The Soul of Celtic | About Celtic | Games | Players | Managers | The Board
(by TheHumanTorpedo)
Ask Celtic fans the reason for the club’s past on-field failings and most would sum up the issue in three words – The Biscuit Tin.
This fabled object has long been the metaphor of choice for fans who believe that the board’s unwillingness to invest in the team has been a fundamental cause for those moments of disappointment which litter the club’s history. Generations of supporters, bewildered that the hard earned money they handed over to the club was not being spent on players, could only half-jokingly assume that it was being stuffed into an old biscuit tin.
Certainly there is nothing more likely to rile the Celtic support than a board eager to cash in on home grown talent but reluctant to open the purse strings to buy a replacement. The notion that such a problem is a relatively recent one is far from the truth.
In 1928 Willie Maley had just offloaded fans favourite Tommy McInally to Sunderland when he and the club tried to sell the legendary Jimmy McGrory to Arsenal. The Londoners were desperate to bring McGrory south but despite offering a record financial package the player stubbornly refused to turn his back on his beloved Celtic.
Maley and his Arsenal counterpart Chapman were amazed at this but no amount of money or persuasion from either side could change his mind or his heart. McGrory was a Celt and always would be.
The player’s refusal to join the Gunners meant that Celtic – keen to rebuild the Grant Stand – had missed out on a handsome fee. The Parkhead board would disgracefully repay McGrory’s loyalty to the Hoops by paying him less than his team-mates for the rest of his Celtic career.
All time Hoops great Jimmy Delaney was one of the stars of Celtic’s 1938 Empire Exhibition Trophy winning side and was undoubtedly one of football’s greatest talents. During the war years Delaney agreed to help Celtic keep costs down by taking a wage cut – on the basis that he would be given a decent rise once the war was over.
When hostilities finally ended Celtic refused to meet the reasonable financial requests of Delaney and instead – to the fury of the support – sold him to Manchester United. Jimmy relucatantly moved south and while Celtic would battle relegation he would become an FA Cup winner and an Old Trafford hero.
In the 1958 Celtic would sell Willie Fernie to Middlesbrough and Bobby Collins to Everton and the money raised would be used to erect floodlights at Parkhead. Collins would go on to win England’s Footballer of the Year Award while the Celtic fans would have to wait until 1965 to win another honour.
In the 1970s and 80s the sale of the iconic and talismatic figures of Kenny Dalglish and Charlie Nicholas was put down to the club’s Biscuit Tin mentality. As was the decision not to strengthen the double winning side of 1988, a decision many believe led directly to the near decade of Rangers domination. The end of the White/Kelly era in the boardroom did not end talk of the Biscuit Tin with some supporters questioning the clubs inability to hold on to talents like John Collins, Pierre Van Hooijdonk, Paolo Di Canio and Mark Viduka.
Even in the dominant O’Neill and Strachan era there remains frustration among a significant section of support at the perceived lack of cash being spent on the playing squad. With another transfer window around the corner all eyes will again be on the Biscuit Tin.