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Fullname: John G Duffy
aka: John Duffy
Born: 24 August 1929
Birthplace: Dundee
Died: 4 May 2004
Signed: 4 August 1948
Left: 1949 (RAF); 30 Apr 1954 (free); 23 May 1954 (Southend Utd)
Position: Inside-Forward
Debut: East Fife 1-4 Celtic, League, 21 Mar 1953
Internationals: N/A
Biog
John Duffy signed for a Celtic side suffering from a post-War depression.
Having moved to the Bhoys in August 1948 the Dundee-born inside-forward was then farmed out to junior side St Anthony’s before a period in the RAF.
His Celtic first team debut finally came on 21 March 1953 when the Hoops crashed to a 4-1 defeat to East Fife, but he was by no means the poorest performer on that day. John Duffy missed two chances early on which might have changed matters, and if he had the luck with those chances maybe his whole career with the first team could have been far longer and so much different. East Fife went to the top of the league after the result of this match and weren’t far off from actually winning the title at the end of the season.
Despite some effective performances for the reserves he would make only one more first team appearance which was a 4-0 defeat to Dundee away, so with that record it is no surprise it was the end of his time in the first team at Celtic, but in fairness both Dundee & East Fife finished above Celtic in the league that season so they weren’t weak sides.
The Celtic first team were poor during the 1952-53 season, finishing eighth in the league, with one more defeat than victories in the league campaign.
A month after John’s two league appearances, Celtic were to finally turn a corner and win the one-off invitational Coronation Cup tournament in 1953 but John Duffy did not play a part in this success.
After a loan spell at Arbroath he was released in April 1954. He hadn’t played in any games that final season (1953-54) which was unfortunate as Celtic had just finally made a major recovery by winning the league title for the first time in a generation, and then sealed the success with the Scottish Cup title too to make it a double.
John Duffy went on to join Southend. A popular man there it seems as the club awarded two benefit matches for this “grand fellow on and off the park“.
After football, he became a school teacher in Dundee.
He passed away in 2004.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1948-54 | 2 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 2 |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
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Articles
John Duffy 24th August 1929 – 4th May 2004
Source: http://www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/john_duffy_24th_august_1929__4th_may_2004_158541/index.shtml
By Mark Wallis
Last updated : 09 May 2004
Former Celtic and Arbroath footballer Mr John Duffy, who also worked as a teacher in Dundee for more than 20 years, has died aged 74.
Born in Dundee, Mr Duffy attended St Peter and Paul’s Primary School and Lawside Academy.
Mr Duffy played football for one of the most successful amateur teams Tayside has seen.
A wing half, he was a member of the successful Dunkeld Amateur FC side that won the under-18 trophy at Hampden and the under-16 cup at Easter Road. The club also won the Angus Boys League Shield, the Keith Cup, the Henderson Rose Bowl and the Hay Trophy.
He signed for Celtic in August, 1948, and was farmed out for a spell to St Anthony’s JFC in Glasgow.
Mr Duffy was called up for national service with the RAF in 1949. Based in Britain, he continued to play football for the RAF team.
After national service, Mr Duffy went back to Parkhead and played two first-team games. The form of Scottish internationalist Bobby Evans limited his appearances, although Mr Duffy was a regular in the reserve side, playing every position bar centre forward and goalkeeper.
He played for Arbroath on loan for a spell in 1953, and was sold to Southend United a year later. He spent seven years at the club, playing 114 games and scoring four goals.
He was such a popular figure during his time with the Shrimpers that Southend played two benefit games for him in 1959.
After retiring from the game Mr Duffy became a pension inspector with Provident Life. He opened a Provident Life insurance office in Dundee in 1963.
In 1969, he returned to full-time education for six years and spent more than 20 years teaching at schools including St John’s High in Dundee.
Mr Duffy enjoyed playing and watching many sports. He married Nan in 1954 and the couple were due to celebrate 50 years of marriage later this year. They had six sons, John, Tony, Peter, Stephen, Mark and Kevin. Tony died in 1991.
(source: TheCelticStar)
David Duffy was born in Dundee on Tuesday, 16 August 1932. A boyhood Celtic supporter, he played football from an early age and enjoyed success with St John’s school then Dunkeld Amateurs, with whom he won the Scottish Cup.
Quite a few of the Dunkeld team turned professional, including another Dundonian Duffy who played for Celtic!
Inside-forward John Duffy signed for Celtic in 1948 and following a stint on National Service with the RAF he made his Celtic first-team debut against East Fife at Bayview on Saturday, 21 March 1953. That match ended in a 4-1 defeat and John did not enjoy better luck in his second and final appearance for the club, and 4-0 hammering by Dundee at Dens Park a fortnight later. John would be on the periphery as Celtic won the Coronation Cup the following month then the League and Cup Double in the spring of 1954. He was released by Celtic at the end of that campaign and joined Southend United, where he made more than a century of appearances before retiring in 1960.
Centre-forward John Coyle also enjoyed senior success. He played alongside David with junior club Dundee St Joseph’s before joining Second Division Dundee United in 1950. Despite a career interruption for National Service, he scored an incredible 112 goals in 132 matches for the Tannadice men – including a club record 43 in 1955/56 – before First Division Clyde paid £8,000 for his signature in December 1957.
John continued on the goal trail at Shawfield, his 31 goals scored over the next five months including a hat-trick in Clyde’s 3-2 win over Motherwell at Celtic Park in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and the only goal of the final against Hibernian at Hampden three weeks later. He then scored a double as the Bully Wee beat Rangers 4-0 to win the Glasgow Charity Cup.
That form earned Johnny his place in the 22-man Scotland squad for the World Cup finals in Sweden that summer, together with clubmates Harry Haddock and Archie Robertson. Sadly, John did not make an appearance in Sweden and would be fated never to represent his country at that level. He scored 59 goals in his 85 games for Clyde before leaving the club in the spring of 1960 to join Cambridge City.