McGrain, Danny

M | Player Pics, part 2 | A-Z of Players | Coaching Staff

Person

Fullname: Daniel Fergus McGrain
aka; Danny McGrain, Danny Bhoy
Born: 1 May 1950
Birthplace: Finnieston, Scotland
Signed: 13 May 1967
Left: 12 May 1987
Position: Defence: Right Back/Full Back
First game : Dundee United away 2-2 league cup 15 August 1970
Last game : Hearts away 0-1 league 9 May 1987
First goal : Clyde home 5-0 league 8 September 1973
Last goal : Kilmarnock away 5-0 league 30 April 1983
Internationals: Scotland
International caps: 62
International Goals: 0

“Anybody who saw him at his best had the unmistakeable impression of watching a great player, probably one who had no superior anywhere in the world.” Esteemed sports journalist Hugh McIlvanney on Danny McGrain

“Anybody who saw him at his best had the unmistakeable impression of watching a great player, probably one who had no superior anywhere in the world.”
Esteemed sports journalist Hugh McIlvanney on Danny McGrain

Biog

There are many great players in the club’s history, and there are few other more recognisable (due to his bushy beard) or fondly remembered than the great Danny McGrain. His name is said with as much reverence now as when he played.

A great stalwart in the Celtic sides of the 1970’s, he was a truly world class player, whom the support are fortunate to be able to say that he was a Celt. Yet it wasn’t meant to be like this. Danny McGrain was actually brought up a bluenose and was a self-confessed died-in-the-wool Rangers supporter in his youth. How did he end up then with Celtic? It’s a bitter story which he has himself recounted endlessly and detailed in his biographies. A Rangers’ scout is said to have visited his junior club to see or sign him, only to then turn around on hearing his surname in the mistaken belief that Danny McGrain was of Irish Catholic descent [not that it should have mattered].

Bigotry reared its head, and disgracefully cost a good man (wrongly) to not be allowed to join his boyhood club. If ever there was a point that the Hun’s sectarianism policies paid off for us, then it was here. Celtic has always been an ecumenical club, and Celtic signed Danny McGrain on the basis of his football alone [as per Willie Maley’s famous quote]. For that the Celtic support can be forever grateful to Rangers in mistakenly & wrongly passing him over. Although note, in some later interviews Danny McGrain did question the story in later years (he had related it previously in two biographies), as hadn’t received any confirmation from an official source that Rangers had scouted him at one time.

Danny McGrain signed for us on 13th May 1967, just a couple of weeks before the European Cup win, and for him it was a case of looking on to see what he could become a part of. Little did the Lisbon Lions know as they were celebrating their win that already within Celtic was a player [Danny McGrain] who would soon be snapping at their heels.

His main position was as right-back but he was able to easily flit between the right-back and the left-back positions, or centre-half if and when needed. He may have been an affable gentleman off the pitch, but on the pitch he was an unforgiving tackler. Built out of granite, he never shirked a tackle and every opposing player knew his presence on the pitch; “a real cruel tackler” as Billy McNeill described him.

Another great facet of his game was his pace. A speedy player, it was like as if a rhino was charging up the field with the ball for crossing and passing. Any weaknesses? He was too tough for any of that, but admittedly he has said himself that he wasn’t an attacking penalty box player and goal scoring wasn’t his forte, feeling a bit out of place away from the defence.

Regardless, consistent and level headed, he managed to more than make himself known to all, and his reputation was international. He truly was world class, and many commentators from the 1970’s have said that he was the best in the world in his position. A great accolade. Celtic fans always knew about his ability, and in a poll to find out Celtic’s greatest XI, McGrain easily found a place in this alongside Jinky, McNeill and Larsson.

He was also a member of the lauded “Quality Street” gang of players, which included Dalglish, Hay, Connelly and Macari amongst others. Of the group of players, only Connelly was more highly regarded, which is some feat, and in many people’s eyes he was held in the same stature as Dalglish. Kenny Dalglish though was a forward with all the glory and attention that comes with scoring goals; Danny McGrain was a solid defender, and that is why attention is usually centred more on Dalglish than McGrain.

