| Dan Doyle Biog | Grave |
Fans unveil memorial to Celtic legend Dan Doyle over 90 years after his death
Daily Record
Nov 6 2010 Stuart Mcdonald
HE was Scottish football's original hellraiser – a hard-drinking gambler and womaniser who made today's bad boys seem like choirboys.
Yet despite leading Celtic to glory and captaining his country, Dan Doyle was buried in a pauper's grave.
Today, more than 90 years after his death, his last resting place will finally be properly marked when fans unveil a headstone at the spot in Glasgow's east end.
The Celtic Graves Society raised cash for the memorial and it will be blessed by a priest from nearby St Mary's church in Calton.
Doyle played for Celtic between 1891 and 1899, helping them win their first league championship and Scottish Cup.
He has been hailed by current manager Neil Lennon as "one of the first and most inspirational captains our club has ever had" and "a controversial character who thoroughly deserved his reputation as a football maverick".
Doyle was born in Paisley in 1864 and raised by an aunt and uncle in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, where he worked as a miner for several years.
He played football for Slamannan then East Stirling and Falkirk before moving to England where he starred for Everton and Grimsby Town.
He earned a reputation as a hardman on the pitch and one of his tough tackles resulted in the death of an opponent.
While playing for Grimsby on a slippery pitch, he collided with a Stavely player who died of his injuries. The coroner's verdict was death by misadventure.
Doyle went on to become a stalwart of the first great Celtic side and played for Scotland eight times, skippering the team in a 2-2 draw against England in 1894.
In 1918, crippled by debt, he died of cancer at the age of 53 and was buried in an unmarked grave at St Peter's Dalbeth Cemetery on London Road.
Author Marie Rowan found the plot while researching her book Dan Doyle: The Life And Death Of A Wild Rover.
Marie will be joined at today's ceremony by fans and Lisbon Lion Jim Craig, patron of the Celtic Graves Society. Doyle is the first player to be commemorated by the charity.
A spokesman for the society said: "Marie's excellent biography brought Dan's name and exploits in the first Celtic team to win the Scottish Cup and Scottish league championship back into the public realm.
"We hope to build on Marie's research with a fitting tribute to one of the first Celtic greats."
'He was one of the first Celtic greats'
