Airlie, Seton

A | Player Pics | A-Z of Players | World War Two

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Personal

Fullname: Seton Montgomery Airlie
aka: Seton Airlie, Jock Airlie
Born: 2 March 1920
Died: 11 May 2008
Birthplace: Carmyle
Signed: 17 May 1939
Left: 20 July 1947 (to Cannes in France)
Position: Centre Forward
Debut: Celtic 2-1 Hibernian, Regional League, 17 Jan 1942
Internationals: n/a
International Caps: n/a

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Biog

Carmyle-born Seton Montgomery Airlie was a fine centre-forward whose Celtic career was severely disrupted by the more serious matter of World War Two.

Originally signed by the Bhoys on provisional terms in May 1939 he was farmed out to St Anthony’s before joining Celtic full-time in January 1942. He soon made a massive impact, when in his debut on 17th January 1942 when he fired home a long range drive to secure Celtic a 2-1 victory over Hibernian. He then followed up with a second goal in his second match to help Celtic to a 1-1 draw.

However just a couple of months later he was called up by the army and, when not on military duty, would spend the next four years playing as a guest player for a host of English clubs. The frustrating point for the Celtic management was that to this point, with Seton Airlie in the side Celtic were on a good run, and undefeated in the league in the games he played in. His first defeat with Celtic was in the Summer Cup in June 1942, 2-1 defeat to Motherwell.

He only was to play sporadically for Celtic thereafter, and the results reflected the impact of this, including appearing in an 8-1 loss to Rangers in the Ne’ers day game in 1943, and a 3-0 loss to Hibs in Sep 1942. He did get to play for Celtic in a 1-0 victory over Rangers in the league in September 1943 (then a rare result), but it was his only Celtic appearance that season.

Whilst on military duty his commanding officer (C.O.) was future Prime Minister, Ted Heath.

His best-ever performance was fated to be neglected: several British teams (including Rangers and Queen’s Park) were invited to play exhibition games in Germany after the cessation of hostilities. On October 17th 1945 in Hanover, Rangers played against a Combined Services XI and lost by 6-1. Changes had to be made at the last minute, newspapers were not informed and replacement Seton Airlie (Celtic and Honourable Artillery Company) was never given credit for the three goals he scored that day.

By the time he was demobbed and back at Parkhead the best years for Seton Airlie as a footballer were behind him. He was certainly not a spent force but he did cut a more jaded figure than the one Celtic fans had remembered. He had scored three goals in his first two games back in December 1946 a double v Clyde in a 3-3 draw and then the consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat to Hearts, both games in the league. They were to be his last goals for Celtic.

The Glasgow Herald wrote positively on him after the Clyde game:

“For Airlie then it was a most successful afternoon. Only recently demobbed, he has returned to claim the centre forward position as his own. His height and weight should prove invaluable, and he proved he had the flair for being in the right position at the right time.”

Sadly his last match was a humiliating 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park to Aberdeen in January 1947, at a poorly managed Celtic.

He eventually departed Parkhead in July 1947 for FC Cannes where he played for one season. He could still look back on a fine record with Celtic, with 8 goals in 23 competitive matches. At least he was to miss out on the following season (1947/48) with Celtic who came perilously close to relegation.

Whilst living in the south of France, Seton Airlie had legendary artist Pablo Picasso as a neighbour. Pablo Picasso once offered him a painting when he was starting out, and Seton Airlie turned it down thinking it would not be worth anything. One report states that Picasso also made a sketch of him! Quite an honour in retrospect.

Seton Airlie sadly passed away in Worcester on 12th May 2008 aged 88. The order of service at his funeral had a Celtic crest on the front page. It clearly shows that Seton was a proud Celtic man until the end, something we can take pride in.

TRIBUTES have been paid to Worcester City legend Jock Airlie, who has died at the age of 88.

Jock, whose real name was Seton, made 24 appearances for the St George’s Lane club between 1948 and 1950, scoring eight goals.He went on to become City’s chief scout throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s, working with the likes of Ronnie Radford, Nobby Clark and George Rooney.Jock, also a former manager of Malvern Town, was responsible for discovering many talented City players, including Roger Davies, who scored seven goals in seven appearances during the 1971/72 campaign before being snapped up by Derby.He played for Celtic between 1942 and 1947, including a goal from 25 yards on his debut at Parkhead, and featured in four Old Firm’ games.

However, his appearances were few and faw between after he was conscripted to the Honourable Artillery Company, the regiment of Tory MP Ted Heath, who later became Prime Minister.Jock spent two-and-a-half years playing for Cannes in France following the Second World War before taking up employment as an engineer in Worcester and starting a long allegiance with City.Rooney, twice manager at the Lane, said: “He was a wonderful man, I never heard him say an angry word about anyone.

“He was great company. He used to come down every training night and to talk to the lads and talk over the previous Saturday’s game.”He was fabulous. I am very, very proud to have known him.”His involvement curtailed as he matured in years but he was always there, always had a laugh and a joke with the boys, he was full of stories about his playing days in the Army.

“He was a dear, sweet man. The boys all liked him.” Graham Selby, who played for City 300 times before becoming scout until two season ago, said: “I never saw him as a player but as a person he was a great character and he always had a story to tell. He was a fantastic personality and he will be sadly missed.”He went to play football for Cannes after the war and he was telling us that there was an avenue of bungalows down by the beach and he was in with all these celebrities.”Pablo Picasso was in the same avenue as these bungalows.”

