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100 Yards race at Celtic Park in 1915

The difficulties faced by the organisers of Celtic FC Sports in the mid- to late-30’s which saw or accelerated the decline, and eventual demise of the once fine athletic meeting should not blind us to the fact that it had been running successfully since the end of the nineteenth century.   The Scottish athletic scene had many very good sports meetings, each with its own date on the calendar and this made it difficult to switch any one meeting.   Celtic’s date was the second Saturday in August and when the football season started a week earlier then there was a clash and the club had to move its sports.   Some examples of the other dates:

First week in June was Queen’s Park FC Sports, Third in June was the Glasgow Police Sports, fourth week in June was the SAAA Championships, First week in July was the Partick Thistle Sports, third week in July was Clyde FC sports – but they were for a time a professional games and they only reverted to the amateur code in 1935, first week in August was Rangers sports.    There were others – Monkland Harriers sports on last week in May, Greenock Glenpark Harriers were on the last week in July – an so on.   There was an opening on the second Saturday in July when the football season made the change necessary, but after the first CFC meeting, the organisers of the Triangular International changed the date of their fixture from June.   The Celtic meeting as a major fixture was almost certainly doomed from that date.   This page is to give some idea of the size of event that they hosted – for instance, they always needed a follow-up or supplementary meeting on the Monday after the Saturday; there were many heats in the sprints – over 20 was not uncommon and 25 were known.   We have only a brief coverage of each sports from 1900 here but they should give an indication.

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In 1900, the Celtic FC Annual Sports Meeting was a major athletic fixture in Scotland.    Coming as it did the week after the Rangers Sports, it was the last big meeting of the summer before King Football started his winter reign.    The meting on 11th August 1900 was followed by a supplementary meeting there on the Monday evening with the same athletes from the USA, Ireland and England as well as Scotsmen.    There were also cycling events and five-a-side football.   These things did not happen by accident.   Willie Maley had been at the AAA’s Championships and ‘succeeded in inducing AF Duffy the 100 yards champion; W Long, 440 yards champion; John Flanagan, world’s record holder for hammer throwing; and John Bray, Canadian half-mile record holder, to compete at the Celtic Sports meeting on Saturday and Monday next.   This is a big catch, and all interested in athletic science must be indebted to the Celts, and through the Celts to Mr Maley for bringing such an accomplished quartette of athletes to Glasgow.’

The report on the meeting read:

“Bad as the weather was on Saturday, there was some really fine flat racing at Parkhead and in reviewing the proceedings, one can merely speculate what developments there might have been under more congenial conditions.   As it is, M Long’s remarkable running in the quarter handicap will go a long way to give the Celtic meeting this year an exalted place in athletics history.   To cover the distance in 50 seconds in pelting rain and on a sodden track is great work – the greatest perhaps that the American has put in since he came to England.   True he ran a shade faster at the English championships but the conditions at Stanford Bridge were very different from what prevailed at Parkhead, and it is when we bear this in mind that the dignity of Saturday’s performance is found.   Long now holds the “all-comers” 440 record, Bredin being the previous holder.   It was in his Heat that the American accomplished 50 seconds, and although he ran a shade slower in the Final, he had a punishing finish with McFarlane, Edinburgh Harriers  24 yards, for first place.   The invitation 100 yards handicap was the next most interesting item to Long’s record.   There were three Heats, two of which produced grand finishes, the third of which was spoiled through Tewkesbury anticipating the pistol.   The starter declared the Heat “no race” and though the American attempted to get a place, he failed.   The Final was an exciting clash.   J Ford of Motherwell Harriers, four and a half yards, beating M Long, scratch, by a foot, while Ballantyne, who comes from the Border counties was third off five and a half.    Ford never ran better than he did in this race, and the speed he disclosed in this event as well as in the 120, makes him the fastest amateur in the Western District.    The feature, or at any event, one of the features of the 120 handicap, which we may say was replete with exciting incidents – was Tewkesbury’s victory from virtual scratch, one and a half yards.   Long did not run, while both Duffy and Rowley were absent.   D Carr, an old stager, won the half-mile off 60 yards in 1 min 56 sec.   Even when in his prime, Carr has never been able to accomplish anything like this time.   Therefore we must regard this as the race of his life.  S Mitchell, another runner who has not blossomed into a winner for at least a couple of seasons, secured the mile in 4 min 25 sec off 105.”   

The supplementary meeting on the Monday was held in fine weather with a crowd of 10,000 spectators – an excellent attendance for an evening meeting and maybe a testament to the quality of the Saturday event in the rain.   The feature of the meeting was said to be the running of the American runner M Long but my attention was drawn to the winner of the fifth Heat of the open 100 yards – AS Maley (running for Celtic FC) off one and a half yards.    There were no fewer than thirteen Heats of the 100 yards, Maley was second his semi-final, and won the Final.   There were eight Heats in the 220 yards which was won by Long.    The runner who was third in the six laps steeplechase was also running for Celtic FC.    The programme also had men competing in the colours of Queen’s Park FC, Royal Albert FC and Annfield FC.

On the Monday before the 1901 meeting, the ‘Glasgow Herald’ again remarked on Maley’s efforts.   “The Celts make their annual athletic appeal on Saturday first, and from the elaborate arrangements made by Mr William Maley, they are not likely to appeal in vain.   The American runners are the trump card this season, as they were last, and the recollections of Maxwell Long’s brilliant quarter-mile running last August should make all who saw him on that occasion anxious to see him again.   He does not come arrayed in English championship honours, as he did a year ago, but for all that his reputation is as great now as it was then.   Long is one of the pedestrian marvels of the present day, and so too is A Duffy, who has been described as “the greatest sprinter in the world for his inches”.   Duffy could not come to Glasgow last August but he is a certain starter this weekend.   He will run in the 100 yards open, while it is just possible the Celts will put up an invitation handicap for the American’s special delectation.   Duffy will teach Scotch sprinters how to start and if his example in this important matter is to be followed, we shall have faster sprinters than at present.   R Wadsley who is running at the Exhibition tonight, having arrived in the city from Manchester yesterday evening, may remain over for the Celtic Sports, and if he does, he and Long may meet in the quarter-mile handicap, in which case we will have the English championship battle all over again.   All round the entries are large and influential, even more so than in the case of Rangers on Saturday, and there should be some good sport.”   The report continued to list some of those who would be competing and in  general the article may well have helped attract at least part of the crowd.

