| M | A-Z of Players | Player Biog | Player Pictures |
Overview
You don’t have to know too much about the life and career of James Edward McGrory to know why the player dubbed ‘The Human Torpedo’ became a Celtic hero.
Statistics and faded black and white photographs seem to tell all you need to know about how this Bhoy from the smoke smothered streets of Glasgow’s impoverished Garngad district became worshipped by Hoops fans.
An awesome 468 goals in 445 appearances. A club record 50 league goals in season 1935-36. The incredible 8 goals netted in the 9-0 destruction of Dunfermline in January 1928. Grainy images of a seemingly barrel chested ballerina suspended gracefully in mid-air as he heads home yet another goal.
But the truth is statistics and photographs can never really explain why this most courageous and sporting of footballers holds such a uniquely special place in the hearts of the Celtic support.
To explain this you need to understand McGrory the man as much as you do McGrory the player. Only then will you discover how no individual could ever embody the Celtic spirit as much as McGrory.
This was never better illustrated than back in the summer of 1928 when McGrory set off with his Celtic manager Willie Maley on a pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine in the French town of Lourdes.
The centre forward had been invited on the trip by Maley. Like his manager McGrory was devout and sincere in his Catholic faith. But as the train eased out of Glasgow Central Station little did McGrory realise that the purpose of the journey ahead was more about his devotion to Celtic than to his religion.
From Glasgow the train travelled the long journey to London where the men were set to stay overnight before catching the boat train to Dover the following morning.
Some 10 hours after leaving Scotland the train finally arrived at London’s Euston station. As the Celtic party stepped onto the platform there awaited, amongst the steam and whistles of the busy station, a surprise welcoming party. At least it was a surprise to a bewildered McGrory.
Waiting for Maley and McGrory were two prosperous looking gentlemen. Immaculately attired in their smart business suits the pair had an air of wealth and authority which made them stand out among the harassed crowd on the platform.
Maley led his star player over to the dapper duo where he introduced McGrory to Herbert Chapman and Sir Samuel Hill-Wood – the manager and chairman of Arsenal FC.
Chapman would have needed little introduction to any football follower. He had already established himself as one of the foremost figures in the English game by taking Huddersfield Town to two league titles. A master tactician and football pioneer, Chapman was tempted away from his native Yorkshire in the summer of 1925 by the ambitious Gunners.
The Arsenal Chapman joined was unrecognisable from the club founded by munition workers in Woolwich back in 1886. They had made extraordinary progress in recent years under the Machiavellian leadership of then chairman Sir Henry Norris.
Norris, a wealthy Tory MP, was the man responsible for relocating the Gunners from their original Woolwich home, and taking them north to Highbury. A man of dubious influence and persuasion Norris used all of his political skills to ensure Arsenal were elected to England’s First Division when competitive football resumed in 1919 following the end of the Great War. The Gunners were elected to the First Division after a vote by Football League chairman – this despite them having finished their last Second Division campaign (1914-1915) in fifth spot.
Arsenal’s election to the top flight meant Tottenham were relegated from the top league despite previously being assured their position was safe. The move ensured that a rivalry born when the Gunners moved into traditional Tottenham territory would now become a lifelong feud.
Under Norris, Arsenal were ruthlessly ambitious and Chapman was the man the controversial chairman believed could take the Highbury side to the pinnacle of the English game. He would be proved right.
Yet by the time Maley and McGrory set off on their pilgrimage to Lourdes Norris was no longer part of the hierarchy at the London club after he was found guilty by the Football Association following an investigation into illegal payments to players.
However the authoritarian Chapman was now the domineering personalty within Highbury and his desire to turn Arsenal into the footballing force in England was every bit as strong as that shown by Norris. Importantly the Gunners had the wealth to match this ambition. Only the best would do for Chapman. And when it came to scoring goals they didn’t come any better than McGrory.
A formidable football force was being created in north London. Chapman’s side had recently lost in the FA Cup final to Cardiff but they were undoubtedly a club on the rise. Chapman now believed that on the broad shoulders of McGrory his Gunners would be carried to the very top.
After pleasantries between the Arsenal and Celtic parties were exchanged they moved from the sooty grime of the platform to the plush surrounds of the neighbouring Euston Hotel. As the group took their seat’s in the Hotel’s grand restaurant the modest and naive McGrory remained totally unaware of the purpose of this unexpected meeting. Following their meal the group retired to the lounge – with the exception of Chapman and McGrory.
Now alone with his prey Chapman set about his task of convincing McGrory to swap his native Glasgow for life in London. But his promises of riches and a life of luxury failed to seduce the humble man from the Garngad. Like all those brought up in the dark streets of this Irish enclave of Victorian Glasgow McGrory was no stranger to poverty. Football had made him comfortable that is for sure. But it was not a love of money that fuelled the fire within this goal-scoring machine. It was something much more than that. Something that Chapman and London could never offer him – the pure pleasure of wearing the famous Hoops of his beloved Celtic.
