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Personal
Fullname: William Gray
aka: Wuggy Gray, The Human Siege Gun
Born: 30 May 1907
Died: […]
Birthplace: Maryhill, Scotland
Signed: 9 August 1927
Left: 17 Aug 1929 (to Hamilton Accies)
Position: Centre-Forward
Debut: Dundee 0-1 Celtic, League, 11 Aug 1928
Internationals: N/A
International Caps:N/A
Biog
William Gray was a solid centre-forward who the Hoops signed in August 1927 from Maryhill Harp. He had the colourful nicknames of ‘Wuggy‘ and ‘The Human Siege Gun‘.
“The crowd was thunderstruck by the rocket force of Gray’s shooting… John Thomson saved the day… Gray won it”.
The then 20-year-old had been a prolific scorer at junior level, including scoring 4 in a Scottish Junior Cup final on 26 May 1928 v Jock Stein’s Burnbank. He had originally been brought to Parkhead to replace Jimmy McGrory who the board were shamelessly attempting to sell to Arsenal.
The great Jimmy McGrory of course stayed put and Willie Gray found himself instead taking the place of Tommy McInally who had been sold to Sunderland. His debut came in a 1-0 league victory at Dundee on August 11th 1928 and Willie Gray would prove to be a useful frontman with a fearsome shot.
He played for Celtic in the Glasgow Cup, helping the side to win the trophy by scoring in the semi-final and the replay v Third Lanark, but also in the final in a 2-0 win over Queen’s Park.
He was a regular for the first half of the 1928-29 season upto 2 Feb 1929. Thereafter he was given a run mostly deputising for when Jimmy McGrory was out the side. His form had slipped after the turn of the year, his goal scoring seemed to desert him.
He had scored doubles v Ayr Utd (x2), Clyde and Motherwell so proving that the then young striker had a future at Celtic.
He was however surprisingly deemed surplus to requirements in August 1929 and was sold to Hamilton Academicals for £250. It’s not clear why he was not of further use. Shame as he was still young and seemed to have a fair record for his first season in the First XI (all his matches played were in season 1928-29). However, Celtic had players like Jimmy McGrory and Alec Thomson so competition was tough for front line roles.
His last match was on 20 Apr 1929, a 3-0 victory over Falkirk in the league. He had played 31 games in the league & Scottish Cup for Celtic.
For Hamilton he was to face Celtic twice at their ground (Douglas Park) and scored twice. He later moved onto Maryhill Juniors in 1935.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1927-29 | 26 | 5 | N/A | N/A | 31 |
| Goals: | 12 | 0 | – | – | 12 |
Honours with Celtic
Glasgow Cup
- 1
Pictures
GRAY, William (1929)
Source: https://sites.google.com/site/hamiltonacademicalmemorybank/players/gray-william-1929
Overview
It was on 30th May 1907 that he was born in Maryhill. His footballing career took him from Wyndford Star to Maryhill Hibernian and it was from there in 1928 he signed for Celtic following a marvellous match in the Scottish Cup Final when he scored 4 goals, 2 of them from penalties, at Firhill in front of 8000 fans against Burnbank Athletic in a 6-2 win.
Not surprisingly he found it difficult if not impossible to displace the legendary Jimmy McGrory at Parkhead and he came to Hamilton on 17th August 1929. With two goals on his debut it was hardly surprising that the reports were good, ‘he added much needed punch’ was how one pundit put it. He had a successful spell with Accies and then moved to Colwyn Bay before in February 1932 returning to play his football in the burgh.
He had been assisting the reserve side in the Scottish Alliance League and his form was such that he was brought back into the first team and on his reappearance, on 27th February, he netted a hat trick against Leith Athletic. In June of 1935 he was back as a junior with Maryhill Juniors. He had a thunderbolt of a shot and while at Hamilton he was a great favourite.
5’9” and 12sts.
Debut on 17th August 1929 in a Scottish League match at home to Dundee United in which he scored twice.
Scottish League 32 Appearances 20 Goals (2 Hat tricks)
Scottish Cup 7 Appearances 2 Goals
Lanarkshire Cup 1 Appearance
Full Name
William Gray
1929-30
1931-32
Nickname
Wuggie
Position
Born
30 May 1907
Died
[…]
Signed by
Willie McAndrew
Debut
17 August 1929
Last Game
[….]
Clubs Played For
Wyndford Star
Maryhill Hibernian
Celtic
Hamilton Academical
Colwyn Bay
Hamilton Academical
Maryhill Juniors