John McPhail (27 December 1923 – 6 November 2000) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who spent his entire senior playing career with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. He also played for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, gaining five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

. Upon his retirement from playing football, he wrote for the '' Daily Record'' and ''

The Celtic View ''The Celtic View'' is the official weekly magazine of Celtic Football Club, whose headquarters are located in Glasgow, Scotland. The first publication to be fully related to the Scottish team, it is also the oldest football club magazine in t ...

''. He was the elder brother of

Billy McPhail William Simeon McPhail (2 February 1928 – 4 April 2003) was a Scottish football player who played for Queen's Park, Clyde and Celtic. He scored three goals in Celtic's record 7–1 victory over Rangers in the 1957 Scottish League Cup Final ...

, also a former Celtic player.

Playing career

Born in

Lambhill Lambhill is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated north of the River Clyde, approximately north of the city centre. Lambhill is a mainly residential area comprising both council and private housing. Residents are of a mixed ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, McPhail attended

St Mungo's Academy St Mungo's Academy is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, comprehensive, secondary school located in Gallowgate, Glasgow. The school was founded in 1858 by the Marist Brothers religious order. The debate team at St Mungo's were the first Scotti ...

before signing for

, the club he supported, in October 1941 from

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

side

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

, aged just 17.John McPhail

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

He initially played as a

right half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and soon earned a nickname, "Hooky", due to his tendency to kick the football with the outside of his boot. The name stuck with him throughout his life. His early years with Celtic coincided with a period of domination by their

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

rivals, Rangers. In 1945 he did earn a winner's medal in the minor Victory In Europe Cup, but in 1948 was part of the Celtic team that only narrowly avoided relegation on the last day of the season. In 1950 McPhail was transformed into a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, a move that revitalised his career. During the first season following the switch he was "his side's inspiration, and the idol of the supporters", according to author and historian Tom Campbell in ''Glasgow Celtic 1945-1970''.Tom Campbell, ''Glasgow Celtic 1945-1970'', Civic Press, 1970 He captained the team to a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, scoring seven of the team's 19 goals in that competition, including the only goal of the final against

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

with a skilful lob over the opposing goalkeeper. This marked the first cup success for the club in 14 years; it was followed by with a

Coronation Cup The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2, ...

victory in 1953 and a league championship title and Scottish Cup

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

(although he played little part in the cup run).James E. Handley, ''The Celtic Story'', 1960 It was in this period McPhail earned five caps for

, scoring three goals. He also played for the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. By 1954 McPhail had begun to struggle to maintain his match fitness and he only played for the Celtic first team intermittently. Journalist

Archie Macpherson Archibald "Archie" Macpherson (born 1937) is a Scottish football commentator and author. He has been commentating on Scottish football, via both radio and television, for over four decades. Early life Macpherson was born and raised in the ...

recounts that McPhail admitted to him that he began to adopt the "ageing remedy of the Hungarian international

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...

, shortening the stride and increasing the number of steps he took to lend the false impression of pace." Additional problems curtailed his career further, including a family crisis and

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

as a business venture went wrong. His younger brother Billy McPhail also played for Celtic (joining the club at almost the same point as John retired), and is widely remembered for scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in their 7–1 victory over rivals Rangers in the

1957 Scottish League Cup Final The 1957 Scottish League Cup Final was the final of the 1957–58 Scottish League Cup. The football match was played on 19 October 1957 at Hampden Park, in which Celtic beat rivals Rangers in a record 7–1 victory. The final was nicknamed "Ham ...

. John Mcphail had also scored three goals against Rangers, in the 1950

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cup ...

final; this is the only occasion in Old Firm history that brothers have achieved this feat.

Retirement

On 5 May 1956 McPhail retired from professional football, having spent 14 years with just one senior club. He made 203 appearances in the three major domestic competitions (and over 150 more in wartime and minor competitions), scoring 90 goals.(Celtic player) McPhail, John
FitbaStats He went on to work as a journalist with the '' Daily Record'' for over ten years. He then wrote for the '' Celtic View'' in the years following its launch. McPhail was married, and had two daughters and a son, also called John. He died in Glasgow on 6 November 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcphail, John Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Celtic F.C. players Strathclyde F.C. players Scottish sportswriters Footballers from Glasgow 1923 births 2000 deaths Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players People educated at St Mungo's Academy Scottish Football League representative players Men's association football forwards Men's association football wing halves

Playing career

Retirement

See also

References