Crum, John

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Fullname: John Crum
aka: Johnny Crum
Born: 1 January 1912
Died: 6 July 1969
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 25 February 1932 (from Ashfield)
Left: 9 August 1942 (to Morton)
Position: Inside-left, Centre-forward
Debut: Celtic 4-1 Motherwell, League, 22 Oct 1932
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 2
International Goals: 0

Biog

An incredibly intelligent player Johnny Crum was one of the most talented Celtic centre-forwards of all time.

Hyndland-born Crum was a railwayman who was signed from Ashfield Juniors in February 1932. He made an immediate impact on his debut scoring twice in a 4-1 victory over Motherwell on October 22nd at Parkhead.

With quick feet and an even quicker thinking football mind Crum, unlike some of his predecessors, did not have the brawn to match his brain but he certainly had the heart. He was said to be a small, full of life character, great patter and sociable, and the support loved him for it.

His intelligence allowed Crum to drift into spaces unnoticed by defenders and he would strike before the opposition even knew he was there. With John Divers and Malky MacDonald he combined to produce quick intricate passing moves which bamboozled rivals and delighted the support. It was a revolutionary style of football for the time and the supporters lapped it up.

He had the difficult and unenviable role of taking over from Jimmy McGrory after his retirement, and so moving from inside-left to centre-forward was quite a move.

However, being at Celtic was difficult. The first team had already entered a decline and were no longer the force as they were a generation or so beforehand. The arrival of Jimmy McMenemy as the assistant manager to take the reins from Willie Maley helped but was a rare purple patch in the decade that Crum was at Celtic. He still benefited from this and provided him to achieve the honours he otherwise would have not won at the club.

Possibly the highlight was his role in the wonderful success at the Empire Exhibition tournament, scoring the winning goal in the final. He did an impromptu highland fling behind the goals to celebrate that winning shot (and making it a double, he got married the next week).

Another great moment was when he scored the winning goal in the Scottish Cup final in 1937, pouncing on a parried shot to steal a goal. Helping him to finally grab the senior level set of a cup and league medal.

Crum loved playing for Celtic with a passion and it was unfortunate that at the age of 27 World War Two would disrupt his career. However, his game is said to have begun to shade from around 1938-39, but importantly the club was entering possibly the worst time in its history (let alone the off-field issues). It was no easy time, on the other hand he scored five goals in a pounding of Albion Rovers in the league in October 1938 which showed he very much still had the talent.

With the full official competitions suspended and replaced with wartime regional setups, he was surprisingly transferred to Morton in 1942 (“They thought they didn’t need me!“) but his talent was never to be forgotten by the Hoops support, especially when he scored against Celtic for Morton.

Johnny Crum played 280 times for Celtic and scored 111 goals on his way to winning two league titles and a Scottish Cup.

He had been capped twice by Scotland, once each against England & Ireland.

Off the field, he was a bit of a musician and was the club pianist, apparently following in the tradition of Peter Somers and Duggie Livingstone.

Post-Celtic
After Celtic, he worked as a salesman in Neil Foley’s sports shop at 105 West Regent St in Glasgow. Worth always listening to, as he advised people to lay bets on Celtic to win the Coronation Cup in 1953 (which they duly did).

Still loved the club, and was said to go to as many games as he could after playing. He didn’t attend Celtic Supporter’ Rallies but was said to be very touched by the deafening and prolonged applause in his honour.

He passed away in 1969 (in his home region of Hyndland, Glasgow).

A highly popular and still widely remembered former player.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League Championships

• 1935-36, 1937-38

Scottish Cup

• 1937

Exhibition Cup

• 1938

Pictures

• Player Pictures

Newspaper cuttings in an Elastoplast tin