The Soul of Celtic | About Celtic | Games | Players | Managers | The Board
(by TheHumanTorpedo)
Biog
During the past 120 years Celtic Football has not been short of heroes. Men who have, without question, gave their all for the club. But there is none that looms as large in the early history of the Bhoys as Mr William Patrick Maley.
For the best part of 50 years Willie Maley was Celtic. The architect of the club we see today he was, as the saying goes “…the man who put the tick into Celtic.” He would play in the very first Celtic side but it would be later, as secretary-manager, that he would find his true vocation. Yet his involvement in the club that would become his life was born from accident rather than design.
Born in Newry, County Down, in 1868 William Maley was the son of Thomas Maley, a sergeant in the British army. Born and raised in a farming family in Ennis, County Clare, Thomas viewed the military as an opportunity to build a career away from the uncertainty of life on the farm. He would eventually move his family to Scotland, when Willie was still a babe, and the Maley’s made their home in Cathcart.
It was at the family home that Brother Walfrid would call with John Glass in the hope of recruiting Willie’s brother Thomas, an established football talent, for their new club. Thomas was not at home but the visitors chatted with Willie and were mpressed by the young man and his tales of sporting accomplishment – he was a fine athlete. As they left to return to Glasgow’s east end Brother Walfrid invited Willie to join his brother at Celtic. The invite was little more than an afterthought, yet one which would prove to be the most important action in the history of club.
A solid and dependable player it would be a decade later when Maley would really begin to carve his name into Celtic and football history. Appointed Secretary-manager in 1897, Maley set about his new task with determination and vigor. As a player he aided Celtic’s rapid rise to become one of the finest sides in Scotland. Now he wanted to build a club which would not only be the finest in Scotland, or indeed Britain, but be renowned across Europe and beyond.
His energy, acumen and man-management skills would help guide Celtic to numerous success after success. His teams were typically robust for the time but they played a fast, attacking passing game which the support loved to see every bit as much as another piece of silverware being lifted.
The success of Maley’s teams was often down to the manager’s incredible ability to unearth some of the most gifted players to ever take to the field in Scotland. His eye for talent was exceptional The names of Jimmy McMenemy, Jimmy Quinn, Patsy Gallacher, John Thomson and James McGrory only begin to tell the story of the talent nurtured and developed by Maley.
He saw his job as more than just producing a football team. His relationship with his players was often paternal and the premature deaths of John Thomson, Peter Scarff and James Young would cause great pain. For Maley they were all members of his Celtic family.
Off the field Maley was a pioneer, ever eager to push open new doors. With the zeal of a missionary he set out to spread the name of Celtic and the club’s exciting brand of attacking football across the world. He would take his team on European and US tours at a time when such ventures were something extraordinary. He recognised the value in promoting football across Europe and the trip to the US was partly driven by a desire to allow Scots and Irish ex-pats to see the beloved team they left behind.
Maley was only human and not immune from mistakes. There were certainly times the balance sheet took precedent over the playing field and his role in the proposed sale of McGrory to Arsenal was regrettable. He should also maybe have taken the hint of directors by retiring after the club’s jubilee celebrations.
Maley’s reluctance to walk away is perhaps understandable. He had given 50 years of his life to the club. Celtic was his life. In his introduction to the excellent ‘Wille Maley – The Man Who Made Celtic’ David Potter states Maley’s contribution can be summed up by the saying – “Willie Maley is Celtic”.
There is no one in the history of the club who has given so much for so long. As manager he would win 16 League titles and 14 Scottish Cups. Yet that vast collection of honours only scratches at the surface of what Maley achieved for Celtic. Willie Maley set the benchmark for attacking football, for winning trophies, for excitement. He invented football “…the Glasgow Celtic way”. He believed a great club must have a great team. The achievements of everyone from Stein to Strachan were built on the foundations laid by Maley. Celtic’s debt to him will be eternal.
