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Fullname: John McAlindon
aka: Jack McAlindon, John McAlinden, Johnny Mack, Johnny Mac
Born: 25 December 1930
Died: 10 February 2002
Birthplace: Carlisle, Cumbria
Signed: 19 May 1948 (from Penrith Amateurs)
Left: 1957 (free, then to Shrewsbury Town)
Position: Centre-Forward
Debut: Celtic 2-2 Hearts, League, 30 Dec 1950
Internationals: none
Biog
John McAlindon served Celtic Football Club for more than 40 years, first as a player and then as maintenance electrician and general factotum at Celtic Park.
Johnny Mack, as he was known at the club, was the man staff sent for first when any kind of practical work was required about the stadium. He carried special responsibility for the floodlighting.
By the time he joined as a player in May 1948, from Penrith Amateurs, he had trained as an electrician. It was considered prudent in those days for a footballer to have a trade to fall back on. Wages were modest compared to today’s standards. John McAlindon was there when Jock Stein was a player and again when he returned as manager. He counted the likes of Charlie Tully, Sean Fallon, and Bertie Peacock among his friends.
Born on Christmas Day 1930 and a native of Carlisle, John McAlindon’s football career began with Carlisle Catholic Youth FC and Penrith, from where he moved to Celtic.
At 5ft 11 he was a tall, fast & lively player but he was to be seen mostly as an understudy to John McPhail.
He joined Celtic as an 18 year old with his first senior competitive game for Celtic two years later as centre-forward, scoring two goals against Hearts in a 2-2 draw. Charlie Tully had a hand in setting up each of them and from that day on the two were firm friends. He may have scored both goals but he was back in the Reserves when John McPhail was fit for the next game, possibly a sign of the strength of John McPhail in team decisions or even just poor management.
However, Celtic never won any of his games in John McAlindon’s first two seasons with the first team, which included six losses out of nine matches. He can’t be held accountable for this, as Celtic were still in the doldrums, but it didn’t help his case.
Despite the exceptional debut, he never became a regular in the first team, and his time at the club was interrupted in 1954 by national service.
He has a curious record, as it wasn’t until his tenth match for Celtic, which was in August 1955, that he finally played in a victory with Celtic, a 2-0 win over Queen of the South in the league cup. He had to wait until March 1956 to get a win in the league, a 3-1 win over Airdrie; to seal that win he scored the last one for Celtic. He’d little played for Celtic over all the years.
Celtic achieved a few honours over his time at the club, but he was unfortunate to miss out on playing any games in those runs, which was incredible as his matches were spread out over the seasons from 1950/51 to 1956/57. In retrospect, he just seemed to have little luck at Celtic with the first team.
He managed to have a fine sign-off, with a goal in each of his last two games, scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory over Dunfermline (13 Apr 1957) and then a goal in the 3-0 league win a week later v Airdrie.
During his time with the Glasgow club he was loaned for a spell to Worcester City and when his playing days with Celtic were at an end he had a brief time with Shrewsbury Town. It was there that he sustained a cartilage injury which brought an end to his playing career and prompted a return to Glasgow.
Celtic Chairman Bob Kelly brought him back to Celtic Park as a maintenance electrician & handy man, a job which he is said to have relished. He was a qualified electrician and all in all he gave the best part of forty years service to Celtic. He was a permanent fixture around the Park and apparently a real character. He also helped run the pie stalls on match days with all the canteen ladies who all worked there. A great character.
John McAlindon married his wife, Lucy, in 1960 and they had four daughters.
He passed away on 10th February 2002 aged 71.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1948-57 | 16 | 1 | 1 | – | 18 |
| Goals | 7 | 0 | 0 | – | 7 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
Links
Quotes
“I had the pleasure of meeting John on numerous occasions. A really nice guy who after a few nippie sweeties reverted back to his natural broque which made him almost impossible to understand!”
(taken from CGS forum)
Obituary
The Herald (United Kingdom):
John McAlinden
Herald and the Sunday Herald, The (Glasgow, Scotland)
February 16, 2002
John McAlinden served Celtic Football Club for more than 40 years, first as a player and then as maintenance electrician and general factotum at Celtic Park.
Johnny Mack, as he was known at the club, was the man staff sent for first when any kind of practical work was required about the stadium. He carried special responsibility for the floodlighting. By the time he joined as a player in May 1948, from Penrith Amateurs, he had trained as an electrician. It was considered prudent in those days for a footballer to have a trade to fall back on. Wages were modest compared to today’s standards John was there when Jock Stein was a player and again when he returned as manager. He counted the likes of Charlie Tully, Sean Fallon, and Bertie Peacock among his friends.
In his first game for Celtic as centre-forward John scored two goals against Hearts. Charlie Tully had a hand in setting up each of them and from that day on the two were firm friends. His time at the club was interrupted in 1954 by national service.
A native of Carlisle, John’s football career began with Carlisle Catholic Youth FC and Penrith, from where he moved to Celtic.
During his time with the Glasgow club he was loaned for a spell to Worcester City and when his playing days with Celtic were at and end he had a brief time with Shrewsbury Town. It was there that he sustained a cartilage injury which brought an end to his playing career and prompted a return to Glasgow.
Bob Kelly brought him back to Celtic Park as maintenance electrician, a job which he relished.
John married his wife, Lucy, who survives him, in 1960 and they had four daughters.
John McAlinden, former Celtic footballer and maintenance electrician; born December 25, 1930; died February 10, 2002.
Celtic FC
John McAlindon served Celtic Football Club for more than 40 years, first as a player and then as maintenance electrician and general factotum at Celtic Park.
Johnny Mack, as he was known at the club, was the man staff sent for first when any kind of practical work was required about the stadium. He carried special responsibility for the floodlighting.
By the time he joined as a player in May 1948, from Penrith Amateurs, he had trained as an electrician. It was considered prudent in those days for a footballer to have a trade to fall back on. Wages were modest compared to today’s standards. John was there when Jock Stein was a player and again when he returned as manager. He counted the likes of Charlie Tully, Sean Fallon, and Bertie Peacock among his friends.
Born on Christmas Day 1930, he joined Celtic as an 18 year old and in his first game for Celtic two years later as centre-forward John scored two goals against Hearts in a 2-2 draw. Charlie Tully had a hand in setting up each of them and from that day on the two were firm friends. His time at the club was interrupted in 1954 by national service.
A native of Carlisle, John’s football career began with Carlisle Catholic Youth FC and Penrith, from where he moved to Celtic.
At 5ft 11 he was a fast lively player but he was seen mostly as an understudy to John McPhail. During his time with the Glasgow club he was loaned for a spell to Worcester City and when his playing days with Celtic were at an end he had a brief time with Shrewsbury Town. It was there that he sustained a cartilage injury which brought an end to his playing career and prompted a return to Glasgow.
Bob Kelly brought him back to Celtic Park as maintenance electrician, a job which he relished.
John married his wife, Lucy, who survives him, in 1960 and they had four daughters.
John McAlindon died February 10, 2002 aged 71.
Appearances between 1948 and 1957 ;
League – 16 apps, 7 goals.
Scottish Cup – 1 app.
League Cup – 1 app.
Total – 18 apps, 7 goals.
Honours – None.
