McGonagle, Peter – The Celtic Wiki

Personal

Fullname: William McGonagle
aka: Peter McGonagle, Willie McGonagle
Born: 30 April 1905
Died: 20 December 1956
Birthplace: Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Signed: 28 October 1926
Left: 25 Apr 1936 (free) N.B. Glasgow Herald reports 03 March 1936 that he is to play for Dunfermline v Falkirk on Saturday. LINK; 27 July 1936 (Hamilton Accies)
Position: Defender, Full-back (left-back)
Debut: Celtic 3-0 Falkirk, League, 27 Aug 1927
International: Scotland; Scottish League
International Caps: 6; 5
International Goals: 0; 1
Note: Date of birth corrected to 1905 (as confirmed by Scottish football historian Andy Mitchell).

Biog

“Peter was one of the truly great Celtic players.” Jimmy McGrory

“Peter was one of the truly great Celtic players.”
Jimmy McGrory

McGonagle, Peter - Pic Willie ‘Peter’ McGonagle was a big hearted and courageous character who was a huge favourite with team-mates and supporters. He was more commonly known by many as ‘Peter McGonagle’ as he was bestowed the name ‘Peter’ in honour of his father who was a Hamilton Accies player.

Peter McGonagle was born in Glasgow on 30 April 1905 and given up for adoption; the McGonagle parents adopted him in July that year, having had a son called ‘William’ in November 1904, who had died aged 2 months of bronchitis.

The strong tackling Peter McGonagle joined Celtic from Duntocher Hibernian in October 1926 and he made his competitive debut on August 27th 1927 in a 3-0 home league win against Falkirk, taking over from the popular Hugh Hilley who had to practically end his career after suffering from exhaustion leading onto a nervous breakdown in the previous match.

Originally a left-half Hamilton-born Peter McGonagle converted to left-back and he went on to establish himself as one of the very best full backs in the game.

Energetic and with great stamina Peter McGonagle was an all action player who never gave the opposition a moments peace. He was a great striker of the ball and possessed great positional sense which allowed him to anticipate attempted raids on the Celtic goal. He wasn’t flash or flamboyant, but was a straight down the line type of player that made him invaluable.

Off the pitch he was renowned for his generosity, humour and loyalty to his friends and club, and was said to be sociable with supporters too. On the pitch he was renowned for his courage, competitiveness, a fiery temper and a tendency to zealously over-protect his less physically strong team-mates.

As a measure of his commitment to the side, he went out to play against Motherwell on 3rd March 1928 even though he had his head bandaged after his head gaped open after a challenge in the match v St Mirren before.

Peter McGonagle even showed his worth against the best, and in a match v the English League on Halloween 1934, he played against the much lauded Stanley Matthews: “The Celtic shone against the Stoke winger in the last half-hour when the English league were on the rampage.”

In one notable incident during the Ne’erday clash with Rangers at Ibrox in 1935 Peter McGonagle was infuriated by a late challenge on Joe Kennaway from Rangers’ big forward Jimmy Smith, which had laid out the Celtic keeper. Smith – a player who relied on brute strength rather than skill – had a reputation for his overtly-physical approach to the game and on this occasion Peter McGonagle thought he had gone too far.

With Kennaway receiving treatment and Smith sat in the penalty area (claiming Kennaway of ‘faking it’), the enraged Peter McGonagle picked up the match ball and marched over to where the Rangers forward was sat. Standing directly over Smith, he slowly raised his arms and with considerable force bounced the ball off Smith’s head. Peter McGonagle was sent off for his actions and for some Celtic directors it was an indiscretion too far for Peter McGonagle and from that moment his days at Parkhead looked numbered. However, the Celtic support likely loved it.

In truth, he was said to have a bit of temper and lost his rag more often than should have, which didn’t please the supposedly more gentlemanly & sanctimonious sportsmen amongst our directors.

Peter McGonagle gave his all for the club, even deputising in goals when John Thomson sadly was fatally injured in a match v Rangers.

The following two quotes likely sum him up, in that they summarise both his hard but decent character:

WG Gallacher of the Daily Record said of him: “I never saw anyone with more courage!”
Peter Wilson said of him: “He was a real clubman… off the park, he’d give you his last shilling!”

He had a good sense of humour too:

Willie Maley: “Are you comtemplating Culloden 1746.”
Peter McGonagle: “No sir, Tottenham 1930.”
(Willie Maley was with the Celtic party on a tour to the Highlands)

Sadly, despite all his true qualities and worth to the club, Celtic had begun a slide and Rangers were in the ascendency. It wasn’t until 1935/36 that Celtic actually finally won the league, just as Peter McGonagle’s career was ebbing, and he mostly played only in the first half of the season. A couple of Scottish Cup winners medals during his time were great additions to his silverware, but he deserved more. The manager (Willie Maley) though was out of sorts and the team was paying the price for his laxity.

Peter McGonagle was eventually freed by Celtic in the summer of 1936, after 325 appearances and 8 goals.

Passing Away
Peter McGonagle died at the age of 52 in 1956. To reflect his love for the club, Peter McGonagle was buried in his Celtic shirt (this was confirmed by his son).

Jimmy McGrory wrote warmly of him stating:

“The death of Peter McGonagle means that I have lost a personal friend. Peter was one of the truly great Celtic players.”

Ex-Celtic trainer Jack Qusklay said the following very warmly about him on his passing (22 Dec 1956):

“His loyalty to friends, club and country was outstanding. He would never let anyone down and in a a game would play himself into the ground. His stamina was amazing. As a player, he had a wonderful positional sense… a great left foot… one of the best penalty takers Celtic ever had… always reading for a joke and a laugh… enjoyed every moment on the field… my privilege to have known him as a real friend…”

Peter McGonagle was a truly great Celt, who deserved more success in his time at the club.