[Player Pics]

There are few players in the history of Celtic so fondly recalled as the great Patsy Gallacher.

The Donegal-born forward is commonly regarded as one of the most gifted footballers to ever wear the famous green and white Hoops and some would argue that he was the most talented Bhoy of them all.

The man who would later be nicknamed 'The Mighty Atom' first caught the eye at Clydebank Juniors but some thought the player was simply not physically strong enough to perform in the senior game. At 5' 7" Patsy was a frail looking character who appeared capable of being blown away in even the mildest of breezes.

After a number of trial games he was eventually signed by Willie Maley on October 25 1911 and made his full competitive debut at Parkhead in a 3-1 league win over St Mirren. When Maley first introduced the fragile looking player to his new team-mates the legendary Jimmy Quinn remarked: "You can't put that Bhoy on the park boss. If you do it will be manslaughter.".

But Peerless Patsy soon convinced Quinn and the Celtic support that despite his slim build he had the steel to go with his skill and that no opponent would be allowed to bully and kick Gallacher out of a game.

In terms of his ability with a football Gallacher was a revelation. A genius. He was the most wonderful of dribblers and his audacious talent saw him tease and terroise defenders. He was an entertainer but his cheeky skills also had an end product as time after time Gallacher would deliver a killer pass or hit home an unstoppable shot.

The Celtic support had seen nothing like the unique brilliance of Patsy and his dazzling runs and thunderous shots would brighten up the dourest of Scottish winter afternoons. His jinking, gutsy, jousting runs had the supporters roaring their approval year after year.

The Irishman - who came to Scotland with his desperately poor family when just a young child - was a major factor in numerous Celtic successes as the Bhoys established themseleves as the dominant team in Scottish football. His Parkhead career would last 15 years in which time the Hoops won six league titles and four Scottish Cups.

In the summer of 1926 Maley announced that Gallacher would be retiring but a furious Patsy denied all knowledge of this and subsequently joined Falkirk where he played on for another six years. He was sadly missed by the Celtic support but his performances in the Green and White meant he would never be forgotten.

In total Gallacher played 464 times for Celtic and scored 192 goals. He also won international caps for both Eire and Northern Ireland. Even more than 50 years after his death his name is revered like few others by Celtic fans, most of whom were not even born until after he died. The term legend seems to underestimate the impact The Mighty Atom had on Celtic and the Bhoys faithful.






No doubt among those who saw him: Mighty Atom was the greatest
Herald and the Sunday Herald, The (Glasgow, Scotland)
November 11, 2000

HOW do we measure greatness in a player? And how can that greatness be converted into a currency that is accepted through the passing of years?
The championing of such as Jimmy Johnstone or Jim Baxter can be bolstered by simply inserting a video into the machine and thus converting the callow sceptic. There is a difficulty, however, when pressing the case of greatness of those such as Patsy Gallacher who have left their marks on the football record books but who have never been captured on film.

In this respect, and in so many others, Gallacher was the original will o' the wisp. There is no grainy newsreel to hint at his greatness. There are few, too, who saw the great man in action and live to tell the tale. Gallacher remains as elusive to the present day fanatic as he was to the toiling defenders who sought to contain him in the early twentieth century.

David W Potter's task, then, is a formidable one. In The Mighty Atom (Parrs Wood Press, Pounds 8.95) he seeks to capture the essence of greatness and make it a solid reality for the reader.

He brings to his work an enthusiasm in style and an assiduity in research that almost breathes life into the great Patsy. The dusty record books contain contemporaneous accounts of a remarkable career but Potter has tried to put some flesh on the bones of the waif-like Gallacher who stood just 5ft 7ins and weighed less than 10st at the start of his career.

There is much of Gallacher's illustrious playing career for Celtic and then Falkirk but Potter lifts this from the realms of prosaic fact by trying to place the Atom in a historical context.

Gallacher was born in Milford Poor House, Co. Donegal, on March 16, 1891, to illiterate parents and immigrated from Donegal to John Knox Street, Clydebank, at the turn of the twentieth century. Patsy stood just 5ft 7in and weighed 9st 10lb when he was spotted by Celtic. Potter does not skirt the sectarian and political issues of the era but he is at his most adept when detailing the career of a man who many believe was the greatest Celt ever. Two of his strongest advocates for that title were Willie Maley, the long-serving Celtic manager, and Allan Morton, who as a Rangers player witnessed much of the mayhem that Gallacher was able to create with a slip of the shoulders or a well-crafted pass.

Gallacher joined Celtic in 1912 and immediately won a Scottish Cup medal. His career ended at Falkirk when he was approaching 40.

This span of 20 years covered triumph on the park and tragedy off it. His wife was only 35 when she died after giving Gallacher a sixth child. He accepted his responsibilities and carried on with the same quiet fortitude that enabled him to survive on the park in an era when a ball player was regarded as a legitimate target.

Potter's research covers all the public glory and some of the private heartbreak. Due tribute is paid to Gallacher's goal in the 1925 Scottish Cup when the great one scored in a crowded penalty area by the simple expedient of lodging the ball between two feet and somersaulting into the net. Recognition is made, too, of Gallacher's uncanny ability and his quiet resolution in inspiring the lesser souls that surrounded him.

The straitened conditions for footballers in that bygone era are also beautifully invoked. Gallacher once missed almost an entire season because he played in borrowed boots that were too small, thus poisoning his toes. He also missed games after dropping a tool on his foot while working in his day job as a shipwright on the Clyde.

But Gallacher's genius can not be confirmed through the record books. Other Scottish players have played more, scored more, won more.

Potter's trump card is his questioning of the witnesses. Gallacher was the founder of a footballing dynasty. His sons played professionally and his grandson is Scottish internationalist Kevin Gallacher. The Divers' family tree has also its roots in Gallacher soil. Potter's antecedents are more humble in footballing terms. His father was merely a fan but his testimony, allied with so many others of that era, has the simple power to convince.

When arguments raged about the relative merits of Johnstone, Pele, or Puskas, Mr Potter Sr delivered a summing up which brooked no contrary verdict over who was the greatest of them all: 'Look, I've seen Patsy Gallacher.'


In later years, he ran the International Bar in Clydebank.

He died on June 17, 1953.


Quotes
'If you put that wee thing out on the park, you'll be done for manslaughter!'
Jimmy Quin to manager Willy Maley after first seeing Patsy Gallagher

'The Mighty Atom!'
Celtic supporter's nickname for Patsy Gallagher


Patsy's Home

Patsy Gallagher's childhood home in Ramelton, County Donegal. A plaque has been put on the side of the house to commemorate Patsy and his achievements. There are plans to build a statue and erect it in the centre of the village.