McDonald Patrick

Personal

Fullname: Patrick McDonald
aka: Pat McDonald
Born: 19 Apr 1922
Died: […]
Birthplace: Cambuslang
Signed: 5 Dec 1942
Left: 17 Feb 1945 (Royal Navy service)/1 Oct 1947 (to Dunfermline Ath)
Position: Outside-right; left-back
Debut: Hamilton Accies 2-1 Celtic, Regional League, 5 Dec 1942
Internationals: none

Biog

Cambuslang-born Pat McDonald was a mining engineer who signed for Celtic in December 1942 after being released by Airdrie for being “too slow“. Although it must be noted that it was wartime and squads had to be more tightly managed, and there were additional work conditions that had to be taken into account.

At Celtic, his debut was a 2-1 Regional League defeat at Hamilton on 5th December 1942 when Pat McDonald, playing at outside-right, at least managed to bag a debut goal which was a late consolation for the first team.

Pat McDonald would play most of his 89 first team games at left back, although was said never to be fully happy to be a defender preferring to be a forward, but that’s the same with many people. This explains why then his debut game goal was to be his only goal for the first team at this at the club.

He was a regular player during seasons 1942-43 through to 1944-45, a difficult time at a very mismanaged and misfiring Celtic. The club were going through a very barren time which carried on for a number of years even after the war, so sadly there were few high points in his time.

He was capped for Scotland v the RAF (actually it was virtually the full England side) at Hampden on 6 Nov 1943, and made a bit of a mark: “Time after time, [Stanley] Matthews had the left-back dizzy…but he never gave up.” You can admire that about Pat McDonald, and regardless of anything else, it will have been an honour to get that (unofficial) cap in such difficult times.

In February 1945, he signed up to serve with the Royal Navy. He’d been a regular player for much of the 1944/45 season to date so it was likely a for Celtic a tough one to lose to his services. Admittedly the defence appeared to have tightened up after having been a sieve earlier in the season, with some heavy defeats, including a 6-2 & 4-0 defeat in consecutive appearances v Hamilton and then Rangers, with Celtic conceding 18 goals in five league matches in September 1944.

On his return to Celtic later in 1945 he won a handful of games for the first team before losing his place to Jimmy Mallan. He signed off at Celtic in a 1-0 win v Hamilton away in the league, the same fixture he made his debut in, but this time coming away with a victory.

He moved on to Raith Rovers on loan, and then on his return he was transfer listed and moved permanently to Dunfermline, where he was given the captain’s role. Appears to have ended his senior career in football in 1949.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

Pictures

• Player Pics

Links

• Celtic & World War Two