Held on 10th August 1901, the Celtic Sports in the opinion of the reporter for the ‘Glasgow Herald’ would have had an even greater crowd than the previous year ‘but for the breakdown in the weather’ – as it was the attendance was estimated at 15,000!   Again there were Americans, Irish and English competitors as well as domestic Scots including the great John McGough of Bellahouston Harriers.    From early in the report: “It has been said by one whose opinion in athletic matters is valued highly that the Celtic meeting is the greatest in the country, and with the recollection of many fine gatherings which the club has celebrated, we are not inclined to question the verdict.”  What was in the meeting in 1901 to occasion that kind of remark?   A Duffy the American sprinter who had been invited in 1900 but had failed to turn up, was there and he beat Denis Murray of Dublin by half a yard in 10.4 – a disappointing time but he was running on sodden grass.   There were 23 heats (twenty three)  Heats of the 100 yards; the heralded American Maxwell Long won his Heat of the 440 yards but did not turn out in the Final ‘fearing a breakdown’; Baxter, the American high jumper gave an exhibition; N McIntosh (Maryhill Harriers) won the mile from John McGough who was conceding 60 yards.    McIntosh was competing the previous year as ‘Celtic FC’.     As before, there was a top-up meeting on the Monday evening with 9 heats of the 220 yards and last year’s 100 yards winner, AW Maley – was second after leading most of the way.   There were also several athletes racing in their football club colours, among them Clyde FC, Annbank FC, Hamilton Academicals FC.

“The directors of this club submitted an attractive programme, which brought together on Saturday athletes from all parts of Britain, whilst one or two well-known American sprinters &c were among the competitors.   The weather was perfect and there was a large attendance of 20,000 of the public.”

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In 1902 the sports were on 9th August, the sports seemed to go off well, but there was only a vestigial report – they fell at the time of the Coronation of King Edward and the crowning of Queen Alexandra and the sports coverage was minimal with athletics possibly the most minimal of them all.   It could have been worse – the Rangers Sports were cancelled.  The papers were full of the coronation with pages of coverage, line drawings, diagrams, reports on all the celebratory activities.   The Herald for example had four or five broadsheet pages of reportage plus a couple of pages with short pieces covering the celebrations in many towns and villages throughout Scotland.   There was great competition for the attention of the ‘man n the street’.  Celtic had been hoping for Alfred Shrubb to come north but he had apparently already agreed to compete in fixtures nearer home.   The reporter pointed out that distance runners were very popular than sprinters in these parts “no doubt due to the fact that they give better value and more sustained excitement” than sprinters.

The 1903 sports were held on 8th August – 24 heats of the open 100 this times – with a total of six track events and four field and a total of £700 drawn at the gate.    The standard was high with, eg, Tom Nicolson against Denis Horgan of Ireland in both weight and hammer and an international high jump competition.    Coverage was limited to a couple of lines plus results but it was another very successful meeting.     The follow-up meeting was on Monday,  10th, and not only were there athletic events + cycling but there was motor cycling events in which the Scottish one mile record was broken.

The preview of the 1904 version of the club sports read, “By their ingenuity, liberality and enterprise the Celtic Football Club have created for themselves a very high ideal as sports promoters and the query on all hands is, “Will they maintain that ideal in connection with the forthcoming meeting?”   As far as we can gather they will.   In the first place it is only natural they should profit in many ways by the extraordinary exertions put forward by the Rangers FC and if they do we are at once ensured of an exhibition of athleticism equal at least to what was witnessed at Ibrox Park on Saturday.   And in the second place the Celts, possessing as they do the finest cement track in Scotland, will provide cycle racing of the very highest class.   …    Mr Maley is hopeful of inducing A Shrubb to come North for the mile handicap, and if he is successful, we will have a series of lively passages between him and John McGough.   Strange as it may seem, the Bellahouston crack has never done anything great at Parkhead and he does not like to be reminded of this by his Celtic friends.   But it is scarcely fair to upbraid him, even in a jocular way, for not establishing records at Parkhead, as by August he can hardly be at his best.”

On to the meeting on 14th August, “The Celtic Football Club on Saturday added another to the many splendid honours they have to their credit as sports administrators.   One, in fact, is left to wonder what the attendance would have been had the weather conditions been a little better.    It ruined more or less all ? , and at one time it looked rather bleak for any form of outdoor recreation, but about two o’clock there was a change for the better with the result that crowds flocked to Parkhead and it is estimated that attendance was not much under 30,000 which is a tribute to the stature of Celtic Sports.”    The fields were made up mainly of Scots with some good Englishmen taking part, many good races were held although  no records were set.   On the Monday meeting, held in better weather, also had some top class competition with the invitation 100 yards being won by the American AF Duffey ‘by inches’ from JW Morton of England in 10.6 seconds.    R Craig of Bellahouston Harriers won the 1000 yards race by about two inches in a field of 50 runners.      Duffey was considered the fastest man in the world at the time and had been encouraged to come to Scotland by William Wilton of the Rangers in 1903 for their Sports the previous week.      Duffey had been favourite in the 1900 Olympics but despite a  good run in the Heats had to pull up in the final with an injury.   American 100 yards champion in 1899, he won the AAA’s in England every year from 1900 to 1904.   He ran 9.6 for 100 in 1902, a world record, but after a quarrel with the AAU over his refusal to wear Spalding running shoes he was found guilty of breaking the amateur code.   There is genuine dispute over this verdict – the AAU President worked for Spalding Shoes and it was after the refusal to wear these that the President himself brought the accusation that Duffey had been accepting illegal expenses every year since 1899.   There seems to be little if any evidence that he did actually do a bad thing!   However, when he came to Ibrox in 1903 and Parkhead in 1904, he was still a world class athlete.   There were also cycle races and a motor bike race.   I don’t know of any other meeting during the period that actually had motor bike races at their sports but then maybe the aforementioned cement track was used for these.

