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Personal
Fullname: James McLaren
aka: Jimmy McLaren, Grand Auld Gineral, Grand Old General, Oul Giniral
Born: 27 April 1860
Died: 3 January 1927
Birthplace Lugar, Ayrshire
Signed: June 1888
Left: June 1891 (to Morton/Clyde), retired 1892
Position: Left-Half
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 3
International Goals: 1
Biog
Lugar-born James McLaren was one of a small group of Hibernian players to defect to Celtic in 1888. The Ayrshire man’s first appearance for the fledgling Celts came on 16th June 1888 when he appeared in a benefit match at Mossend Swifts.
It was said about Jimmy McLaren “whose forte was splendid pacing and headwork“.
A member of Hibernian’s great Scottish Cup winning side of 1887, his competitive debut for the Bhoys came in the same competition as Celtic defeated Shettleston 5-1 at Parkhead on 1st September 1888. That match however wasn’t his first appearance at Celtic Park, haven’t played there for Hibs against Cowlairs in the ground’s inaugural match.
A Scotland international, Jimmy McLaren inspired the national side to victory over England at the Kennington Oval on 13th April 1889. Jimmy McLaren had been in superb form as Scotland -featuring four Celts – battled back from a 2-0 half-time deficit. As the game entered its final minute, with the scores tied at 2-2, Jimmy McLaren struck a wonderful 20-yard volley to seal a famous last-gasp victory by 3-2.
Apparently, having been asked to speak at the post-match celebratory dinner afterwards, he was so terrified at the prospect that instead he shocked the room by simply planting his large left foot on the table and saying:
“There’s the fut that bate England!“.
He was part of the unsuccessful Celtic sides that made the Scottish Cup final in 1889 (both the original voided match and the replayed match), as Celtic lost to Third Lanark. Despite the defeat, one match report reportedly positively on McLaren’s role in match commentating:
“McLaren played in his usual cool and effective style“.
He fell out with the Celtic executive after an indiscretion on the London trip of 16th February 1889 when his apology was tabled until he would improve on it.
He would make Celtic history the following season when at Hampden Park on 4th May 1890, in a 1-1 draw with England, he became the first Bhoy to captain Scotland.
The left half was an excellent reader of the game and showed his versatility when he appeared in goal for the Celts in the club’s first ever League match – a 4-1 defeat to Renton which was later declared void. So not a great league debut for Jimmy McLaren.
He left Parkhead for Morton in June 1891, although soon switched to Clyde and he retired from play in 1892.
In 1893, despite no longer being at Celtic, he had a curious but interesting run playing in an unofficial six-a-side team of Celtic players “past and present” (as the advert claimed) with Fred Ginnett’s Circus, which travelled around Scotland. One poster for the event had the wonderful tagline for promoting Jimmy McLaren as:
“This is the foot that kicked the goal”! [referring to his match winner v England]
He returned to Celtic in 1895 after a spell at Clyde, where Celtic played a benefit match on his behalf against Hibernian.
He ended his playing career having played a total of 16 competitive games for the Celts and scoring two goals.
Jimmy McLaren remained in the game as an occasional referee, his first match being on 26 August 1899 officiating in a league match between Clyde & Rangers.
Having worked for several years for Glasgow Corporation, he emigrated to Canada in 1912. He would return to Europe all too soon and fought with the Canadian Foresters in the battlefields of France in 1917.
Jimmy McLaren died on his ranch near Vancouver in January 1927.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1888-1891 | 3 | 13 | n/a | n/a | 16 |
| Goals: | 0 | 2 | – | – | 2 |
Honours with Celtic
None
