ON THIS DAY

HISTORY OF PLAYERS

- PAUL CUDDIHY

1893 Celtic first action on this day was against Renton in 1893 when the champions where on their way to retaining the title. A crowd of 3,000 saw Sandy McMahon hit a hat-trick in a 3-2 win for the Celts following a 3-0 win over the same club in the previous match. This was the third season in a row that McMahon was Celtic’s top scorer and he would repeat the feat the following term but this campaign’s 30 goals was a personal best for him.

1911 (Part One) As one Celtic career ended, another one started as a man who stopped goals played his last game and a man who made and scored them took his first steps as a Celtic player. The goalkeeper who made his final appearance on this day in 1911 was Davy Adams who was born in 1883 and joined Celtic near the end of 1902. Davy made his league debut the following September in a 1-0 win over Hibernian in a league game at Celtic Park when Sam Gilligan scored the only goal of the game. That was also Gilligan’s debut and the striker’s impressive 13 goals in 13 league appearances was small fry compared to the effect the new keeper was going to have on the team That Hibs game was the first of 291 top-level games he played for the Celts between then and his retirement in 1912. He was the last keeper to wear the Hoops and the first to wear a yellow jersey when the rule change came into being in 1910.