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Fullname: Andrew McAtee
aka: Andy McAtee
Born: 2 July 1888
Died: 15 July 1956
Birthplace: Cumbernauld
Signed: 12 Sep 1910 (from Mossend Hibernian)
Left: Sep 1917 (RAF); 2 May 1924 (free)
Position: Outside-Right/Winger
Debut: Partick Thistle 1-1 Celtic, League, 26 Sep 1910
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 1 Cap
International Goals: 0
Biog
Lightning quick Andy McAtee was a huge fans favourite with the Parkhead faithful for more than a decade.
The Cumbernauld-born outside-right moved to the Bhoys from Mossend Hibernian in September 1910 and made his debut on the 26th of that month in a 1-1 league draw at Partick Thistle. He quickly made an impression with the hope he could take over the mantle of Alec Bennett. In time it was said that “McAtee the Main Man” was a potential match-winner every game he played.
McAtee was a frighteningly quick player who also boasted an equally blistering shot although, he was a scorer of spectacular goals rather than a spectacular goal scorer. His strength and pace made him a fearsome opponent and his strong skilful running would often rip holes in the opposition defence. It was said he had thighs “like swelling oak”, others said he had legs that resembled that of an old billiard table.
#His shooting’s like lightning
Custodians frightening
And bringing the points to Parkhead#
His party trick was to rampage down the line before cutting inside and unleashing a trademark cannonball shot past a despairing goalkeeper and into the back of the net. McAtee was also said to be able to score goals from seemingly impossible angles. He was also said to be a great team player, an invaluable quality.
Celtic had been in their pomp having monopolised the league title for the past six years, but the team surrendered the title in his first year but won the Scottish Cup to provide him with some prime silverware in his first season, with Andy McAtee playing in the replayed final.
He won another Scottish Cup medal in 1912 having set up the three goals in the semi-final win over Hearts, and in the final made a prodigious run from deep in his own half followed by a great cross to John Brown that led to the second goal. He had by now teamed up with Patsy Gallagher to become an incredible on-field sight on the right-wing. Together they helped propel Celtic to our first league title for a few years in 1913/14, a season we won the Scottish Cup for a double.
His Celtic career was interrupted by the first World War , where he worked initially in a reserved occupation in mining. This allowed him to carry on playing for Celtic in the league title winning teams of 1914-17. He later served with typical bravery and heroism as a gunner for the 29th Division in the Italian Alps and the Somme. We lost him mostly for the first half of 1918.
During those war years, despite the hardship, players like McAtee warmed the hearts of those at home and those on the warfront, and helped propel the club to another period of hegemony in the Scottish league, monopolising the league titles.
He later returned to Celtic in January 1919 to help Celtic regain the title. Most pivotal was the goal he scored at Morton on the last day of the 1922 season that earned a draw and the title. It was a season that was one of the most strenuous in Scottish league football. He went onto win his last medal at Celtic in the Scottish Cup in 1923.
He won just the one Scottish cap, but did win a host of Scottish League caps. The war years curbed much of his ability to win more.
As a footballer McAtee was simply a match winner who was adored by the Celtic faithful, and is undoubtedly one of the greatest wingers the club has had.
After 14 years with the Hoops this dedicated and whole hearted servant was eventually released by the club in 1924 and the next year he moved to the US, where he played for New Bedford under another Celtic great (Charlie Shaw).
In his career as a Bhoy, Andy McAtee played 439 league & major cup games for Celtic and scored 72 goals, and for those reasons (and many others) he is rightly regarded as a Celtic great. Six league titles and four Scottish Cups is a remarkable record over any player’s career.
His departure was likely a difficult one. Celtic had begun to slide after having been a dominant side for so long. McAtee was a huge part of the glory years, and his departure was another ending to that wonderful set of chapters in the club’s history. He was a mainstay in the first team for so long.
As a measure of his popularity, a wonderful little poem was written by his admirers in the support, pasted below:
#Here’s to you Andy
For you’re sure a dandy
We know you’re a product of Croy’s
Long may you indulge in
Your famous net bulgin’
And score many a goal for the Bhoys!
The Kaiser, they say
Only once saw him play
And remarked, it is said
“Dearie me!!”
My German artillery’s
Just fit for the pillory
They can’t shoot like young McAtee.
His shootings like lightening
Custodians frightening
And bringing the points to Parkhead#
He passed away in 1956, a fine and highly respected Celt.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1910-24 | 407 | 32 | N/A | N/A | 439 |
| Goals: | 69 | 3 | – | – | 72 |
Major Honours With Celtic
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
Glasgow Cup Medals
- 4
Glasgow Charity Cup Medals
- 6
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A excerpt taken from the book The Storms Break by Ian McCallum.
It was doubtful if Bradford in the Morton goal saw the ball on at least two of the occasions he was beaten by McAtee. However, the best goal of the game was quite correctly chalked off as being offside, the whistle having gone before McColl put the ball in the net in a manner not dissimilar to Henrik Larsson’s sublime chip against Rangers almost ninety years later. With the game won, near the end McColl followed McMaster into the pavilion nursing an injury and the Celtic finished with nine men.
An appreciative but small crowd of 12,000 watched the impressive Celtic comeback. In a reflection of the ongoing national emergency, the corresponding game played on 14 February 1914 had attracted over 21,000 spectators. After producing four unstoppable shots each resulting in a goal, the following ditty about McAtee appeared in a Glasgow newspaper:
“The Kaiser, they say, only once saw him play. And remarked, it is said, ‘Dearie me!’ My German artillery’s just fit for the pillory. They can’t shoot like young McAtee.”
Ping Pong from Comic Life meets Andy McAtee
Click for full size for more easily readable
Gifts
- British Forces on the Rhine, 31/05/1922