What was it with Celtic Sports and the weather in August?   The weather on 12th August 1905 was again against good running.   “As luck would have it, Saturday was a bad day for athletics and while in many respects the Celtic meeting will stand out as one of the most successful of the long and brilliant series held by that club, nothing was achieved that will single it out as memorable in later years.   The sprinters had a strong wind to battle against and this very naturally had a prejudicial effect on form.   It was the strong men who in most cases carried the day, and this was perhaps more marked in the sprint than in the distance events.   Quite a number of the lighter men did not compete at all, any chance they had of distinguishing themselves being neutralised by the vigour of the breeze.   The invitation 100 yards handicap was won by  JW Morton, the English champion, in 10 3-5th sec and in  ordinary circumstances the time would have been 10 seconds.   Kitson was second with Stark third.   Lighter than the other two, undoubtedly Stark suffered by the conditions, and that he managed to even finish third, says a great deal for his pluck and determination.  JB Taylor, the American, did not break the record in the quarter.   No one expected he would in such conditions but many thought he would have done better than he did.   WD Anderson won in 51 2-5th sec off 10 yards, Blunden being a good second off 8 yards, while the American just succeeded in beating W Roxburgh for third place.   Again RS Stronach had a popular win over in the hurdles over E Amsler of America.   This is the fourth time in succession that the Scot has beaten Amsler.   On Saturday however he had less to spare than in the other races, the American running him to a couple of yards.   Where Stronach  excels is the facility with which he clears the lights.   A Shrubb lost the mile-and-a-half invitation race to G Butterfield and in view of the fact that McGough beat the Londoner a few days ago there should not be too much difficulty in allocating to each his position in the order of merit. The story of the race is that Shrubb led throughout and was overcome at the crucial stage – the sprint.   The first half-mile was done in 2 min 9 sec, the mile in 4 min 36 secand the full distance in 6 min 55 2-th sec.   The two open  sprints were won by J Smith of Bellahouston Harriers – the 100 yards off 8.5, the 220 off 15.   Smith would seem to be possessed of great sprinting resource as he won the first round in 10 3-5th sec, the second in 10 1-5th and the Final in 10 sec.   It is interesting to mention that Smith at the June meeting of the West of Scotland Harriers was in receipt of 9.5 yards from Morton and did not win, while on Saturday off a reduced mark, he carried off one of the great prizes of the year.   This is the first time this season that Smith has ventured beyond the initial stage of a handicap.   WH Mill, West of Scotland Harriers, won what, under better conditions, would have been the fastest half-mile of the season, off 35 yards: as it was the time has only once been bettered  and that was at an Edinburgh meeting.   The mile went to a stalwart Irishman, SS Lee, the Junior cross-country champion of Ireland, and the steeplechase, which provoked a constant ripple of laughter, was captured by A Russell of Walsall who enjoys a unique reputation for this class of pedestrianism.   One very marked feature of the track races, was the extraordinary success of the Bellahouston school.   Eight of the 100 yard Heats and three of the 220 yards were captured by members of that club while of the prizes they won three firsts, three seconds and three thirds.”

That is the report in its entirety and the preview of the Monday meeting concentrated on the Four Miles Handicap.  

“We are to have A Shrubb in a Four Miles Handicap  and that is something which is not seen every day.   Two years ago Shrubb ran a very fine race at the Celtic enclosure, the occasion being the summer sports of the West of Scotland Harriers, when he created record, 19 mins 32 2-th sec, which he afterwards lowered at Ibrox to 19 min 23 2-5th sec, in the historic ten miles race.   We are not likely to have either of these efforts repeated tonight, although we shall be surprised if the Englishman does not crack 20 minutes.   Last week on grass he was quite at his best, beating Alridge quite easily over four miles, and as this is the distance he favours most, we feel confident he will put in a performance worthy of the great name that he enjoys.   There are twelve entrants, distributed as follows: J McGough, Bellahouston Harriers 100 yards; S Stevenson, Clydesdale Harriers, 120 yards; PC Russell, Bellahouston Harriers, 230 yards; G McKenzie, West of Scotland Harriers 320 yards; T Robertson, Edinburgh Harriers 390 yards; J Reston, Clydesdale Harriers, 400 yards;  WJ Elliott, Herne Hill Harriers, 420 yards;    R Craig, Bellahouston Harriers, 430 yards;   WG Kerr, Clydesdale Harriers, 430 yards; T Stewart, Springburn Harriers, 450 yards; J Stewart, Maryhill Harriers, 450 yards; J Mullinch, Bellahouston Harriers, 470 yards.   In other words, Shrubb is asked to give away a lap and 30 yards which is a very formidable task.”   The 220 yards featured English and American runners as well as Scots and was also previewed fairly extensively.    It should be noted that among the runners in the Four Miles were two past or future Olympians in McGough and Stevenson and several Scottish cross-country internationalists including James Reston  who emigrated to the USA in 1920 and was the father of the great American political columnist James Scotty Reston.

After that the race had to be good.   The headline the following morning read: “SHRUBB AND McGOUGH IN GOOD FORM.”   and the article, although brief, reported on a good race.   The amateur athletic sports of the Celtic Football Club were continued last night in fine weather and before a large attendance attracted by the entry of several English cracks.  Principal interest centred in the Four Miles flat race handicap in which Shrubb, Butterfield and McGough met.   An exciting race was witnessed.   The London runner was in grand form, and starting at once to draw in his men succeeded in passing McGough when two miles had been covered.   Half a mile short of the distance, Butterfield had retired owing to the muscles in one of his legs stiffening.   After he had taken the lead of the Bellahouston man, Shrubb went straight ahead and got into first place at the end of two and three-quarter miles.   He won in 19 mins 34  seconds by fully 100 yards from McGough who completing the four miles put up a record for a Scottish runner of 20 min 6 1-5th sec, the previous best being 20 min 10 3-5th sec.”   The evening saw 16 heats of the 100 yards and 8 heats of the 220 yards as well as two cycle races.   Home Scots won the sprints.    

If 1905 was good, 1906 was better.   Held on 11th August, the report was headlined “CELTIC CARNIVAL”.    The headline act was Lieutenant Halswell but the reporter was in no doubt about the place of the Celtic FC meeting in Scottish athletics.

“All roads lead to Parkhead on the day of the Celtic FC Sports.   Glasgow people seem to have got it into their heads that all worth seeing in athletes and athletics are to be seen as they are seen nowhere else, at the meeting of the Celtic Football Club.   This is eminently flattering to the Parkhead management, though at the same time it is hard to say the least on such clubs as Clydesdale Harriers, West of Scotland Harriers and Bellahouston Harriers, all of whom in their own modest way have done, and are still doing incalculable service in the cause of athletics advancement in the city.   There was a great variety of events on Saturday: if anything the programme was a little too rich in good things.

An Epoch Maker Lieutenant Halswell was the “magnet” and it goes without saying that he rose to the dignity of the occasion.   He gave no fewer than three very noble turns, all of which were greatly appreciated, though of course the one that caught the fancy most was the 49 sec in the quarter mile, which is three-fifths better than his previous accomplished if we mistake not, in the West of Scotland Harriers June Sports at Ibrox Park.    Halswell on Saturday could have easily given the concessions that proved too severe for him at Ibrox, so full of life was he at the finish.   He was also second in the invitation 100 yards off one and a half yards, and was just defeated in the half-mile scratch by George Butterfield of Darlington Harriers in 2 min.   It was the brains of the latter that triumphed in this race and if Halswell knew as much of the science of running as the AAA mile champion, his efforts, great as they are, would be even greater.   Butterfield, for instance, would never have courted the jostling that ruined Halswell’s prospects in this race.    All the same, the Lieutenant is a fine athlete, and there is not, we are safe in saying, another runner, be he amateur or professional, who could do what he did at Parkhead on Saturday with apparently so little exertion.   Halswell’s 49 sec here is equal to 48 sec in England, and the magnificence, as well as the significance, of the performance can only be appreciated by those who are in a position to contrast the conditions in Glasgow with those in the South of England.   We are afraid Halswell will not succeed in breaking world’s record in Scotland, and for the fruition of his ambition he should go to London before the season ends.   One who has accomplished so much already should not stop till he has erased the present world’s record for the quarter.    There is a rumour that he is retiring from the path tonight, but this is not true as he has applied to the AAA for permission to run at Christiania, Norway towards the end of the month and it may be taken as certain that he will represent the rest of Scotland against Scottish Universities at Aberdeen on the occasion of the King and Queen’s visit to that city in September.   What will happen afterwards will be determined by military considerations.  

