Jimmy McGrory

1904 — 1982

Football Player; British football’s most prolific goal scorer was born in Glasgow on 26 April 1904. He signed for Celtic from junior outfit St Rochs in 1921. McGrory’s records are astonishing; he holds the overall goal scoring record for British football with a tally of 550, Scottish League goal scoring record with 410 goals in 408 appearances, the record number of goals scored in one senior League match (eight against Dunfermline Athletic in 1928), and the fastest hat-trick in Scottish League history against Motherwell in 1936 (inside three minutes).

McGrory was not the tallest of centre forwards but he was very robust and possessed a deadly shot. He was particularly good in the air and scored many goals from powerful headers. A determined competitor McGrory chased every ball and pressurised defences with his bustling style. Considering his prolific goal scoring achievements it is surprising that he only won 7 caps for Scotland.

With Celtic McGrory won the Scottish League twice and the Scottish Cup four times. He is accredited with starting the Hampden roar when his goal for Scotland against England eight minutes from time in 1933 sparked off the celebration amongst the 134,170 spectators. After retiring from playing football in 1937 McGrory went into management with Kilmarnock before moving to Celtic where he remained as manager for 20 years.