D | Player Pics | A-Z of Players

Personal

Full Name: James Delaney
aka: Jimmy Delaney
Born: 3 Sep 1914
Birthplace; Cleland (Lanarkshire), Scotland
Died: 26 Sep 1989
Height: 5 ft 8
Signed: 1934
Position: Outside Right/Centre Forward
Celtic Career: 1933-1946
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 19 caps
International Goals: 10 goals

Biog

The immensely talented and charming Jimmy Delaney is unquestionably one of the best loved Celts of all time.

Born in Cleland, Lanarkshire, Delaney signed for the Bhoys in 1934 from junior side Stoneuburn Juniors after the Hoops beat Hibernian to his signature.

An exciting old-fashioned winger, Jimmy was not only blessed with both pace and skill but was as brave and hardworking as anyone who has stepped onto a football pitch.

Delaney quickly won a place in the hearts of the Celtic support with displays which coupled his thrilling natural ability to a never say die attitude.

Jimmy was the undoubted inspiration behind the re-emergence of Celtic as a major football force in the late 1930s and with the dashing winger in scintillating form the Hoops took the league championship title in 1936 and 38 as well as the record attendance Scottish Cup final in 1937.

The jewel in the crown though came with the capture of the Empire Exhibition Trophy in 1938. Held to mark Glasgow’s hosting of this prestigious event the tournament was viewed as an unofficial British championship with an elegant model of the iconic Tait’s Tower the prize.

Celtic defeated Sunderland and Hearts before taking the trophy with a 1-0 victory over Everton in the Hampden final. Delaney was injured in the first game against the Roker Park side but returned for the final where he turned in a typically dazzling performance.

By now an established Scotland star a bitter blow was to follow when an awkward fall saw Delaney fracture his arm (aggravated by an oppositon player inadvertently stepping on it) in a home game against Arbroath in April 1939. The break was horrific, with the winger's arm shattered into several pieces. At one stage amputation was considered. The irony is that the opposition player was a big Celtic fan (Attilio Becchi (a Scot of Italin origin), and he was distraught about the incident.

Fortunately his arm was to mend but it was more than two years before he returned to the football field – and by then the horrors of World War II ensured sport was no more than a trivial diversion from the events on the battlefield.

Delaney was not just by far the best player at Celtic during the bleak war-time seasons he was among the very best in Britain. He carried a poor Celtic side on his shoulders throughout the war and his performances were often the only thing Hoops fans had to cheer.

He had played for Celtic for meagre wages during the war years and was promised by the club that after the conflict he would be better rewarded. That promise was never kept. Delaney – mindful of his arm injury – had little choice to consider other options as he sought to provide a little financial security for his family.

So it was that in February 1946 he moved south to Matt Busby’s Manchester United for a fee of £4,000. It was a bargain price for a man the Celtic support believed to be among the very best players in the land.

Delaney proved their point in some style when he scored the only goal of the game as Scotland beat England 1-0 in the Victory International at Hampden in April 1946. Delaney’s last minute strike sent the 134,000 crowd wild with delight and prior to the goal he had bewitched both them and the opposition with a wonderfully impish display at centre-forward. It also warmed the hearts of the many soldiers who were fighting in the war (well the Scottish ones that is).


After nearly five years of stalwart service at Old Trafford, Delaney, at the age of 38, returned to his homeland in November 1950. he was taken there by Aberdeen, who had never forgotten how he had helped defeat them in the cup final 13 years earlier.

His stay at Pittodrie was brief, and in December 1951 he was transferred to Falkirk for £3,500. But his travels were still far from over; he left Scottish football for a second time when he crossed the Irish Sea to sign for Derry City for £1,500 in January 1954.

Even here, at 41, the Delaney cup magic began to work again, and the following May he starred in a 1-0 win over Glentoran in the second replay of the Irish Cup Final. He thus completed a hat-trick of winning Cup medals in three national competitions.

Delaney's days at Derry didn't end his extraordinary story. He moved south of the border and, though he was well over 40, his evergreen and mature touch still counted for something.

At all events he went within a whisker of adding a national cup winning medal in the Republic to his collection; he was in the Cork Athletic side beaten 3-2 by Shamrock Rovers in the FA of Ireland Cup Final at Dublin, in April 1956.

Jimmy scored Cork's first goal and they led by 2-0 with only 13 minutes left. The Cork secretary had already gone out to buy the champagne. But then a late rally by Rovers pulled two back and, 45 seconds from the end of extra time, they snatched a third. Delaney clearly could not have been closer to a fourth cup winning medal.

His accomplishments were not confined to cup competitions: with Celtic he had won Scottish League Championship medals in 1936 and 1938, and he won 13 caps for his country.

He finished his career at then Highland League club Elgin City.

But despite his travels following the departure from Glasgow, Delaney will always be remembered as a Celtic man. His whole-hearted displays in the Hoops ensured it could never be any other way. In total Delaney made 160 appearances for Celtic scoring 70 goals.

* The Celtic connection was cemented further in 2003 when Jimmy’s grandson John Kennedy made his Celtic debut. The centre-half suffered a horrific knee injury on his Scotland debut against Romania in March 2004. Displaying courage his grandfather would be proud, John Kennedy battled back from a career threatening setback but after a long battle called it a day in Nov 2009 at just 26.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League Champions

• 1935-36,
  
• 1937-38

Scottish Cup

• 1937

Empire Exibition Trophy

• 1938
  

Honours with others

• 1954 - Irish Cup Winners Medal
• 1954 - FA Cup Winners Medal
• 1956 - FA of Ireland Cup Runners-Up Medal

Misc

Newspaper cuttings in an elastoplast tin

Pictures

• Jimmy Delaney pics

Books

Jimmy Delaney: The Stuff of Legend
by David W. Potter
Product details