New Mile Record   Another very fine performance was John McGough’s mile record of 4 min 21 3-5th sec.   This is his second best public effort, the best being his 4 min 19 sec at the AAA’s Championships last month.   We have been expecting a new record from him for some time back; indeed, all his performances since the West Harriers meeting when he did the mile and a half in 7 min, have led up to this brilliant effort, and like every clever article, he keeps the best till last.   Being closely associated with the Celtic Football Club, McGough is naturally proud that Parkhead shares with him the glory of the record.   Tonight he will endeavour to improve on Saturday’s time and by way of aiding him,. the Celts are putting up an invitation handicap with G Butterfield, Darlington Harriers, scratch; JW Lee Heaton Harriers, 25 yards; Sam Lee, Bellahouston Harriers, 70 yards; and J Lambie, Bellahouston Harriers 80 yards.   In addition there is the 1000 yards handicap, which will be quite as interesting as the mile, from the fact that Lieutenant Halswell is to run.   Last Monday night, George Butterfield managed to slice a fifth of a second off  the all-comers record which had resisted every onslaught.     It was an excellent performance and will give the Rangers carnival a prominent place in athletics history.   Butterfields time was 2 min 16 4-5th sec with which he displaces the name of FE Bacon, one of the great athletes of the Victorian era.   Halswell has designs on the 1000 yards record and, if he can stay the distance, certainly has the necessary pace; but how he will negotiate the large field is another matter.   Vallance who won the open half-mile in 2 min off 13 yards is off 10 in the 1000 and the man who can plough through a field of seventy runners, as he did on Saturday, is possessed of greater speed and stamina than he has previously been credited with.   Taking the time of the open half, and that of the special invitation – 2 min – there was evidently not need for a special race over this distance, as the backmarkers would have been supreme in the one as they were in the other.”

The report continued with coverage of the sprints but the big events had clearly been the endurance races mentioned above.   As for the Monday session, the sport was good, the crowd was large and appreciative but no records were set.

McGough and Butterfield were again present and in action on both sessions in 1907 and, following the example of Rangers FC, a five-a-side tournament was introduced with four teams competing – Celtic, Rangers, Partick Thistle and Clyde – on the Monday evening.    Of the Saturday the report read – “Failure as a term has no place in the vocabulary of the Celtic FC.   All the years they have held sports, they have drawn immense crowds, and we should say that Saturday’s attendance will compare favourably with the past.   There must have been 20,000 people present, while the private enclosures were as well patronised as on the occasion of an important football match.   Nor was the large crowd sent away disappointed. With the exception of the world’s cycling champion, all who were advertised to appear, were present.     Throughout there was some excellent sport and there is a general impression that it would have been even better but for the negative effect of the wind which, in the case of the sprinters, was right in their teeth.”    The sprints were contested by Scottish, English and American runners, the invitation mile was won by an Englishman and ‘neither McGough nor Butterfield were seen to advantage’, and it was pointed out that Bellahouston Harriers had four wins to their credit.   There was an interesting comment that I will quote without adornment:  “The open 100 yards which has lost a lot of its monetary charm in consequence of the suppression of open betting, was won by GJ McNeil (Kilbirnie).”

 The Monday session attracted approximately 5000 spectators and the star was the American Nat Cartmell who won the invitation 120 yards plus the 220 yards handicap.   There were thirteen heats of the 100, necessitating semi-finals as well as final  and seven heats of the 220 which had no semi-finals.   In the 1000 yards, there were 36 runners with Butterfield and McGouch on scratch but they did not finish.    The weather of course played  its part – a torrential downpour just before the start affected the attendance and left some puddles on the track and infield

The crowd numbers quoted for these meetings generally are astonishing to the present day athletics supporters – in 1907 there were 20,000+ spectators over the Saturday afternoon and Monday evening events.    The numbers competing are no less surprising – at times over 100 in a mile handicap, 25 or more heats of a good 100 yards.    Some say that Scots today ‘love their sport’ but that generally means they love watching football.    This was the first time that Celtic had 5-a-sides at their athletics meetig and the crowds were not really appreciably bigger than in previous years.   Have we really more to do with our time these days?   Is the  publicity and ‘selling of the events’ less than it was then?    Is athletics less entertaining?

The Rangers Sports at this time also had two meetings – the big Saturday one and the supplementary on the Monday with a couple of featured races and a restricted programme of, in the main, local events.   The net result was a wonderful ten days when the Glasgow citizenry had the Rangers Sport on the Saturda and the Monday followed five days later by the Celtic Sports on the Saturday. Normally there would have been a fourth session – the Celtic Monday meeting – but in 1908 for some reason this did not happen.   The success of all these meetings in the London Olympics year of 1908 was noted in an article praising the efforts of both clubs to provide top-grade entertainment.

AN ATHLETIC BOOM

Last week was a memorable one in the sporting history of the city, [reported the Glasgow Herald of 10th August 1908].   On Monday the Rangers FC concluded what from every point of view had been the most successful meeting that they had held for a very long time, while on Saturday Celtic FC added one more to their brilliant list of triumphs.   Both are in the fortunate position of having money to spend, and money judiciously handled will yield, as we have just seen, as big a return from athletics as from most forms of public amusement.   That there was more lavish expenditure this season than previously is frankly acknowledged by the two managements and, without pausing to inquire how this sort of thing squares with official notions, we would merely mention that the Glasgow public has much to be grateful for to the Rangers and Celtic for introducing so many of those who distinguished themselves at the recent Olympic Games.  But for those clubs it is just possible that we might never have had the privilege of seeing Melvin Sheppard, Reginald Walker and others who, by their achievements at the stadium, have enrolled themselves in the lists of the immortals.   All are agreed that good as the racing was at Ibrox on the first day, it was infinitely better on Monday evening.   General excellence took the place of individual excellence for the greater part and, after all, there is a greater source of satisfaction in this   than in the creation of records, the one being the gratification of personal ambition, the other being the manifestation of universal competitive interest.   It is difficult to say whether Reginald Walker’s win in the open sprint or Sheppard’s win in the half-mile was the finer effort.   Both are monumental in that the time in the sprint is likely to be bracketed with JM Cowie’s record of 10 sec while Sheppard’s half-mile will rank as one of the finest ever witnessed in Britain and its significance is greatly enhanced by the fact that for a third of the distance he may be said to have cut out his own pace.  It was however a disappointment to many at Ibrox that that he did not run in the handicap specially prepared for him.   Those who saw Walker’s finish in the final of the 100 yards handicap will never forget it.   At 20 yards from home he seemed hopelessly beaten but with a supreme effort managed to break the tape first.    …..

