Geatons, Chic – The Celtic Wiki

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Fullname: Charles Geatons
aka: Chic Geatons, né Charles Gattens
Born: 16 July 1907
Died: 20 June 1970
Birthplace: Lochgelly
Signed: 29 October 1927 (from Lochgelly Celtic)
Left: 1941 (retired)
Position: Right-Half
Debut: Celtic 2-2 Aberdeen, League, 16 Mar 1929
Internationals: N/A
International Caps N/A

Biog

Another famous Fife Celt, Charles ‘Chic’ Geatons, signed for the Hoops in October 1927 from Lochgelly Celtic as a raw youngster who Willie Maley believed would go on to be a top-class defender.

Chic Geatons eventually made his debut as a right-back on 16th March 1929 when Celtic drew 2-2 in a league clash at Parkhead with Aberdeen, at first lacking pace but he worked on his game and gave his all, a whole-hearted player who endeared himself to the support. He would eventually establish himself as the regular right-half but his versatility allowed him to slot into any position in the defence.

As a stalwart in the Celtic defence, Chic Geatons was a tough tackling player who played the game with the minimum of fuss and with maximum efficiency. He would typically win the ball from attackers and then in just a few touches would play an accurate pass to his forwards and set up a Celtic attack.

There have been few players in the history of Celtic who were as consistently reliable and solid as Chic Geatons and few have fought so hard for the cause. Chic Geatons was also the Celtic player who took on the unenviable role in goals at Ibrox on 5th September 1931 after John Thomson tragically received his accidental and fatal injury.

One of his finest moments came against Dundee on 10 December 1932, when he beat man after man then hit a raging shot into the net from outside the penalty box. He was a fine striker of the ball, and chipped in with a fair share of goals for a full-back.

Celtic hit the buffers after that match, and Chic Geatons’ career suffered too until the return of Jimmy McMenemy as assistant manager (and actually was the de facto manager). Celtic then went on a purple patch of form and won silverware that was long out of reach beforehand for the Celtic first team of the time.

What also benefited Chic Geatons was that first Peter Wilson left for Hibs in 1934, and with Jimmy McMenemy now in charge and a great tactician, Chic Geatons was moved to the right-half spot he craved (albeit sometimes deputising as a centre-half). Success soon followed at Celtic, benefiting from the defensive unit of Geatons, Lyon and Paterson.

To illustrate how much Chic Geatons loved Celtic, once when he was playing for the reserves on 5th March 1938 he heard that Celtic were losing 2-0, he feigned injury so he could come off and go over to the first team game to support them (the reserves themselves ended up losing 4-2).

In 1938, when the first team started to decline, Chic Geatons is said to have doubled his work rate and “…played like a youngster. His amazing running power put hair on his bald bits“.

When he went off injured in a match v Clyde in the Glasgow Cup on 11 Sep 1940, it was said that “it was like the loss of a cotter pin to the Celtic machine“.

Age was creeping up and, he eventually retired as a Celtic great in 1941 after 319 appearances and 13 goals. Sadly, his last match was a humiliating 4-0 defeat by Hibs, he deserved a far better send-off.

In his Celtic career, Chic Geatons won two league championship titles and three Scottish Cups (1931, 1933, 1937) plus the Empire Exhibition Trophy. It was a fine haul of silverware of which he was very worthy.

Chic Geatons became a coach at Celtic Park in October 1946 – a position he held for four years before resigning in August 1950 as a protest at the way Celtic was being run, which at the time was a shambles with the club enduring possibly the worst period in the club’s history (including near relegation in one season). He is stated at having resigned on being re-assigned to the reserves in the North-Eastern section of Division C after Jimmy Hogan‘s retirement in 1950.

Post-Celtic
After leaving Celtic, he spent his life in the licensing trade, running a pub in Glasgow called the Pandora.

Chic Geatons died on 20th June 1970 in his hometown of Lochgelly. Jock Stein, Jimmy McGrory, Matt Lynch and several other current & former Celtic players attended the Funeral Mass and Requiem to pay due respect. Chic Geatons is a much favoured son of the club.

Chic Geatons is a Celtic great and was a very fine man. Proud to be able to number him as one of our own.