City chairman Dave Boddy added: “It’s terribly sad news to hear of Jock’s death.

“He was a remarkable and much-loved character by many generations of people passing through St George’s Lane.”His involvement with the club stems back to the 60s and his contribution to the club, mainly in a scouting capacity, was vastly appreciated and he played a large part in helping to bring many excellent players to the Lane down the years.

The funeral service will take place at Worcester Crematorium on Wednesday at 11am.

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The Painter & The Player: The Celt who was sketched by Pablo Picasso…
On Saturday, 11 July, 2020 / Articles, Biographies, Football

The Painter & The Player: The Celt who was sketched by Pablo Picasso…

THE PAINTER AND THE PLAYER

Frequently, public speakers (or writers) are advised to start off with a joke. Well, here goes:

A spate of robberies had been causing concern in the French Riviera but eventually the police made a breakthrough. One of the investigating detectives made his report to his chief:

“Something to report, sir … but it’s both good and bad.”

“Let’s hear the good first.”

“We have an eye-witness, who saw the robber leaving the premises … and he is an artist!”

“Excellent! We’ll get an Identi-kit done right away. Oh yes, you said there was bad news as well?”

“Yes, sir. The artist? His name is Picasso.”

Pablo Picasso, probably the most famous artist of the twentieth century and a leader in Cubism, spent most of his life in France, and during the occupation of World War II lived in Paris. He had already gained an international reputation, in particular for Guernica, his depiction of the bombing of the town during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso was frequently ‘interviewed’ by the Gestapo, and on one such visit an officer, seeing a photograph of the painting, asked Picasso: “Did you do this?” and the irreverent artist replied: “No, you did.”

A controversial painter throughout his long life, he saw Cubism become a major force in art; in fact, some thirty years after his death in 1973, one of his paintings (Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust) sold for $106.5M at auction in New York.

He has, as Tommy Carruthers in a recent ACSOM podcast stated, a connection with Celtic …
Listen to Part 1 of TOMMY CARRUTHERS with A Celtic State of Mind here:

Seton Airlie played for Celtic during the ‘unofficial’ seasons of World War II, at least during the time he was not on active service with the Honourable Artillery Company (and/or guesting with several English clubs). Certainly, the war had badly affected the football career of this youngster, as was the case with many players.

A centre-forward of some promise, he had signed for Celtic in 1939 as a 19-year-old and was farmed out to St Anthony’s, and eventually made his debut against Hibernian on January 17th 1942, celebrating by scoring in a 2-1 victory; the goal was described as “a long-range drive” and “a goal from twenty-five yards”.

A promising start for the young man, but within a couple of months he was called up and served in the regiment led by Edward (Ted) Heath who later became a Tory MP and, of course, Prime Minister. After his ‘demob’ (and a glowing reference from his aforementioned commanding officer), Seton returned to Celtic … but much of his sparkle had faded.

In all, he played only twenty-three times for Celtic between 1942 and 1947, but scored a respectable eight goals.

However, his best-ever performance was fated to be neglected: several British teams (including Rangers and Queen’s Park) were invited to play exhibition games in Germany after the cessation of hostilities. On October 17th 1945 in Hanover, Rangers played against a Combined Services XI and lost by 6-1. Changes had to be made at the last minute, newspapers were not informed and replacement Seton Airlie (Celtic and Honourable Artillery Company) was never given credit for the three goals he scored that day.

After a couple of seasons in France and playing for Cannes, Seton (now married to an English girl) returned to Britain and settled in Worcester where he worked as an engineer and turned out for Worcester City between 1948 and 1950. For several years afterwards he was a fixture at the club while acting as ‘Chief Scout’. His obituary in the local newspaper reported his death on 12th May 2008 aged 88, and expressed some mild surprise that ‘Jock’ Airlie’s given name was ‘Seton’.

No doubt World War II had adversely affected his career as a professional footballer: only 23 appearances for Celtic, a season or two with Cannes, and a further 24 appearances for Worcester City.

During the recent ACSOM podcast with Tommy Carruthers, the Martial Artist passed on the story of his great-uncle’s encounter with Pablo Picasso. Tommy was a bit vague about the details, understandable given the passage of time and the fact that it involved a distant member of his family. It was suggested that Picasso had noticed Seton, then in his late 20s, on a Spanish beach, had drawn a painting or sketch of the young athlete and gifted it to him. The whereabouts of this gift are not known at present.

However, the story did happen (sort of), and with the help of a fellow Celtic historian I can recount a reasonably accurate account:

Eugene MacBride, that most assiduous (and erudite) of Celtic historians, interviewed Seton Airlie for his ‘Talking with Celtic’ and found out that the ex-Celt, while with Cannes, stayed in the village Golfe Juan near Juan-les-Pins as did Pablo Picasso. When meeting, he’d say “Ca va, Airlie?” and Seton would reply “Ca va, Pablo!” The excellent weather in the South of France encouraged walking, and the pair frequently met up, struck up longer conversations, and became friends. To Seton, ‘Pablo’ was “a nice, wee middle-aged man” and “a keen football fan”; Ellen, Seton’s wife, knew that the man was also an artist, and a famous one.

Significantly, Seton himself makes no mention of being offered a painting, or posing for one. In the film ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ a newspaper editor, faced with a publication dilemma, in a memorable quote sums up the situation: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

Tom Campbell