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Personal
Fullname: Robert McGee
aka: –
Born: 2 Sep 1903
Died: […]
Birthplace: Mearns
Signed: 22 Feb 1923
Left: 1924 (free)
Position: Centre-half
Debut: Rangers 1-0 Celtic, Glasgow Cup, 15 Sep 1923
Internationals: none
Biog
Centre-half Robert McGee signed for Celtic in February 1923 from East Kilbride Thistle.
The Mearns-born defender played his first game for the first team as a last minute call up for the injured Joe Cassidy as Celtic lost 1-0 at Rangers in a Glasgow Charity Cup tie on 15th September 1923.
He didn’t impress on that occasion – having been played out of position – and had to wait until 2nd February 1924 before his next senior outing when he played in his favoured centre-half role in a 1-0 home defeat to Morton. In that match he was said to have gained applause from the Celtic support:
“Memories of his first show… were obliterated from his first kick… and his long sweeping passes to either winger and an occasional deft slip up the middle evoked applause from the Parkhead followers.”
McGee had performed much more assuredly this time but was not to make another first team appearance for Celtic in the league or Scottish Cup.
After loan spells at Stenhousemuir and Dumbarton he was released in the summer of 1924.
He later moved to play for Ards in the League of Ireland during 1925-26, described in one write-up as:
“He is tall well-built, and is a brainy, constructive player who revels in making openings for dashing and impetuous Irish forwards. He won his place against the Irish Free State League team last year.”
He played out for around ten years for Ards & Bangor, so managed a good long spell in the game.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1922-24 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 |
| Goals | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
ROBERT MCGEE
https://www.ardsfc.co.uk/ards-legends
By Adrian Monaghan
Just before his departure to Glasgow to take in the 1925 Old Firm derby on New Year’s Day, Ards official George Tate was tipped off about a young Glaswegian centre-half called Robert McGee, a player that had been released by Glasgow Celtic at the end of the previous season.
Ards’ form as 1924 came to an end was extremely poor, in fact, they had lost seven games on the bounce from the beginning of November through to Christmas. It was generally agreed that Ards’ dismal displays were due, in most part, to their frailties in defence.
Accompanied by Secretary Frank Apperson, the Ards pair decided to mix pleasure with business and after taking in the derby game went in pursuit of the Mearns-born defender.
McGee had begun his footballing odyssey as a centre-forward at junior clubs Cocker Hill and Eaglesham before signing for the Parkhead club in February, 1923 as a centre-back. He played his first game for Celtic as a last minute call-up for regular striker Joe Cassidy as Celtic lost 1-0 at Rangers in a Glasgow Charity Cup tie on 15 September, 1923 at Ibrox.
Played out of position, he didn’t impress on that occasion. The Scottish press were scathing about McGee’s performance, many suggesting that had Cassidy been at centre-forward the Celts would have won the game.
Football can be very unforgiving and McGee had to wait until 2 February, 1924 before his next senior outing when he played in his favoured centre-half role in a 1-0 home defeat to Greenock Morton.
Playing in his accustomed role he put in a much more accomplished performance, the fickle newspapermen even suggesting that he had wiped out the horror of the ‘Ibrox Affair’.
The performance wasn’t enough to save his career at Celtic and after loan spells at Stenhousemuir and Dumbarton he was shown the exit door in the summer of 1924.
Bob had been idling since his Celtic exit, but at only twenty-years of age he was keen to get fixed up with another club. After thrashing out terms, he shook hands with the Ards party on a deal that would see McGee cross the North Channel for the remainder of the season. Sailing overnight to Belfast on Friday 9 January he arrived in Newtownards a matter of hours before Ards were due to play Distillery in a League game at Castlereagh Park.
Still fatigued by the wearisome travel, McGee togged out in Red and Blue for the first time and helped his new teammates to a 3-2 win over the Whites. Although his own performance was more solid than spectacular, the Scotsman did enough to suggest that Ards’ problems in defence were at
an end.
Ards – Diffen, Beattie, B.Gault, B.Duffy, B.McGee, Wright, Morton, B.Brown, Robinson, T.Leeman, Blackwood.
The Scotsman didn’t take long to settle at his new club, and as the season progressed it was plain to see that McGee was something special. He was strong in the tackle, but not in a robust way, composed on the ball and rarely got flustered. A born leader, his commanding demeanour eventually landed him the captain’s armband.
A short while after his debut, McGee was in the Ards team which had its most famous victory over the mighty Belfast Celtic when the team from Paradise were destroyed 7-0 on 19 February, 1925 at Castlereagh Park.
In his second season he continued to thrive in the pivotal central defensive role and was seen as the best player in that position in the League. Many observers suggested that he would have been capped for Ireland were it not for his place of birth.
He did make one appearance for the Irish League side in March 1926, in fact, he captained the side on that occasion, but the team as a whole were fairly unimpressive and went down 1-3 to their League of Ireland counterparts.
The highlight of McGee’s time at Ards came in the 1926/27 season as he played a huge part in the club securing their first ever senior trophy – the Irish Cup. Used chiefly as a centre-forward during the season, McGee struck a rich vein of form during the Cup run scoring half of the team’s ten goals.
It was in the final against Cliftonville at the Oval when he wrote his name into Newtownards folklore, scoring a brace, his second to win the trophy, this after Ards had been 0-2 behind at the interval.
Ards – S.McMullan, S.McKeown, T.Wilson, A.Smyth, H.Risk, J.Gamble, A.Bothwell, S.Patton,
B.McGee, L.Croft, S.McIlreavy.
His final outing for the Newtownards club came on the 17 February, 1932, a County Antrim Shield tie at Solitude that ended two-goals apiece. McGee picked up a nasty knee injury after only ten minutes which resulted in him leaving the field for treatment.
Limping badly, he resumed the game at outside-right, but was clearly in some distress. Saying that, he was instrumental in bringing Ards level in the first half. McGuire, the Reds left-back, sensing that McGee was only making up the numbers, wandered upfield leaving him totally unmarked.
A long ball found the Scotsman in acres of space and he floated over a centre that was headed home by Davy Jordan. The full-back was a bit more attentive after this.
The injury was worse than first thought and he did not play again that season, his position being filled by Jack Garrett. As it transpired he would never play for the club again as he was released at the end of the season and joined Bangor for 1932/33, but didn’t make the same impact at the Seasiders that he did at Ards.
In all he played 279 times over seven seasons. His preferred position was centre-half, but his ability to play at centre-forward would prove invaluable throughout his time at the club. He would go on to score 71 goals for the club. Strangely, one of his finest goalscoring achievements was when he hit a hat trick against Linfield during a 6-1 win in February 1926 while playing at centre-half.
(Thanks to Billy Graham for the statistical information)