Must add a point on his great sportsmanship. For such a solid unforgiving player on the pitch, he actually had a heart of gold and was not unknown to ask after his opposing player after a game [likely to make sure he hadn’t damaged them].

Pictures - Danny McGrain It wasn’t all plain sailing, and in 1974 Danny McGrain was diagnosed with diabetes, which can hinder many a person’s life never mind a sporting career. However, he didn’t let that put him down and worked around it, and he became a role model for others who had to live with the condition. You wouldn’t have believed he actually had any such issues.

Along the way there was also a fractured jaw (1972) which lost him time at the peak of his career, but more seriously he also suffered a mystery ankle injury after what some thought was an innocuous challenge in a league match (1977) which ended up laying him out from first team action for 16 months.

Thankfully for himself and his career he recovered to return to join the side. All were relieved for him and the attachment the support had for Danny was immense. Amazingly, he returned as strong as ever but sadly with less pace as time caught up with him. Didn’t hinder him as he captained the side to the league title culminating in the magnificent “Ten men who won the league” match against Rangers in 1979.

In his career at Celtic, Danny McGrain amassed a grand haul of trophies, medals and memories. He was deserving of each and every one of them. McGrain stayed at the club till 1987, a phenomenally long time for any footballer to stay at a single club. Whilst the other great players in the Quality Street gang had left to make a go in England, McGrain was not interested and for a man who had grown up in the blue corner of Glasgow, he had come to fall in love with Celtic and was as steeped in the history of the green as any man on the terracing. His ego was non-existent, and all was secondary to the benefit of the club. A great man deserving of all accolades that come his way.

Sadly, it didn’t end amicably between Celtic and McGrain. On his retirement, he was hoping for a position amongst the coaching staff with Celtic but an agreement did not materialise between the board and him, and Danny McGrain walked out and not to return for around three years. It was a sad indictment of the old board’s management that they couldn’t handle this situation with Danny McGrain, his talent and experience would have been invaluable with the youths.

Thankfully, the torn relationship was repaired, and McGrain came back in later years and worked again for Celtic as a reserve team coach. His influence and persona are simply priceless.

One of the true greats of all football.

Internationals
One of the great breakthroughs for Celtic with respect to Danny McGrain, which is little commented on, was in the international game. Up until Danny McGrain, many Celtic players over the previous 50 years had been paid lip service, with many great Celtic players (such as Jimmy Johnstone) earning only a fraction of the number of caps they otherwise should have earned, all due to the partisan nature of Scottish football. The Lisbon Lions were pitifully treated by the committees who picked the squads. Danny McGrain though was a player that couldn’t be overlooked (or messed with), and in doing so became a stalwart in the Scottish national side during a time when they had some degree of respectability (excluding Argentina 1978).

Internationals gave Danny the opportunity to further test his abilities at another level, and many Celtic supporters who had been indifferent to the national side began to turn and support the national team when they saw he was playing.

In all, Danny McGrain managed to gain 62 caps for Scotland, and captained the national side 10 times which included the 1-0 victory over England in 1981 at Wembley and captaining Scotland in the 1982 World Cup campaign. Danny McGrain ended up winning a then record number of caps for a player playing in Scotland (only Dalglish ended up with more caps). It was a great leap for Celtic and the players.

Thankfully, injury caused him to miss the calamity that was the World Cup in Argentina (1978). If he was there maybe things would likely have turned out differently. Who knows, but with someone like him things could have only been better not worse.

Notable bits of trivia:

1) In the early 1980’s the whole Scotland team on the pitch were playing for English Clubs, with one exception: Danny McGrain,
2) Danny McGrain played five times for Scotland in World Cup final games and never lost one.

Post-Celtic & club management
He managed Hamilton and Arbroath after leaving Celtic, including being manager of Arbroath as Celtic skelped them big time. It never worked out for him at managerial level, and journalist Glenn Gibbons told a tale in one of his columns possibly illustrating why. On the first training session with Hamilton, Danny McGrain told the players in his strong Glaswegian brogue: “The reason why you are all here, is cause you’re all no good enough!” Hardly going to win ‘Coach of the Year’ awards for that comment, but it was more due to that great players are sometimes way too ahead of average players and can’t work at their level. Hamilton are a small club, Danny was an international institution.