As we have seen, the Rangers function scintillated with excitement and there was a renewal of this form of appreciation at Parkhead on Saturday afternoon.   If anything, however, the Celts programme was too large.   A start was made at 2:45 and it was seven o’clock when the last event was decided.   Roughly speaking there were four hours sport and, however interesting the proceedings, it was felt that for once, the limits of discretion had been exceeded.    No athletic meting should exceed two and a half hours, or at most three hours, and when a programme cannot be compressed within those limits there is a miscalculation  of public endurance.     Where the Celts erred was in combining a two days programme into one; but in this connection we are in a position to state that in another year there will be a return to the custom of a double meeting which, as we had occasion to remark recently, should never have been departed from, least of all this season when the country at large was extending hospitality to so many eminent American athletes …

Reginald Walker of South Africa, who had an excellent appreciation of everything Scotch except the climate, only ran in the 100 yards at Parkhead where he was third but Sheppard turned out in the half-mile.   “Perhaps the best performance of the afternoon was M Sheppard’s half-mile in 1 min 56 1-5th sec or a fifth worse than his time at Ibrox last Monday.   This is a marvellous performance when allowance is made for the fury of the breeze.   Under normal Glasgow conditions, it is believed Sheppard, paced as he was, would have come close to his world’s record time at the Olympic Games.   T Fairbairn Crawford is entitled to part of the honour as he ran a vigorous race.   Lieutenant Halswell did not run in the quarter which lost all of its interest on that account.   ….   the winner of the open mile, G Dallas, who is a good cross-country runner, finished quite fresh in 4 min 22 3-5th sec.”

There was a total of 11 running events plus cycle racing plus several field events on the programme.   The comments on the money available to the two clubs and the comment on how ‘money judiciously spent squares with official notions’ is a leading one.

The meeting on 14th August 1909 was held under a cloud: Mr McLaughlin, the Celtic chairman who had been a key figure in organising the sports had died and there was talk of cancelling the meeting.   It went ahead because there were several English runners who had travelled a long way to compete.   It was nevertheless a low-key affair with the top men being Cartmell, Rodger and Tom Jack.

Steeplechase, Celtic Sports, 1910  (Photo courtesy Eric Giacoletti)

“Glasgow Herald” Report:

In 1910, the story was very different and the report started: “Everything for the time being seemed to contribute to the magnificent success which the Celtic management scored in connection with their amateur athletic sports on Saturday: the weather was charming, the huge crowd were in excellent spirits, the running, if never sensational, was always interesting and often exciting and, all combined, gave quite a distinctive note to the meeting.   But amid so much of a congratulatory character, there was a pretty general feeling that the programme assumed pretty unreasonable dimensions.   Apart from motor-cycle flights, which cannot be described as sport by any stretch of the imagination, there were no fewer than 15 races, not to mention countless heats and a five-a-side football competition.”   There was much more about the length of the meeting and the need for a ‘pruning knife’  – similar to previous comments on the meeting and to several others such as the Glasgow Police Sports which were notorious for over-running.   In the sports themselves, EW Haley from London won three of the four invitation events – the 100 yards, the 220 yards and the 440 yards – with the other, the invitation half mile, being won by JC English (Manchester AC) in 1 min 57 1-5th off 20 yards but a new record 1 min 58 2-5th sec was set by R Burton, the SAAA Champion who was third finisher.   John McGough was defeated in the Mile by Owen (Broughton Harriers) who was giving him 20 yards.   After several years of criticising the organisation of the sports, the final sentence of the report read, “Considering the magnitude of the programme, the arrangements were highly creditable to Mr W Maley who deserves special credit for the triumph which crowned his labours on Saturday.”

 Having come from 1900 to 1910, we will soon start a new page for 1910 to 1920 but it is clear from the little reported here that the Celtic FC Sports were major events that attracted some of the top athletes of the day to Parkhead.

Programme courtesy Mr A Mitchell

The Celtic Programme of August 1910

By 1911, the Celtic Sports was one of the biggest meetings in the country and the second Saturday in August was the date.  Coming as it did one week after the Rangers FC Sports, it completed a week of top class sporting action in the city with tens of thousands attending the Saturday meetings.   Both clubs put on Monday ‘supplementary’ meetings too which regularly attracted 5000-8000 a time.   In 1911 the Celtic FC Sports meeting was held on 14th August.

It was a huge success.   Even the ‘Glasgow Herald’ reporter had difficulties toning down his exuberance as he wrote of it.   “Besides FL Ramsdell, HE Gissing and JJ Flanagan of America, several distinguished English athletes and cyclists took part in the annual sports of Celtic FC at Parkhead on Saturday and, as a consequence, competition in many events was very much above the average of what is usually witnessed in the city, celebrated as it is for its rare sporting associations.   The Celtic management spare neither money nor time in connection with their sports, and this season by way of celebrating an interesting epoch in their history, they extended more invitations than they usually do, with the result that Saturday’s meeting in many respects will hold a cherished position in the club’s records.   Large as the attendance was, it it would have been larger still but for the tramway strike.   As it was, the official estimate was 30,000.   The arrangements of Mr Maley were in advance of anything previously witnessed at Parkhead, and when we mention that over and above football there were 53 different events all of which were disposed of in three hours and a half, it will be admitted that there has been nothing better in the way of athletics management seen in the city.   Every item was so rapidly dealt with that there was scarcely any time for reflection.  

