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Fullname: Joseph O’Kane
aka: Joe O’Kane
Born: 12 Jan 1896
Died: […]
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 7 June 1914; 24 Dec 1914; 8 Apr 1916;
Left: May 1915 (Royal Army Regiment); Helensburgh (19 Apr 1926)
Debut: Falkirk 0-2 Celtic, League, 8 Apr 1916 (scored once)
Position: Striker/Centre-Forward
Internationals: none
Biog
Joe O’Kane initially joined the Hoops from Maryhill Juniors, but appears to have left in 1915, signing up to the Royal Army Regiment in 1915, but then returned in 1916. In his initial spell he had turned out for Celtic on Christmas Day 1914 at Old Trafford v Man U in a 2-1 defeat.
Following his return in 1916, he made his Celtic debut proper in a 2-0 league win at Falkirk – helping himself to a debut goal. It was an important goal as Celtic were chasing to beat Falkirk’s record of 103 goals in 34 games. The 34th game v Raith Rovers saw Joe O’Kane scoring twice and Patsy Gallacher scoring a hat-trick to help smash the record. Joe O’Kane might have been overshadowed by Patsy Gallacher, but he will still have been a hero to all there that day.
His powerful runs through the middle of the park made him a threat to any defence although in truth while at Parkhead he was mostly used as cover for Jimmy McColl.
His talent was in demand by other clubs, and although he was often loaned out to other clubs, O’Kane still played his part in helping Celtic to the 1916 and 1917 league titles.
An incredible scoring record, so the question is why didn’t he get to play more for Celtic’s first team? He had an incredible start, and scored back-to-back hat-tricks in only his 5th & 6th game for Celtic (v Third Lanark & Partick Thistle), and his rich scoring vein continued. He even scored in a 3-0 victory over Rangers in the Glasgow Cup semi-final in 1916, as well as a goal in a 3-2 victory over Clyde in the final.
Yet from October 1916, for the remainder of his matches (nine games) for Celtic, the goals all just dried up. This coincided with the return of Jimmy McColl to the side (who was an exceptional goalscorer), and Joe O’Kane was moved positions.
Over the remainder of his time at Celtic, he was repeatedly sent out on loan. His list of loans out were extensive, but all relatively short spells.
He was still scoring goals, and at Dundee Utd where he spent two seasons, he was a top scorer Dundee Utd in the second tier with 9 goals in 32 games in season 1923/24, and then even better the next season with 8 goals in 15 games, again in the second tier, but then left for Arthurlie in February 1925.
It must be said that he had some very positive feedback on his form away:
“O’Kane is the best Hibs forward. He has some real football in him.”
(1923)
Jimmy Brownlie (former Third Lanark player, and a former manager & player at Dundee Utd) in 1940 said of Joe O’Kane in a curious but not in a fully explained way:
“But for certain peculiarities I fancy O’Kane might have been another Jimmy Quinn“.
This quote can be interpreted in so many ways, and we’ll likely never truly know the full story. Jimmy McColl was a phenomenal striker so maybe simply Joe O’Kane despite an excellent record himself just could not convince that they should both play together.
Appears to have formally left Celtic in 1926, but had actually been mostly out on loan for much of the past decade.
Possibly both Celtic and Joe O’Kane missed out on what could have been a very long special career on the football field if some circumstances had been different.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1914-26 | 20 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 20 |
| Goals: | 13 | 0 | 0 | – | 13 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League