McCluskey, Henry

M | Player Pics | World War Two | A-Z of Players

Personal

Fullname: Henry John McCluskey
aka: Henry McCluskey, Harry McCluskey
Born: 30 Aug 1923
Died: […]
Birthplace: Greenock
Signed: Oct 1942
Left: Royal Engineers (army) (1943); 1947 (free)
Position: Wing-half
Debut: Celtic 3-3 Partick Thistle, Regional League, 2 Jan 1943
Internationals: none

Biog

Henry McCluskey was a Greenock-born wing-half who arrived at Celtic Park in October 1942 from Dumbarton.

He made his Celtic debut on January 2nd 1943 in a home Regional League tie (wartime league) with Partick Thistle which ended 3-3, having taken the place of the suspended Matt Lynch from the Ne’er day game the day before. Celtic had been down 3-1 to Partick before fighting back to get the draw.

He also played in the league cup v Rangers in a 3-0 defeat but then again in a 4-0 defeat in the ‘Summer Cup‘ to Rangers. Celtic were poor during this wartime era, whilst Rangers were on top.

His Celtic career was however cut short when after just six appearances he was called up by the army to serve in the Royal Engineers although he would remain on the club’s books until 1947.

All his matches were played in the second half of season 1942/43, Celtic having hit ninth in the league standings that season as a measure to how poor they were. On the other hand, excluding the admittedly thumping losses v Rangers, Henry McCluskey never played in a defeat in one of the other four games.

Henry McCluskey later in life became a senior partner with Willilam Fairhurst (a civil engineering firm). He was given the responsibility to examine all aspects of crowd control and safety at Ibrox following the Ibrox stadium disaster of 1971. He gave evidence in court over his findings, and stated the stairways were “adequate“, and admitted his previous experience of Ibrox was only in the Celtic End. A difficult unenviable high-profile task for anyone to take on.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

Pictures

• Player Pics

Links

• Celtic & World War Two