HE Gissing won the invitation half mile in 1 min 58 sec which in cold type does not compare with his recent efforts at Ibrox and Parkhead.   It should be noted, however that weather conditions on Saturday were somewhat against fast times, though, had he taken part in the open 880 yards which was done in 1 min55 2-5th sec, it is just possible that we might have got a sensational performance.   Gissing, however has imparted gaiety to Scottish athletics this season and his three half-miles and 1000 yards efforts will not soon be forgotten.   The 100 yards special handicap was brilliantly won by VH D’Arcy of Polytechnic Harriers.  He had two yards from Ramsdell and finished a yard ahead of RC Duncan in 10 1-10th sec, which is a yard worse than “evens”.   D’Arcy is a very powerful finisher but a bad beginner.   Ramsdell was not at his best in this race, and this is not surprising in view of the amount of travelling and running he has put in this week.   In the furlong however he had the satisfaction of winning by a short distance from RC Duncan in 223-5th sec.   The Polytechnic crack did not run in this race while Duncan and others were at a disadvantage  owing to the fact that they had just taken part in a strenuous relay race.   Both Gissing and Ramsdell were favoured in this respect.   ….. “

Harry Gissing was a member of the Irish-American Athletic Club of New York and a noted middle distance runner, Ramsdell was a sprinter from the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell and JJ Flanagan was an Olympic record breaking hammer thrower who won three Olympic gold medals, the first of these being in 1900.   At Parkhead Flanagan was second in the handicap hammer thgrow to Scotland’s T Nicolson who had a 10′ handicap allowance.    But the Americans were indeed as good as the reporter from the ‘Herald’ said they were.

The comments on Willie Maley’s management skills are interesting but not really surprising.  He had been involved in the sport since the early 1890’s with Clydesdale Harriers, was now on the SAAA Committee where he would later be tasked with leading a post-war committee on the re-establishment of the sport after the 1914-18 war.   In addition both Ibrox and Parkhead were used for several sports meetings every summer – some by clubs such as Clydesdale Harriers (who favoured Ibrox but also used Parkhead ), Shettleston Harriers (who favoured Parkhead), West of Scotland Harriers (who moved from one ground to another depending on when they held their meetings), and some by a variety of public services such as  Glasgow Transport (who favoured Helenvale), Glasgow Police (who favoured Ibrox) and Lanarkshire Police who latterly went to Shawfield).   The result was that the groundsmen became expert in getting the impedimenta associated with every event on and off with minimum fuss, the organisers had good connections with the governing bodies and athletic clubs and there was generally a high level of expertise at all clubs.  Possibly higher than at some specialist venues in the twenty first century.

If 1911 was good, 1912 was better with an estimated 40,000 spectators at Parkhead on a sunny and warm afternoon to see even more American and English athletes in action.   The half-mile scratch race was won by America’s Melvin Sheppard (Irish American Club) from Germany’s Braun with JE Meredith of the American Olympic team third, but only in a time of 1:58 – in a refrain that was familiar over the years, not as fast as he had done at Ibrox the previous Saturday.   Hardly surprising at the end of a long season with two races the week before.   The race was said to be disappointing with Meredith dropping out with 200 yards to go.   The Mile was won by Ireland’s R Hales of Donore Harriers in 4 min 24 4-5th sec and WR Lippincott of the American Olympic team was third in the invitation 220 yards handicap behind Hawich RFC wing three-quarter WR Sutherland of Teviotdale Harriers (8 yards) and RC Duncan of West of Scotland Harriers.

The meeting on Tuesday promised a very good 1000 yards invitation with Sheppard, Braun and Meredith, all off scratch, George Dallas Maryhill Harriers) and Sam S Watt (Clydesdale Harriers) off 38 yards, in a field of 38 entries.   There were also invitation races at 100 yards and two miles.   As it happened all three scratch men ran in the 1000 yards but were unplaced with the winner being L Littler (Bellahouston) off 80 yards from JB Thomson of West of Scotland off 95 yards.   Part of the explanation might lie in the fact that they Olympians all ran in a scratch invitation 440 yards with Sheppard winning in 51 4-5th seconds.   There were two five-a-side tournaments, Rangers defeated Airdrieonians in the Senior final and Petershill beat Shettleston in the Junior 5-a-sides.   The motor cycles were also in action as were pedal cycles.   The crowd was estimated at 5000.

1913 was the year Willie Applegarth set a Scottish 100 yards record at Ibrox and then broke the 220 yards record at Parkhead seven days later!   Applegarth was one of the best sprinters in the world and ran in the 1912 Olympic 100 metres, 200 metres and as a member of the GB 4 x 100 relay team and in the process won bronze in the 200m and gold in the relay.      A year later he was racing in Glasgow so he was probably at his best.  He turned pro in 1914 and emigrated to the USA in 1922.  But it was a real coup for Rangers FC and Celtic FC to have such a runner at their meetings.  This probably contributed to the 36,000 who turned up to spectate.

The record was discussed first.   “A new Scottish record at 220 yards was created by WR Applegarth, who, it will be remembered, broke the 100 yards record at Ibrox the previous Saturday.   The new time for the distance was accomplished in the seventh heat of the open handicap at the distance.   Applegarth was on scratch, conceding starts up to 25 yards.   He ran strongly all the way just overtaking in the last two yards T McAllister the winner of the two sprints at the Rangers Sports who had 18 yards.   Applegarth’s time was 22 seconds, or one fifth better than the record established by DF Lippincott at Ibrox last August.”   Applegarth also ran in the 120 yards off scratch but finished second, and in the 220 final he caught his foot on the inside of the bend, failed to recover and finished out of the prizes.      In the distance races, the three miles handicap was won by England’s E Glover from Ireland’s P Flynn and A Loch of Clydesdale Harriers in third.   Loch also won the handicap mile and George Dallas won the invitation 500 yards.

August 15th, 1914, was the date for the last big amateur meeting in Scotland before the declaration of war.    At Parkhead, for that is where it was held, there was yet another American to add to those seen in recent years:   Homer Baker.   Baker was the US half-mile champion in 1913 and 1914 and toured Europe in 1914, winning the AAA’s title from Albert Hill.    He ad a best time of 1:56..4 and held the world best for 660 yards of 1:20.4 for 26 years.

He was written of as follows: “Homer Baker has the genius of racing in a fuller degree than any other American that has visited Glasgow.   An estimate of this kind, of course, is based entirely on times accomplished, and Baker’s excel those of Melvin Sheppard, HE Gissing and others of remoter days.   Baker was less favoured in the matter of weather than than were Sheppard or Gissing when they made their records at Ibrox, and when that is borne in mind, the value of his efforts is greatly enhanced.   Let us recall Baker’s performances in Glasgow.   At the Rangers Sports he took part in the half mile handicap and was third in his heat in 1 min 56 sec, thus equalling Scottish record.   In the final he finished fourth a shade worse than existing record.   The double journey does not appeal to many Americans any more than to some of our own runners, but it is inevitable when there are 80 runners.   In the 1000 yards handicap at Ibrox, Baker was first in 2 min 16 2-5th sec or a fifth faster than Gissing’s time in 1911.   At the Celtic Sports, the American won the invitation half-mile handicap in 1 min 55 4-5th which is a fifth faster than Sheppard’s time at the Rangers Sports in 1908, and it is reasonable to assume tat in more favourable weather conditions he would have accomplished an even finer performance – some say 1 min 54 sec at least.   At the English championship in July, Baker won the half-mile in 1 min 54 2-5th sec but his Celtic performance is even better when the relative ground conditions are taken into account.   Baker on Tuesday evening of last week finished fourth in the 1000 yards in 2 min 16 sec.   All the watches were on the American and the time may therefore be taken as authentic.   These form a casket of memorable performances.    They impart to the season much the same importance as WR Applegarth gave to last summer’s racing.   Baker sailed for home last Saturday and expects to take part in the American championships next month.   He is much pleased with the cordiality experienced at Ibrox and Parkhead and the hospitality of the Celtic will remain in his own words “a cherished memory for years.”

