if this was the reason he emigrated (at least in part) to South Africa, or maybe they enticed him over. Notably, the tragic second Boer War had just ended in May 1902.