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‘The Sniper’
Personal
Fullname: James McColl
aka: Jimmy McColl, The Sniper
Born: 14 December 1892
Died: 7 March 1978
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 20 Aug 1912 (Trial); 27 September 1913 (full from St Anthony’s)
Left: 27 May 1920 (to Stoke City)
Position: Striker, Centre-forward
Debut: Celtic 1-0 Dundee, League, 18 Oct 1913
Internationals: None
Biog
Nowadays everyone likes to wax lyrical about Larsson, but long before him there were other great strikers and one who deserves greater recognition is Jimmy McColl. He played as a centre-forward in the 1910’s and his record makes him unquestionably one of the Celtic greats.
McColl was originally a product of the juvenile side Anderston Thornbank, from where he progressed to play for St Anthony’s in the Scottish Junior League. He signed for Celtic in September 1913 – Celtic rewarded the Govan club later on by playing a friendly match at Moore Park, an act of generosity which saved them from going out of business. The 20 year old made a quick Celtic debut in a 1-0 league win over Dundee on 18th October 1913.
In stark contrast to his more famous colleague (Jimmy Quinn), McColl had a slight build, but despite this he was as brave as they come and this fearless centre-forward was to prove the inspiration behind some fine Celtic successes. This difference likely helped him to forge his own game rather than be bludgeoned into aping Quinn’s style. The lack of an intimidating build as that of his colleague didn’t stop McColl to be a wonderfully prolific striker to lead Celtic onto further glory.
He first made a major impact in the Scottish Cup final replay of 1914 against Hibernian at Ibrox, Having missed the first game McColl was called in to lead the forward line and within ten minutes he had fired home a double as Celtic went on to defeat their rivals 4-1. He had arrived just around the time that Jimmy Quinn’s career which likely would have been much to relief of the club management sweating on finding even an adequate replacement, but instead they good another great player. Strikers like McColl & Quinn are rare and to have two at one time was invaluable.
That Scottish Cup final performance earned McColl a reputation as one of the deadliest forwards in the Scottish game and it was a billing he more than lived up to throughout his time in game. Unable to count on brute strength in the then very physically demanding game, McColl used great awareness and speed to often fire home a goal before the opposition even knew he was there. These deadly stealth-like qualities earned him the nickname ‘The Sniper‘.
During the First World War, Celtic dominated the league title victories in part due to Jimmy McColl’s numerous strikes. His goal tallies during this time gladdened the hearts of the support and kept the club on top.
Season 1915/16 was his greatest period, scoring an incredible 36 goals in just 32 league games, a tally that marks him as high as the other great strikers Celtic have had in the club’s history. Sadly he is often overshadowed by Jimmy Quinn who preceded him and the later Jimmy McGrory, but he truly deserves more recognition. His career is sandwiched in between those two greats which has meant that some have seemed to unintentionally skim over his career instead of paying it the due respect & attention it deserves.
This was a grave time for Scotland due to firstly the travesty of the war which saw more losses per head from Scotland than anywhere else in the UK. On the other hand, there was also the growing question of Irish independence and its increasingly violent disturbances. Many Celtic fans due to their links were heavily caught up in these events and it was no easy environment for the already discriminated Irish Catholics amongst the bulk of the support.
Jimmy McColl’s goals gave everyone some joyful respite from those off-field issues, the value of which is beyond just the tally of goals he scored. Maybe it’s true that the league was weaker due to the war and praising a player whilst others were suffering & dying on the fields made some earlier historians a touch uncomfortable, but that’s unfair on McColl. His record speaks for itself and the leagues were maintained to help bolster morale. He worked hard also as well as doing his stints for Celtic, which were much appreciated.
With McColl leading the line Celtic won five league championships and a Scottish Cup (1913/14) before he joined Stoke City in 1920. In total, he had 169 Celtic first team appearances and scored 123 goals, an incredible record. He’d likely have had more silverware to carry with him but due to the war the Scottish Cup was suspended (he didn’t play in the cup matches in season 1919/20).
Injuries became the bane of his time. He was lost to the side for much of season 1917/18 due to a spell in hospital with appendicitis which required an operation, and then a twisted knee sustained in a 3-1 defeat at home by Third Lanark in March 1918 putting him out for the rest of the season.
One commentator said of him: “an unfortunate player… [who] got as many kicks as ha’pence since he joined the senior ranks“. The club was just as unfortunate with his loss from the side. In his two seasons at Celtic in which Celtic didn’t win the league it was those in which McColl had hardly played many games (just 14 games in season 1917/18 & 8 games in 1919/20). Not a coincidence most likely. At the end of his Celtic career, McColl played some matches for Peebles Rovers, presumably on loan.
He left Celtic for Stoke in May 1920 after the management decided that the mercurial Tommy McInally had proven himself in the past season as the top scorer in place of Jimmy McColl who was struggling to recover from injury. It was sad to see him go, and a premature move.
Post-Celtic
He struggled to settle at Stoke and left after one season, returning up north to join Partick Thistle.
Soon he joined Hibernian where, despite being a veteran of the game, he continued to terrorise Scottish defences (including the Celtic defence). Originally said to have made some Hibs fans wary as he was an ex-Celt, he won them over quickly and they forgave him for scoring the goals against them in the Scottish Cup final of 1913/14.
He was to become a legend for Hibs. From the records, it looks like Celtic let him go prematurely and maybe the Celtic management should have done their upmost to get him back. He scored 143 goals in 320 matches for Hibs, an exceptional achievement.
After leaving Hibs, he became player-manager of Leith Athletic, but the deal went sour after less than a season. The club got into financial trouble and his contract was terminated. McColl then managed Belfast Celtic for a spell before becoming first assistant trainer, then trainer, of Hibs. His second spell at Easter Road lasted around forty years and he coached the legendary ‘Famous Five‘ frontline there.
He passed away in March 1978, much missed by all who had the good fortune to know him and see him play.
As a measure of his success as a striker, he ranks amongst the top ten goal scorers in Scottish footballing history for the 20th Century, a list headed by the inimitable Jimmy McGrory.
Incredibly, he was never capped for Scotland. Quite astonishing with his record and really marks the national selectors down which is for a fuller discussion somewhere else. International games might have been suspended through much of the war but surely whilst he was at Hibernian he deserved some international honours. Granted, there were other great strikers at the time but surely enough room to give Jimmy McColl the international recognition he deserved at least once.
Regardless of the international selection snub, Jimmy McColl was simply a phenomenon whom we are proud to be able to number amongst our own.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1913-1920 | 165 | 4 | N/A | N/A | 169 |
| Goals | 117 | 6 | – | – | 123 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League Champions
Scottish Cup
Pictures
Links
Statistics
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | Total | |||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celtic | 1913–14 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 13 |
| 1914–15 | 33 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 26 | |
| 1915–16 | 32 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 36 | |
| 1916–17 | 31 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 24 | |
| 1917–18 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 10 | |
| 1918–19 | 30 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 17 | |
| 1919–20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 165 | 120 | 4 | 6 | 169 | 126 | |
| Stoke | 1920–21 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 |
| Total | 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 | |
| Hibernian | 1922–23 | 26 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 33 | 16 |
| 1923–24 | 33 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 39 | 22 | |
| 1924–25 | 38 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 21 | |
| 1925–26 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 11 | |
| 1926–27 | 31 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 16 | |
| 1927–28 | 38 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 43 | 27 | |
| 1928–29 | 33 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 11 | |
| 1929–30 | 31 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 34 | 11 | |
| 1930–31 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 33 | 8 | |
| Total | 290 | 130 | 30 | 13 | 320 | 143 | |
| Career Total | 482 | 255 | 34 | 19 | 516 | 274 | |
