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Fullname: Charles McGinlay
aka: Charles McGinley, Charlie McGinley, Charlie McGinlay
Born: 6 January 1926
Died: […]
Birthplace: Kilbarchan
Signed: 24 March 1943
Left: 3 May 1946 (to Arbroath)
Position: Inside-Forward
Debut: Celtic 3-0 Queen’s Park, Charity Cup, 1 May 1943
Internationals: none
Biog
Having signed for Celtic from Clydebank Boys Guild in March 1943 Charlie McGinley was tipped to make a big impact at Parkhead at was then a floundering Celtic side.
“One of Celtic’s up and coming youngsters.”
“He’s a future internationalist”.
The promising young inside-forward made his debut for Celtic in a 3-0 Charity Cup victory at home to Queen’s Park on 1st May 1943. This was followed by a 3-1 Semi Final victory over Clyde at Celtic Park on May 15th when he scored his first goal for Celtic.
Victories over Rangers in that wartime era were exceptionally rare, and in September 1943 Celtic defeated Rangers 1-0 with the goal coming via an own goal. The goal actually went down as an own goal in the newspaper reports of the time. However, it was noted that Charles McGinley had applied pressure to Adam Little, who turned into his own net. So, some credit it to Charles McGinlay, so he has a major credit to his record.
Apparently, a priest in Clydebank was taking confession that evening, and was impatient to know the score so asked his first five parishioners what was the score who similarly didn’t know (this was long before the comforts we have now of ease of access to results). Just before 6pm, a man arrived for confession and the priest asked him if he knew the score, with the man replying “We won 1-0 father!”. Noting the use of “We”, the priest queried if the gentleman had been present at the game, only for the man to play “Yes father, I scored!”. The young man was Charles McGinlay, who had come straight from the match to the service!
The Charity Cup Final was played at Hampden Park against Third Lanark in front of a crowd of 25,000 on 22nd May 1943. Celtic ran out 3-0 winners with Charlie McGinlay scoring twice, making him a hero at the off at a success starved Celtic; Hugh Long scored Celtic’s other goal. Rangers then sent the Glasgow Cup to the City Chambers for presentation by mistake.
Due to injury he never would fulfill his promise at Parkhead, and in his three years at the club he managed just 11 Regional League appearances and 2 goals. The second of these strikes was the most memorable, coming at Ibrox on 8 September 1945 against Rangers. In all competitions Charlie enjoyed a decent return of 7 goals in 19 appearances (36% goal to game ratio).
He was released in April 1946 and joined Arbroath.
In truth, it was a poor time to be with Celtic. Let alone the war time difficulties, Celtic were poorly run and managed, and Rangers’ directors had their hands on all the levers in the game. It wasn’t an easy time to play for Celtic.
Charlie McGinlay was fortunate to have won a medal in one of the only competitions Celtic did so in that era, and was a hero for that match scoring twice. Admittedly, it was against a limited number of opponents. Celtic were never really challenging in the league.
As well as Arbroath, Charlie went on to play for East Stirling, Ayr, Belfast Celtic and Sligo Rovers.
Notably, he was with Belfast Celtic in 1949, the same year that that club was forced out of existence following an invasion by Linfield fans in the traditional derby match on Boxing Day in December 1948. As the club did not play any competitive matches again, having to pull out the league, it likely explains his move to Sligo Rovers in the same year.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | REGIONAL LEAGUE |
SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | GLASGOW
CUP
|
GLASGOW CHARITY CUP | SUMMER CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1943-46* | 11 | n/a | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | n/a | 19 |
| Goals | 2 | – | – | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 7 |
* All league appearances made in the Regional League (wartime). No Scottish Cup.
Honours with Celtic
Glasgow Charity Cup Winner
- 1942-43
Pictures
Links
Notes
- The correct spelling of his surname is actually “McGinley”, but as “McGinlay” is what has been used on the limited match reports & general records, we have left it as “McGinlay”.
“An Alphabet of the Celts”
A great story, involving a Celtic supporting priest and the club’s centre forward, after a Glasgow Derby victory in 1943 (from Liam Kelly’s book Celtic in the Second World War), see: https://twitter.com/celticww2/status/1533580306971754498?s=20&t=juJAhTb9VG7uv5BZW7W9Qg
Match: 1943-09-11: Rangers 0-1 Celtic, League Southern Division
A Celtic Supporting Priest, The Club’s Centre Forward & A Glasgow Derby Win – Celtic In The Second World War
By Liam Kelly 7 June, 2022
We have a proud collection of books in our library at The Celtic Star, and we are set to add another to the shelf in the near future with the forthcoming publication of Celtic In The Second World War. You can read more about that project by clicking HERE and you can follow @celticww2 on Twitter for regular updates from author Liam Kelly.
We have been posting previews from the book at various intervals, but tonight we bring you an unusual anecdotal tale that has supplemented the project’s research. This is a great story involving a Celtic supporting priest, the club’s centre forward, and a Glasgow Derby victory in 1943!
Last week, I was talking to a friend named Charlie McGinley about some of the Celtic books in his collection. When he asked me if I was planning to write another book myself, I told him about the World War II project that I am undertaking and he went on to tell me the following:
“Celtic signed a player with the same name as me – Charlie McGinley – from Clydebank Boys Guild in March 1943.
In September that year, Celtic played Rangers in a Southern League match one Saturday and a priest in Clydebank was taking confession that evening. In those days it wasn’t uncommon to wait until 7pm to hear the football scores on the radio, so, impatient to know the result, the priest asked his first five parishioners if they knew the Celtic score. Some didn’t know the game was on, and none had any idea of the result.
Just before 6pm, a man arrived for confession and the priest asked him if he knew how Celtic got on. The man replied “We won 1-0 father.” Noting the use of “We”, the priest asked if the man had been at the game; he replied “Yes father, I scored.”
The man was Charles McGinley, who had gone straight from the match to the chapel!”
The goal actually went down as an own goal in the newspaper reports of the time. However, it was noted that McGinley had applied pressure to Adam Little, who turned into his own net.
When I asked how my friend came to hear of this story, he replied: “The reason I know this is because the priest in the story told me… after he helped to get my car started when it broke down outside Hampden in 1960. Having got the car moving, he asked me to give him a lift to the chapel just off Paisley Road West and when I mentioned my name during the short journey, he told me that I had a namesake who played for Celtic in the War, before telling me what I’ve just relayed to you.”