It was however impossible to get away from the what which was inevitable and the column which had the above report on Baker had this a bit further down.   Many clubs from all sports also made donations of money and all had members serving in the forces.   It is worth bearing these circumstances in mind when reading about the various athletic meetings up to 1918.   The freedom of American to come and go at this time when their country was not involved in the war is also noted.

On 14th August 1915, in front of a crowd of 18,000,   it was a purely domestic field although there were several quality athletes in action including J Wilson who won the mile.   The programme included flat handicaps at 100 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards, 880 yards and one mile plus a 100 yards for military personnel and an invitation military marathon race and a five-a-side tournament.   “For the open events there were large entries, for the 100 yards being 52 and the furlong 50.   Proceedings began with the half mile handicap, for which there was an entry of 37, but several of the entrants did not run.   G Dallas (Maryhill Harriers), virtual scratch at 8 yards, was generally expected to win the race, but though he caught the field with 100 yards to go, he failed to  finish at his usual pace, and was fourth at the tape.  J Wilson, the Scottish four miles champion, competed in the mile, in which he showed a considerable improvement on his form throughout the season, winning winning by a yard in 4 min 28 sec.   Six teams entered for the marathon race, which was run on the track, and resulted in an easy win for the for the first team of the 8th Provisional Battalion HLI.

If 18,000 was a good crowd for wartime, the attendance in 1916 was estimated at 40,000.   There were three events for the military – 100 yards flat race handicap military, the three miles military marathon race and the six laps steeplechase (military and navy) – as well as four open races and a five-a-side tournament.  The report read:   “The Celtic Football Club has the happy knack of introducing a touch of originality into the programme of its athletic sports.   In consequence it usually reaps a rich harvest.   Many novel items were presented on Saturday and these first attracted and then pleased a large crowd.   Enterprise met with its fitting reward.   It is however impossible to escape from the feeling that the programme was overloaded and that the enjoyment of the spectators was diminished by the necessity of simultaneously watching a variety of happenings.   The dissipation of attention subtracted from the intensity of the pleasure.   A reproduction of the methods of bomb-throwing under trench conditions was both picturesque and educative, and left a clear impression of the accuracy with which such missiles can be directed.   The military marathon severely tested the stamina of the competitors and the Royal Scots Fusiliers, who won, showed remarkable freshness after such a gruelling ordeal.   Sailors from HMS Pactolus created amusement in an obstacle race, and the boys of Westhorn School gave a pleasing display of physical drill.   The element of pageantry was provided by a procession symbolic of the Allied cause, but it is to be feared that the feature was greater in conception than in execution.   However it pleased the crowd, ever ready to respond to any stimulus to their patriotism.    From the foregoing catalogue of novelties, it will be apparent that ordinary athletics were overshadowed.   Generally speaking the running lacked distinction although it was never commonplace.   The outstanding character was Joe Gamble of the Irish Guards, but he was not in his best form.   …. “

A very interesting report in lots of ways but the fact that the event was still going ahead during the hostilities and still attracting a crowd of that size must have been encouraging.

A good meeting on a good day with a domestic field.   In 1916, the crowd was again thought to be about 40,000, a programme of four events – 100, 220, 880 and Mile – was carried through along with the three ‘military only’ events but the report was vestigial.   The country at large had other things to think of.   On the athletic front, a sports meeting had been organised in 1915 and again in 1916 by Harland and Wolff at Ibrox in aid of local war funds.    I couldn’t find the report of the 1917 meeting but in 1918, on 10th August, 30,000 spectators turned up for the meeting which had seven events, five-a-side football, a gymnastic display by the boys of Westhorn School and a parade by the bands of the Royal Scots Fusiliers which ‘blended pipes and brass’ plus a parade ‘symbolic of the Alliance against Germany.’     For all that the athletics ‘did not fail in attractiveness’, the report was scanty with the invitation 220 yards being the highlight of the afternoon.

The cartoon above shows just how much money Maley was making in football, for the club of course, more than he would have made from athletics, but the interest in the sport continued.

Willie Maley: SAAA President 1920-21

The sports continued throughout the War and the story of that period (with a slight overlap up to 1920) can be read here – Celtic Sports: 1911- 1920.  

This page begins at the end of the First World War and the position of their manager Willie Maley.   As is well known, Maley was a runner with Clydesdale Harriers who sprung a surprise when he won the SAAU 100 yards championship at Hampden in 1896.   He had been on the Harriers football committee and had possibly trained with them at Ibrox before being approached to join the football club.   His love of the sport did not fade however and he was a member of the SAAA and became President in 1920-21, going on to become a Life Vice President.   He was always active on the athletics front, and one of the big jobs he was given was that of the re-structuring of the sport after the War.   At the SAAA AGM in February 1919 he was elected vice president and on to many sub committees.   He was on the Finance Committee (as was Matthew Dickson), on the International Conference group, on the West District Permits Committee, the Handicapping Board of Control and the Reconstruction Committee.    If ever there were a record of involvement in athletics, it is in this imposing list of responsibilities

He presided over a meeting in Edinburgh in 1919 to review the recommendations of the Reconstruction Committee referred to above.   There were seven recommendations to be approved:

1. Applications for reinstatement from pre-war professionals were to be decided on their merits;  applications from amateurs who may have forfeited their status during the war be viewed sympathetically;
2. The Scottish Police Force, still outside the Association should be approached with a view to getting them into line with those forces affiliated with the SAAA.
3. That an endeavour be made to persuade the Executives of Highland Gatherings to hold their sports under SAAA laws.
4. To ask clubs to hold events for schoolboys in their sports programmes, and in the case of clubs with grounds of their own to allow for training facilities and to endeavour to get old athletes to attend the leading grounds  to coach boys in field and other events;
5. Give greater encouragement to field events;
6. To approach the railway companies with a view to getting reduced fares for competitors at athletic meetings;
7. To circularise all Higher Grade and Secondary Schools to hold sports wherever practicable and to send a similar circular to clubs whose one time annual sports have been allowed to lapse.

