Joseph McBride (10 June 1938 – 11 July 2012) was a Scottish footballer who played for clubs including Celtic, Hibernian,

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

and Dunfermline Athletic. He was a prolific striker and has the third highest tally of goals in the Scottish league since football resumed after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. McBride also represented both

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the Scottish League.

Career

McBride was born in Govan, just 200 yards from Ibrox Park, the home of Rangers. He attended St. Gerard's RC Secondary, Govan and was a prolific goalscorer for their teams (where he played alongside future banker and football chairman Brian Quinn). He signed for Kilmarnock when he was 15, and was loaned out to Junior sides Shettleston and Kirkintilloch Rob Roy. He made an immediate impact when he was brought into the Kilmarnock first team in late 1957, and was sold to

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

two years later for £12,500, a significant transfer fee at the time.Jeffrey, pp103-104 He was unable to break into the Wolves team in his short period with the club and moved to Luton Town for £8,000Joe McBride
MotherWELLnet but he was unsettled and made little impact, soon returning to Scotland to join Partick Thistle in a swap deal involving Jim Fleming. He rediscovered his scoring form with the ''Jags'', with a ratio of over a goal every two games, and his reputation improved further when he signed for

in 1962 for another £8,000 fee. McBride was Motherwell's top goalscorer in three successive seasons, which attracted the attention of new Celtic manager

Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...

, who signed him for a fee of £22,000 in 1965. Along with Alex Ferguson of

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

, McBride was the top goalscorer in the 1965–66 Scottish League with 31 goals. He again scored prolifically during the first part of the 1966–67 season but suffered a serious injury in December 1966, which meant that although part of the

Lisbon Lions The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic F.C., Celtic team that won the UEFA Champions League, European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967 European Cup Final, 1967, defeating Inter Milan 2–1. Name The ...

squad, he did not play in the 1967 European Cup Final. He never regained a regular place in the Celtic side, and subsequently transferred to Hibernian in 1968. McBride quickly regained his goalscoring form with Hibs, scoring on his debut against Rangers, followed by 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 Wick ...

in his second match against Lokomotive Leipzig, and four goals in his third match against Morton. He was Hibs' top goalscorer in both the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons, and scored a second European hat-trick for the club against

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

. McBride left Hibs in 1971, apparently because the club were unhappy that he did not want to move from his home in Glasgow. He ended his playing career in 1972 after short spells with Dunfermline and Clyde.

International

McBride won two caps for

, both in 1967 British Home Championship matches. He also scored eight goals in just four appearances for the Scottish League XI.

Personal life

McBride's son, also named Joe, also became a professional footballer who played as a winger for several clubs, including Everton, Rotherham United, Hibernian and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. McBride died on 11 July 2012, days after suffering a stroke at his home in Glasgow; his funeral took place in

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs (; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically in Lanarkshire, the area was once part of ...

.Funeral held for Celtic and Hibs legend Joe McBride
BBC News, 18 July 2012

Honours

Celtic * European Cup: 1966–67

References

External links