Duncan, David

Personal

Fullname: David Miller Duncan
aka: Davie Duncan, David Duncan
Born: 21 November 1921
Died: 11 January 1991
Birthplace: Markinch, Scotland
Signed: 17 December 1942
Left: c13 Nov 1944 (to East Fife)
Position: Outside-Left
Debut: Celtic 3-2 Motherwell, Regional League, 19 Dec 1942
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 3
International Goals: 1

Biog

Davie Duncan was signed by Celtic from Raith Rovers, having been on a loan to Heart in December 1942.

“Expert at penalties, free kicks and long throws, first came to Jimmy McStay’s attention in the War Cup with his pile-driver shooting when Raith put Celtic out over two legs.” – Eugene MacBride (Celtic historian)

He made a scoring debut in a 3-2 Regional league victory over Motherwell at Parkhead on 12th December 1942. Of his debut, it was written that he used his chances “with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of intent”. He had, it was stated, “a terror of a left foot”, plus was said to be an expert at penalties, free kicks and long throws. As a measure of his ability, it was a pile-driver of a shot from Davie Duncan that put Celtic out the War Cup and highlighted his attention to Jimmy McStay (the Celtic manager).

With plenty of pace and a great left-foot Davie Duncan seemed set for a long Parkhead career but Celtic seemed unwilling to give the player the chance to shine in his favoured position. He managed to score in the 8-1 humiliation by Rangers in 1943.

However in a Celtic side desperate for any success he was to be little used. There were only four victories in his matches for the Celtic first team who were floundering but the season as a whole saw Celtic end up 9th in the truncated Southern Scottish League (ending with a negative net goal difference), losing more than they won. His run of matches saw Celtic lose by some highly embarrassing scorelines, such as the prior mentioned 8-1 defeat by Rangers, but also a 6-0 defeat to Falkirk and a 4-0 defeat to Hibs. Things were desperate for Celtic.

Davie Duncan did help to save Celtic with a goal in the 3-3 home draw with Partick Thistle, but that was final result was just another indication of how bad the first team were.

He was released by the Bhoys in the autumn of 1944 and was willingly snapped up for nothing by East Fife. It was remarked that the Celtic support could not believe it when he was allowed to move to East Fife.

At East Fife, Davie Duncan was an outstanding performer and went on to win international recognition with Scotland. He was the first Division B player to win a full Scotland cap (versus Belgium at Hampden on 28th April 1948), plus he also played for the Scottish League side too.

His Scotland top from this debut for his country takes pride of place in the dining area of the East Fife club lounge (he won three caps in total).

He retired from playing at the end of season 1958/59. A long career.

Taking in his success post-Celtic, it’s said that “It made true Celts squirm that Parkhead gave him a free transfer“. It’s another clear example of the incompetence of Celtic’s management during the war years.

He passed away in 1991.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

Pictures

• Player Pics

External Links

• East Fife FC link

Articles

Davie Duncan

http://corstorphine.tripod.com/duncan.htm

In September 2000 East Fife Football Club were presented with the jersey which Davie Duncan wore when he made his International debut for Scotland against Belgium in 1948. The following article appeared in the match programme for the East Fife v Albion Rovers match at Bayview Stadium on Saturday 14 October 2000.
The article has been reproduced below with the kind permission of Programme Editor and fellow East Fife historian Jim Stewart:
The Davie Duncan Shirt

Taking pride of place in the dining area of the club lounge is the Scotland shirt worn by outside left Davie Duncan when he won the first of his three caps in a scoring debut against Belgium in a 2-0 victory at Hampden Park on 28 April 1948. Davie went on to play the following month against Switzerland in Berne and France in Paris. Scotland lost those two games 2-1 and 3-0 respectively.

David gave away his shirts from the Swiss and French games but retained his first international jersey until 1965, when he handed it over to his friend’s son Henry Gibbon, then aged 12. Thirty-five years later Henry decided that Davie’s shirt should be presented to East Fife. The unveiling ceremony of the suitably framed shirt took place before the Hamilton match on 30 September 2000. The club records its thanks to Henry for his very kind gesture.

David Miller Duncan was born on 21 November 1921. His playing career began with Woodside Amateurs in 1935. He then joined Milton of Balgonie before stepping up to the juniors with Lochgelly Albert in 1938. He played a trial for Wolves in 1939 before signing for Raith Rovers in May of that year. Then came the Second World War. Davie went on loan to Hearts in the Autumn of 1942 before signing for Celtic in December of that year.

He made a scoring debut for Celtic in their 3-2 win over Motherwell in the Southern (Wartime) League on 19 December 1942. Of his debut, it was written that he used his chances “with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of intent”. He had, it was stated, “a terror of a left foot”.

Despite that rhetoric, he played only 14 games for Celtic, scoring three goals. The Parkhead faithful could not believe it when he was allowed to come to East Fife on loan. His East Fife debut was in the North Eastern (Wartime) league match against Raith Rovers at Bayview on 14 August 1943. Although he scored one of the goals against his old club, it was not enough to prevent a Rovers victory by 3-2.

His transfer was made permanent on 11 November 1944 and he returned to action the following Saturday in a 5-1 defeat by Dunfermline at Bayview.

Wartime appearances do not count in players’ career records, so Davie’s official East Fife debut was in a 6-2 defeat against Dundee at Bayview in the ‘B’ Division on 10 August 1946. He helped East Fife to promotion in the 1947/48 season. On 1 November 1947, when East Fife won the League Cup for the first time in the replayed final against Falkirk, he made history by becoming the first player to score a hat trick in that competition. In March 1948 he played for the Scottish league against the English league at Newcastle. When he made his Scotland debut against Belgium in April 1948, he became the first player from the ‘B’ Division to play for his country.

When the League Cup was won for the second time on 29 October 1949 with a 3-0 victory over Dunfermline, Davie was again a goal scorer. By 1953, when the League Cup was one for the third time, he had lost his place to Andy Matthew. His last appearance for the first team was in the 3-1 defeat from Clyde at Shawfield in the ‘A’ Division match on 3 October 1953, when the forward line was switched around in the absence of Charlie Fleming, who was winning his only Scotland cap that day against Northern Ireland. His last game in an East Fife jersey was for the reserves against Raith Rovers in the ‘C’ Division on 26 December 1953. He scored 2 goals, one from a penalty, in a 3-0 win.

On 6 January 1954 he was transferred to Raith Rovers, whom he helped to climb away from the relegation zone. He was at Stark’s Park until April 1955. He then had a season with Crewe Alexandra before returning north to see out a successful twilight to his career with Brechin City, whom he served from February 1956 until the end of season 1958/59, when he retired from playing.

David Duncan died on 11 January 1991. For statistical purposes, his East Fife career dating from August 1946 consisted of 248 appearances (League 181, League Cup 47, Scottish Cup 20) in which he scored 98 goals (League 62, League Cup 26, Scottish cup 10).