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Personal
Fullname: John Lochery Riley
aka: John Riley, Joe Riley
Born: Sep 1919
Died: […]
Birthplace: Gorbals, Glasgow
Signed: 23 Apr 1941
Left: 1943 (free); Petershill (31 July 1943)
Position: Outside-right
Debut: Celtic 1-2 Partick Thistle, Charity Cup, 24 May 1951
Internationals: none
Biog
John Riley was an outside-right who played for Celtic between the wartime years of 1941 and 1943. He made a total of 22 appearances, scoring 10 goals.
Born in the Gorbals in September 1919, John Riley joined Celtic shortly after helping Glasgow Perthshire lift the Scottish Junior Cup. He made his debut for the Hoops on 24 May 1941 in a Charity Cup match against Partick Thistle at Celtic Park, which the Celts lost 2-1.
Season 1941/42 was a fine season, and included possibly his finest matches when he scored a double in the league v Hibs in a 3-1 win (Oct 1941) and scored four goals in the Scottish Southern League Cup (Scottish Cup replacement during the war) in a 6-2 win over Queen’s Park.
His first goal for the club had come in a 3-2 victory over Morton on September 27, 1941.
In contrast, he played little in season 1942-43, but the results were abject, and he only played in a single victory, scoring in a 3-0 win over Hearts. His final match was a 3-0 defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Southern League Cup.
He left Celtic on a free in 1943, moving to Petershill.
He joined Clyde in June 1945, staying at Shawfield for four years before moving briefly to Arbroath.
Celtic were mostly abject during the war years of 1939-45, however John Riley’s record was generally commendable.
If anyone wonders if Celtic should have kept him, then proponents can mention the 6-2 victory for Clyde v Celtic in Mar 1946. It was John Riley (with Hughie Long) who destroyed Celtic.
Under-utilising John Riley and then losing him are possibly another in the long list of mistakes the club management made in those difficult and demoralising wartime years.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | REGIONAL LEAGUE |
SCOTTISH CUP | REGIONAL LEAGUE CUP |
EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1941-43 | 17 | n/a | 5* | n/a | 22 |
| Goals: | 5 | – | 5 | – | 10 |
* = All appearances were in the wartime Regional League and Regional League Cup competitions.
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
Links
Notes
- Some articles/references also have him going by the name of ‘Joe Riley’.