He likely didn’t realise what he was really saying to them. A bit funny in some ways in reflection.

However, in later years he was as active as ever being a senior coach with the Celtic Development Squad (reserve sides), and at the age of 62 he was promoted to the Celtic first team coach position (vacated by Alan Thompson) to assist manager Neil Lennon and assistant manager Johan Mjallby.

Quotes

“My mentor was Danny McGrain—he looked after me like a father figure. Like plenty other young Celtic players you would get caught up in the emotions of Irish history and the rebellious nature. The Rangers boys I grew up with from the barracks [in Maryhill] went through that too. We didn’t do it in front of each other—some of the songs would attract a glance of the eye from a player like Danny as if to say ‘why are you singing that?’ It was funny but there was a point of principle, we understood and respected that it wasn’t for them.
Danny used to pick me up because I wasn’t old enough to drive. From Monday to Friday he would fit in at least three hospital visits or supporter functions. After training he would ask me what I was doing. My response was not a lot. He’d say, ‘ok, we’re going on a hospital visit, this guy’s lost a leg in an accident.’
“We would turn up and you’d see someone for an hour. I’ll tell you, it’s not easy when you walk into a situation like that but Danny would be straight over to talk to the patient, answer any questions about himself and the fabric of the club. I would sit there and listen to him and eventually you would pick up what Celtic really and truly was about.
“In those moments you would come outside and feel cleansed for just going in and saying hello to someone. When I close my eyes and think about what Celtic is, I think of Danny. I can see the statues of Jock, Billy, Jimmy and Brother Walfrid but I also think Danny has had a hand in those values in terms of his teaching and the ambassadorial role he has played at the club.
“Danny McGrain had it all and a true understanding of everything: that’s why he’s still there to this day.”
Charlie Nicholas on Danny McGrain (2017)

“If you’re scared of anybody then you shouldn’t be involved in football.”
Danny McGrain

“One major change over past 20yrs is that the full-back has almost become an extinct position. We’ll soon be as extinct as dinosaurs.”
Danny McGrain on full-backs (he was proved to be very wrong) (1987)

Playing Career

	LEAGUE			LEAGUE CUP			SCOTTISH CUP			EUROPE			OTHER			TOTALS
	APPS	SUB	GLS	APPS	SUB	GLS	APPS	SUB	GLS	APPS	SUB	GLS	APPS	SUB	GLS	APPS	SUB	GLS
70-71	7		0	4	1	0	0		0	1	1	0	2		0	14	2	0
71-72	2	1	0	4		0	1		0	2		0	0		0	9	1	0
72-73	30		0	10		0	7		0	4		0	2		0	53		0
73-74	29	1	1	13		0	2		0	5		0	3		0	52	1	1
74-75	35		0	7		0	5		0	2		0	2	1	1	51	1	1
75-76	35		0	9		1	1		0	6		0	1		0	52		1
76-77	36		0	10		1	7		0	2		0	1		0	56		1
77-78	7		0	2		0	0		0	2		0	0		0	11		0
78-79	18		2	1		0	4		0	0		0	1		0	24		2
79-80	34		0	6		0	6		0	6		0	3		0	55		0
80-81	33		0	8		0	3		0	4		0	1		0	49		0
81-82	27		0	5		0	2		1	1		0	0		0	35		1
82-83	34		1	10		1	3		0	4		0	0		0	51		2
83-84	33		0	10		0	5		0	6		0	2		0	56		0
84-85	33		0	7		0	3		0	4		0	1		0	48		0
85-86	27	1	0	2		0	2		0	2		0	2		0	35	1	0
86-87	21	5	0	1		0	4		0	2		0	0		0	28	5	0
Total	441	8	4	109	1	3	55		1	53	1	0	21	1	1	679	11	9

OTHER	: Glasgow Cup, Drybrough Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup