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Personal
Fullname: Joseph McCulloch
aka: Joe McCulloch
Born: 30 December 1918
Died: 24 Feb 1945 (killed in action in WW2)
Birthplace: Ardrossan
Signed: 23 Aug 1940 (loan from Third Lanark)
Position: Left-back
Debut: Celtic 2-1 Hearts, Regional League, 24 Aug 1940
Internationals: none
Biog
Ardrossan born defender Joseph McCulloch was a wartime loan signing for the Bhoys and played for the Hoops from August 1940 until February 1941. He was a slater by trade.
The left-back, who was a Third Lanark player, made his Celtic debut in a 2-1 Regional League victory over Hearts at Parkhead on August 24th. He was said to be impetuous in comparison to the cooler headed Roy Milne.
He played with Celtic when they won the Glasgow Cup defeating Rangers in September 1940, a rare occurrence in that era in both beating Rangers and winning a trophy.
Practically all his games were in the first half of the 1940-41 season. He had a very good start with Celtic, with a purple patch of results in September as Celtic won a number of games, but then his final run of six matches saw no victories with four defeats not helping his case. He was given a final match appearance in February 1941, a 5-1 win over Partick Thistle, which in retrospect helped his record so he was to leave on a good note.
He made a total of 12 league appearances for Celtic plus two Glasgow Cup games before seeing service with the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
During his time in the national services, he was capped for a match appearance for The Army in Scotland v The Army in England in 1940, 4-1 defeat in place of Eddie Catlin of Sheffield Wednesday.
Tragically Joe McCulloch was killed in war action in 1945, the final year of the war.
He was with the 6th battalion Royal Scots fusiliers, Warrant Officer Second Class (Company Sergeant Major).. He was sent to relieve the 10th battalion Highland light infantry at Heusten (Southern Netherlands) ahead of a planned invasion of Germany over the River Rhine. He was wounded on 19 December 1944 but remained on duty and was okay. Then he was wounded again in Heusden on 20 Feb 1945. He was taken to Marienbosch hospital in Nijmegen (12km from Western Germany border) and died of his wounds 4 days later. He was buried in Marienbosch Cemetery and was then reburied in Jonkerbos Cemetery on 15 April 1947
His grave is: Plot 9, Row E, Grave 5 in Jonkerbos War Cemetery, 4km south-west of Nijmegen (Netherlands).
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | REGIONAL LEAGUE |
SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1940-41* | 12 | n/a | 0 | n/a | 12 |
| Goals | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
* = Regional League appearances. Scottish Cup suspended during wartime.
Honours with Celtic
Glasgow Cup