Mulrooney, John

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Personal

Fullname: John Mulrooney
aka: ‘Caruso’
Born: 1 Aug 1886
Died: 26 July 1914
Birthplace: Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Signed: 4 Nov 1911
Left: Aug 1913 (loan out to St Johnstone)
Position: Goalkeeper
Debut: Queen’s Park 1-4 Celtic, League, 9 Dec 1911
Internationals: none

Biog

Goalkeeper John Mulrooney would succeed the great Davy Adams as the man in Celtic’s goals, and despite taking on the hard task of following on from a Celtic great, he did an excellent job himself between the sticks.

The Hamilton-born player moved to Parkhead in November 1911 from Earnock Rovers and made his debut on 9th December 1911 at Hampden as Celtic defeated Queen’s Park 4-1 in a snow-topped league tie.

Possibly his greatest performance came when he performed heroics in the second half of the Scottish Cup final v Clyde in 1912 to help Celtic lift the Cup in a 2-0 victory:

“Eventually the Clyde half-backs got a grip of the opposition and a tug-of-war followed, in which the outstanding performer was Mulrooney… Mulrooney was equal to every call… Mulrooney, however, was a distinct success in the Celtic goal”.
(The Scotsman)

He played his part well in many of the matches he played in, being a mainstay for much of the 1911/12 & 1912/13 seasons.

It wasn’t just in between the sticks where he made his mark, and socially he was said to be a great character and “the life and soul of many a Celtic trip“.

Popular with fans and a major character among the Celtic players, John Mulrooney played 51 league & Scottish Cup games for the Bhoys, and had 26 shut-outs, an incredible 51% shut-out record.

This was also a time of transition in the game, with the laws of the game having changed so that goalkeepers could now only handle the ball in their own penalty area, something that from the records he ably managed.

In one interesting friendly in Norway, he set what is now a modern trend. In those days, football tops were austere or even plain or bland, but in this match he wore a very interesting design:

“Mulrooney played today in a beautiful white jersey all sewn with shamrocks presented to Quinn by an ardent admirer. It was the sight of the day”.

Despite a great record, after a 3-0 league defeat to Aberdeen and 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat to Hearts in February & March 1913, he was dropped but returned soon after in the next month in April 1913 to first team duty for a few games, wrapping up his time in the First Team with two clean-sheets. Celtic finished second in the league behind Rangers in both his seasons with the first team, but notably in both seasons Celtic conceded less league goals than Rangers so John Mulrooney had played his best for the Celtic First Team.

Sadly, a rheumatic condition had seen him lose some form during the 1912-13 season, and he was to be replaced by Charlie Shaw (for whom Celtic paid a large transfer fee). Initially, John Mulrooney had been criticised for a lack of anticipation in game time, but this was before the condition was diagnosed which can in part explain what some deem to have been his declining form, although going by the records there was no sharp reversal in results. A difficult and sad situation on a personal level.

John Mulrooney would join St Johnstone on loan in August 1913 but tragically he died prematurely just a year later on 26th July 1914. He had died suddenly of heart failure.

It was felt hard at Celtic, and players in pre-season training were devastated to hear the news of his premature death:

#He loved the team that graced Parkhead
And sang the glories of the Old Brigade…#

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish Cup

• 1912

Pictures

• Player Pics

Notice of Passing Away

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Just how many Shamrocks were on Celtic keeper John Mulrooney’s jersey?

By David Potter 16 October, 2020 No Comments

Just how many Shamrocks were on Celtic keeper John Mulrooney’s jersey?

In every sense of the word, John Mulrooney was an entertainer. Off the field, he was a comedian and a singer, so much so that he earned the nickname “Caruso” after the great Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso.

His entertaining skills were much in demand when Celtic were on their intensive midweeks away at Seamill Hydro or elsewhere, or when on tour in the summer of 1912. He had a natural comedian’s face, and he had the rare ability to wiggle his large protruding ears to the delight of children and old ladies. But he was also not a bad goalkeeper!

Before becoming a full time professional, he had been a miner in Lanarkshire and played junior football for Earnock Rovers. At Celtic, he was considered to be good enough to follow in the footsteps of Davy Adams, and played his first game against Queen’s Park at Hampden on 9 December 1911 (a week after Patsy Gallacher had made his debut) and impressed them well enough to keep his place all that season, including the 1912 Scottish Cup final against Clyde.

He kept a clean sheet on a very windy day and Celtic’s 2-0 victory was enough to give him a Cup winner’s medal, and to make sure that Mulrooney, McNair and Dodds entered into Celtic folklore.

JOHN MULROONEY, 1886 -1914

In these days, the habit of a goalkeeper wearing a separate coloured jersey was not yet mandatory, and sometimes John wore a different coloured jersey from the rest of the team and sometimes he just proudly donned the hoops. But he did wear a different jersey on the Scandinavian tour of 1912 in the game against the Norway Olympic XI. Someone had given Jimmy Quinn a woollen white jersey with shamrocks on it. Mulrooney asked if he could wear it, and Jimmy, always ready to oblige, said yes.

Season 1912/13 was not so good for John. He was blamed for some goals, and he suffered from rheumatism. When Charlie Shaw was signed in summer 1913, John had to go (Charlie was in all truth a better goalkeeper) and John found himself playing (with distinction) for St Johnstone in season 1913/14.

On Monday 27 July 1914 (when the Austro-Hungarians had already declared war on Serbia, but very few people as yet saw any need for a major World War) John Mulrooney died suddenly at his house in Hamilton. The cause was given as heart failure, a condition possibly not unconnected with his treatment for rheumatism. Those who had played with him were absolutely devastated, but he had established for himself his little corner of Celtic history.

David Potter

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