A frustrated Chapman could not comprehend McGrory’s nonchalant resistance to what he believed was not just an enticing offer but one which should have been simply irresistible. McGrory was now aware the Gunners manager was not going to take ‘no’ for an answer so to bring the matter to conclusion he told Chapman that he would require a signing on fee of £2,000. This was an astronomical amount and a figure that McGrory calculated would be beyond even the financial reach of Arsenal.
Maley – who with the Celtic board had already agreed a British record transfer fee of £8,000 – returned to the dinning room with Hill-Wood fully in the expectation that Chapman had got his man. But it was now McGrory’s turn to spring a surprise and Maley was stunned when Chapman informed him that no deal could be agreed.
The Arsenal party bid farewell and after a night’s rest Maley and McGrory continued on their journey to the south of France. Throughout the remainder of their pilgrimage neither man mentioned a single word about Arsenal or Chapman. As far as McGrory was concerned the matter was closed. A devout Catholic his thoughts now turned to what he believed the original purpose of his trip, helping the sick who had come to the holy shrine in search of a miracle.
If the Celtic support back home in Glasgow had been aware of what was awaiting McGrory and Maley on their return stopover in London then they too would have been praying for a miracle. Because Chapman was not a man to accept defeat. And with the Celtic board inexplicably eager to offload such a unique asset it did appear that only divine intervention would prevent Arsenal from finally possessing the most lethal forward in British football.
It had been a long time since Celtic had shown the ambition which now drove the Gunners. That May the club sold crowd favourite Tommy McInally to Sunderland. He was soon followed to Wearside by the veteran Adam McLean. If selling two such talented and entertaining players could be deemed as folly then the plan to rid themselves of the prolific and peerless McGrory can only be viewed as suicidal.
Yet that was indeed the plan. The board wanted money to rebuild a stadium which was to their deep regret no longer the premier sporting venue in Scotland. In contrast the only rebuilding work Chapman had planned was on the field.
So the Yorkshireman set up yet another ambush on the unsuspecting McGrory. As the train drew into London on the return journey to Scotland there, yet again, stood the waiting Chapman. McGrory was shocked and even Maley seemed to be taken by surprise. The party again headed to the Euston Hotel but the formalities and pleasantries of the previous meeting were discarded this time. The eager Chapman was in the mood for business. He now offered Celtic a £10,000 transfer fee and, producing a blank cheque from his pocket, told McGrory to name his price. Whatever it was he wanted, Arsenal would deliver.
As modest and polite as ever McGrory thanked Chapman for his trouble and although flattered he insisted that he would not be leaving the Bhoys. Finally Chapman realised he was beat. Here was that rarest of creatures. A man who could not be bought. A man who valued honesty and integrity far higher than mere money.
Maley, who had left the room to allow the player and Chapman to negotiate a deal, returned to find a forlorn Arsenal manager. Yet again surprised that McGrory had not succumbed to Arsenal’s seduction Maley shook hands with Chapman and said: “I’m very sorry Mr Chapman”. The Highbury chief replied: “Not as sorry as me Mr Maley.”
McGrory would later explain his decision in the simplest of terms. He said: “McGrory of Arsenal just never sounded as good as McGrory of Celtic.”
The centre forward returned home a contented man. He had enjoyed his first visit to Lourdes but more importantly he was still a Celtic man. That joy would have undoubtedly been shared by the Celtic support if they had only known of those clandestine goings on in London. It was however not a joy that was shared by the Celtic board.
Their antics in trying to sell McGrory were shameful but what they did next was unforgivable. McGrory had turned down a fortune because his heart was Celtic’s. His decision to turn his back on an unprecedented offer from a club on the verge of dominating English football was not based on a professional loyalty but on a deep rooted and unfaltering love for Celtic.
Sir Robert Kelly said of McGrory: “No one ever played harder so often for Celtic.” Yet in a disgraceful act that defies reason the board ‘rewarded’ this heroic servant by secretly paying him less than his team mates for his remaining nine seasons at Parkhead.
In that gracious and dignified manner which was McGrory’s trademark he said of this foul injustice: “Sure it was worth it just to pull on that Hooped jersey so many times.”
While Maley was not the orchestrator of this whole debacle his willingness to assist so readily in the sale of McGrory does him no credit. He once attempted to play down the whole affair saying: “Arsenal wanted him very much. We left him to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. ‘No’ it was.”
These comments do little justice to the immense dignity and loyalty displayed by McGrory. Qualities sadly lacking in the Celtic board and indeed Maley himself throughout this whole sorry matter.
If any miracle occurred on that summer trip to Lourdes it was that McGrory followed his heart in the face of such temptation and the eagerness of the Parkhead board to sell.
If the Celtic board and Maley had got their way then we would have been robbed of a legend. A folk hero whose wonderous goal-scoring feats will never be matched. Even today, more than a hundred years after his birth, the mere mention of the name James Edward McGrory is enough to fill any Celtic fan with a righteous pride. There can be no finer compliment than to say he was as great a man as he was a player. Jimmy McGrory – the very definition of ‘Celtic Legend’.