Full Name: James Edward McGrory
Born: Glasgow
Signed: 1921
Retired (player): 1937
Goals/Appearances: 472 goals in 445 appearances.
Manager: 1945-1965
Nickname: "The Human Torpedo"

When it comes to arguments over who is the greatest Celt of them all the name at the top of many people's list is James Edward McGrory.

Born in the Glasgow Irish enclave of the Garngad in 1904 McGrory was to go on and rewrite the football record books with his unbelievable scoring feats for the club which he loved with all his heart.

Signed by WilleWillie Maley in June 1921 from junior side St Roch as an inside-right McGrory spent a season loaned out to Clydebank where he was switched to centre-forward before returning to Glasgow and making his Bhoys debut in a 1-0 league defeat at Third Lanark on January 20th 1923.1923. That day was to be one of the few occasions when McGrory didn't hit the back of the net.

The barrell chested forward was an immensly strong and forceful attacker prepared to take whatever knocks came his way in search of a goal. There were few players as tough or as fair as the modest and humble McGrory and his commitment to the Celtic cause was obvious every time he took the field.

He burst into football folklore on April 11th 1925 when in the dying minutes of the Scottish Cup final at Hampden he launched himself at a cross and bulleted the ball into the net with his head to give Celtic a last gasp 2-1 triumph over Dundee.

McGrory was now on the road to establishing himself as the deadliest centre forward in football. The most feared attacker in the game. His ability to score with his head was unrivalled but his skill with the ball at his feet was also immense. McGrory could score from any angle and distance.

His committed play meant he reguarly suffered a broken nose and in one match he even broke his jaw after taking a boot to the face. Such injuries were all part of the game to the man they called 'The Human Torpedo'. For twelve season McGrory was to be Celtic's top scorer. Twice (1926-27 & 1935-36) he was the top league scorer in Europe with 49 and 50 goals respectively.

To this day Celtic supporters question why this most magnificent of players was awarded only a measly 7 Scottish international caps. However when he did play for the national team he never let them down. Indeed his late winner at Hampden on April 1st 1933 against England was greeted with such noise by the 134,170 crowd that it went down in history as the legendary phrase - 'The Hampden Roar'.

While for the most part McGrory was criminally ignored by his country the player himself was not too upset as for him playing football was all about Celtic. In the summer of 1928 he turned down an offer from Arsenal to become the highest paid footballer in Britain because he could not bear to leave Parkhead (See article linked below).

It latterly turned out that the Celtic board were banking on McGrory's departure as a way of boosting the club's bank account and so riled were they by his refusal of Arsenal's offer that they secretly paid him less than his team mates for the rest of his career. When he later discovered this dasterdly deed McGrory simply said: "Well it was worth it just to pull on those Green and White Hoops."

Money meant nothing to McGrory. Scoring goals for Celtic meant everything. He was the very personification of the true spirit of the club he adored. He eventually retired from the game in 1937 having scored an amazing 472 goals in 445 appearances. As a Celt he won three league championships and four Scottish Cups. He remains the most prolific scorer in Celtic history and that is a title which seems safe for all eternity. Jimmy McGrory - the greatest Celt of them all.





One of the Greatest strikers ever (official):
In July 2007 IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics), produced a survey that put Jimmy McGrory as the 8th greatest striker of all time, a great great accolade and the highest ranking Briton. (link)

	Goal Scorer.....................	Top Division...............	Matches	Period	Goals
1	Edson Arantes do Nascimento "Pelé"	Brasil / USA	560	1957-1977	541
2	Josef Bican	Österreich / Československo	341	1931-1955	518
3	Ferenc Puskás	Magyarország / España	533	1943-1966	511
4	Romário de Souza Farias	Brasil / Nederland / España / Australia	612	1985-2007	489
5	Carlos Roberto de Oliveira "Dinamite"	Brasil / España	758	1971-1992	470
6	Imre Schlosser	Magyarország / Österreich	318	1905-1928	417
7	Gyula Zsengéller	Magyarország / Italia / Colombia	394	1935-1952	416
8	James Edward McGrory	Scotland	408	1922-1938	410
9	Arthur Antunes Coimbra "Zico"	Brasil / Italia / Japan	596	1971-1994	406
10	Gerhard Müller	Deutschland / USA	507	1965-1981	405

Manager 1945 - 1965

Took Kilmarnock to the 1938 Scottish Cup final before returning to Celtic as manager, having been a remarkably prolific goalscorer for the club. McGrory stayed for almost 20 years before Stein arrived in March, 1965, although only five major honours from such a long period with an Old Firm club was a paltry return. The team were effectively run by autocratic chairman Robert Kelly during McGrory's time, but he was a popular figure and virtually represented the last of the hat-and-overcoat managers who were as much administrators as coaches.

Major honours (as manager):
Scottish Championship 1953-54;
Scottish Cup 1951, 1954;
League Cup 1956-57, 1957-58.

Pictures

• [Manager Pics]
• [Player Pics]

Songs

• Jimmy McGrory Song

Articles

• McGrory, Chapman and the miracle of Lourdes
• The Hampden Roar
• Eighth greatest striker ever (International football stats)