Maxwell, Hugh

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Fullname: Hugh Maxwell
Born: 14 May 1938
Died: January 2010
Birthplace: Rigghead
Signed: 13 November 1964 (from Falkirk, £15k)
Left: 11 June 1965 (to St Johnstone, £10k)
Position: Inside-forward
Debut: Celtic 0-2 Dundee, League, 14 Nov 1964
Internationals: none

Biog

Inside-forward Hugh Maxwell was signed by Celtic from Falkirk for £15,000 on November 13 1964. He had once scored seven goals in a 7-3 win for Falkirk v Clyde in 1962 so showed some talent.

He made his debut a day after his signing, but it was said to be a low key transfer in with nothing in the papers, so a surprise for many to see at no.10 this tall, skinny, red-haired bloke. Celtic lost at home in the league to Dundee 2-0 (in torrential conditions that led to a pause in the match as players sought shelter), and he reportedly never got much touch of the ball. However, against his old club Falkirk a week later he netted within 10 seconds. His only other goal was against Partick Thistle a month later in a 4-2 league win.

A prolific scorer with the Bairns, but things just never clicked for Hugh Maxwell at Celtic. His run of games was not successful, as Celtic won three, lost four and drew the remaining game.

He was later sold to St Johnstone in June 1965 after just eight league appearances and two goals.

It was a shame for Hugh Maxwell but Celtic were poor at the time of his first run of games in almost every aspect: board, coaching, tactics etc. The club hadn’t won a senior trophy since 1957 and the results were underwhelming. Jock Stein arrived in 1965 but Hugh was not to be in Jock’s plans for the long-run, and Hugh Maxwell was to miss out on being part of the much heralded Scottish Cup winning Celtic side of 1965.

He was part of the side that lost 2-1 to Dunfermline (the eventual 1965 Scottish Cup final opponents) in December 1964, which ended his main run in the first team and it’s ironic for him that it was a later Scottish Cup victory v Dunfermline that really kicked off Celtic into a new great era. To rub salt into the wounds, he played in the Celtic side that lost 5-1 to Dunfermline only a few days after the Scottish Cup final in a token end of season league appearance, his last for Celtic.

Bertie Auld in his biography commented on Hugh Maxwell:

“Any player who didn’t match up to his [Jock Stein’s] expectation levels soon found themselves plying their trade elsewhere. Take Hugh Maxwell, for instance. He had been bought by Jimmy McGrory from Falkirk for £15,000 in November 1964. He was an old-fashioned inside-right with a nice touch, but, to be honest, he was a bit on the frail side. Jock played him twice and, unfortunately for Hugh, Celtic lost both games – 4-2 to Hibs at Parkhead and 5-1 to Dunfermline at East End Park. That was the end of his Celtic career. He was on his bike to St Johnstone for £10,000 in the summer.”

If there was one silver lining, it was for Celtic who on Hugh Maxwell’s departure had taken a cut-price £10k. That money helped to fund payment for the great Joe McBride, who would go on to be an incredibly prolific striker for Celtic.

Ironically, despite having scored that incredible tally of seven goals in that aforementioned victory for Falkirk over Clyde, it was the young striker for Clyde, Harry Hood, who was in time to be the one from that match to go on to have a long successful career at Celtic.

Hugh Maxwell passed away in 2010.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

Pictures

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Notes

• On the aforementioned Falkirk 7-3 Clyde match in 1962, one stat in the Evening Times on the day reports that centre forward Bain shot home the first goal following good work by Maxwell. However, Falkirk historian experts Falkirk FC Heritage @FFHeritageTrust confirmed that Hugh Maxwell scored all seven. link: https://twitter.com/FFHeritageTrust/status/1468864699282374658?s=20
• The Glasgow Herald for the Monday after the game had no match report but gave the scoreline with Maxwell (7) annotated so it looks like the match report from the Times was inaccurate.

CQN (Alex Gordon)

CELTIC: THE AWAKENING: THE NEARLY MEN

Celtic, as usual, had hardly been active in the transfer market, but they did make a move for Falkirk inside-forward Hugh Maxwell who had taken the eye back in the League Cup sections in August when he netted four in his side’s 5-2 win over Dundee United. Mind you, they were ALL penalty-kicks! Celtic parted with £15,000 for the player and he made his debut in front of a confused Celtic support against Dundee at Parkhead in November. There had been nothing in that day’s newspapers about Celtic signing a new player and, if you got in late and missed the tannoy announcement, you had no idea of the identity of the tall, skinny, red-haired bloke wearing the No.10 shorts. Hugh Maxwell was not a household name, hardly an instantly recognisable figure. Probably not even in Falkirk, either.

It wasn’t a debut to remember as Celtic went down 2-0 and Maxwell hardly got a kick of the ball. You only get one opportunity to make a first impression and, sadly for the new boy, it had passed him by. Celtic went through the usual topsy-turvy routine as they drove towards the turn of the year. They beat Partick Thistle 4-2 and then lost 1-2 at home to Dunfermline.

The last action of 1964 saw John Hughes firing in a couple in a 2-0 victory over Motherwell at Parkhead on Boxing Day. The cry from the terracing at the time was ‘Feed The Bear…Feed The Bear’ directed at John Hughes/Yogi and, it must be said, he rarely disappointed when he got decent service.

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