Other recommendations included (a) the setting up of a organisation with a subscribing membership in each county; (b) the promotion of county championships for track and field, cross country, elementary schools championships, secondary schools championships; (c) to form similar organisations in each county and burgh, rural and urban districts; (d) “believing that prizes of large intrinsic value are prejudicial to true amateurism, the Committee recommends that the limit of value for an individual prize shall be £1”: in this respect I quote from the Clydesdale Harriers Committee Meeting Minute of 24/2/20, “Mr McGregor reported that he had attended a meeting of the SAAA and that the motion to increase the prize limit from £7:7:0 to £10:10:0 had been passed unanimously”  (e) a manual for the organisation and management of athletics should be prepared for circulation.

This is not the place to discuss these interesting recommendations or to speculate on what would have happened if they had been adopted in their entirety.

THE CELTIC SPORTS

All photographs from Alex Wilson

In addition to the work on the committee and various sub-committees of the SAAA, he helped organise the annual club sports and it is unlikely that he did not have a hand in the many athletics events hosted at Celtic Park.

The first sports meeting after the war was on 10th August 1918 and referred to as the Celtic gala.   It included ‘a series of spectacular items’ such as the Band of the Royal Scots Fusiliers which provided the novelty of both pipes and brass instruments, the youths of Westthorn School provided a gymnastics display, and the ‘management introduced an element of pageantry into the programme by means of a parade symbolic of the alliance against Germany, as well as the obligatory five-a-side football.   As far as what were termed ‘the more particularly athletic events’ were concerned, the race of the day was the invitation furlong in which an Argentinian called Bollini finished second to a Scot called Mcfadden (further details were not published by the Glasgow Herald’) and the Two Miles handicap was a hard battle between from W Ross and G Malcolm, both from Edinburgh with Ross (off 15 yards) winning from his rival who was off 105 yards.

A year on, the situation was a bit more back to normal, and the meeting was held on 9th August 1919.   The report from the “Glasgow Herald” was as follows:

“RECORDS AT PARKHEAD.   Evidently the officials at the Celtic Football Club expected that new records would be created in the half and one mile at Parkhead on Saturday, as the best times on the books of the Scottish Amateur Athletic Association for these distances were given in the programme.   Expectation was fulfilled, Sgt Mason lowering the half-mile time, and AG Hill that of the mile.   In one way Hill’s performance was the more meritorious, as the mile was an open event and the English mile champion had a very large field to get through.   In the circumstances he did remarkably well, in reducing by 1 2-5th seconds a record that has stood since 1894.   The weather was favourable for fast running, and good times were registered throughout the afternoon – that of the open 100 yards for instance being recorded as 10 seconds, the 220 yards at 22 seconds, and the mile at 4 min 17 13 4-5th seconds.   The mile was won from 145 yards and it is not surprising that Hill – who of course ran the full distance – failed to finish first.

The other record was made in the invitation half-mile, which had an entry of 14, although some of those, including Hill, did not turn out.   Sergeant Mason had an allowance of 10 yards but in the champion’s absence, he preferred to start from scratch, and justified his optimism by winning the race and beating Homer Baker’s 1 min 55 4-5th sec by two fifths.   Next to Mason’s successful attempt on record, the feature of the event was the fine effort of S Small, who from 30 yards, ran a good race and was actually moving faster than the New Zealander at the finish.      …..   None of the southern visitors entered for the half-mile, and most abstained from the furlong probably in view of the relay race towards the end of the programme.   By running this event on handicap terms, the issue was made more open that it otherwise would have been; but before the start, Maryhill Harriers were not too confident that the 45 yards allowed them would enable them to beat the Polytechnic, and the fear proved well founded.”  

There were about 30,000 spectators and the entries included ‘several well-known English and Colonial runners.’   The relay was won by Poly Harriers in 3 Min 32 4-5th sec, with Maryhill second and a Celtic Select third.   The team was Sgt Mason, JB Bell, MC Cook and Sgt Lindsay.

The sports of 1920 had a huge entry. For instance “with 22 preliminary heats of the 100 yards, interest began to flag, though it must be confessed that a similar complaint could not be made of the 19 heats of the furlong.”   the sheer number of entries in 1920 necessitated semi-finals as well as heats before a final could be run.   Despite the prolongation of the meeting this occasioned, there were three invitation events that were of the highest class.   One of these was the half-mile in which W Ross of Edinburgh, running from a mark of 12 yards beat the scratch runner GL Morgan of Salford by a yard.   There was an invitation 120 yards race from which three of the eight invited withdrew.   Gagan of Salford won from AH Goodwin (Maryhill Harriers) – who had already run a heat and semi-final of the open sprint!   In the invitation 220, Dumbarton runner A Gordon won by a foot from S Colberry (Maryhill Harriers).

Clearly a very successful meeting with an almost entirely domestic entry.   The fact that it was almost the final event of the season and the fact that t was coming one week after the Rangers Sports in no way affected the enthusiasm of the paying Glasgow public.   The venue itself was popular, with meetings organised by many clubs – Maryhill Harriers, Shettleston Harriers, Clydesdale Harriers and especially St Peter’s AAC holding good meetings at Parkhead.   The SAAA Championships, the first after the War, were held there in June 1919 with the 10 miles championship also held at Celtic Park in April that year.   The championship would be held there again in 1921 and 1923 while the 10 miles would be held there again in 1920, ’21 and ’22 (and fairly frequently thereafter).    There was still a preference for Hampden and Ibrox was also very popular but Celtic Park was a recognised championship venue.

Programme courtesy Andy Mitchell

In 1921, Albert Hill and Eric Liddell were in action on the track and the standard generally was the highest it had been since 1919.   Before that, the national 10 miles and seven miles walking championships had been held there on 30th April, and the championships proper had been on 25th June.   In these, Eric Liddell won the 100/220 yards double, Duncan McPhee had won the 880 yards/Mile double, and Tom Nicolson had won the Putting the Weight, Throwing the Hammer, and Throwing the Hammer (standing style) triple.   August had started with the Rangers Sports on the first Saturday and the Celtic event was on the second Saturday, the 14th.   We often complain now of the dominance of football but it seems that this has always been the case.   The report begins,

“The second Saturday of August usually sees the close of the athletics season  so far as important amateur meetings are concerned, and the rule holds good this year as next Saturday football will be in full swing.   Athletics cannot compete against football, and only in some of the war years was it possible to conduct athletic meetings after the commencement of the football season.   Those meetings that were held were for the most part largely successful but they were not ordinary club fixtures.   They were abnormal products of an abnormal time, they were mostly organised by munition workers and they depended largely for their success on the support of those same workers.   They could not be safely repeated now.   Therefore, as in bygone times, nothing of importance from an athletic point of view comes after the meeting of the Celtic Football Club which on Saturday was favoured with fine though dull weather and an attendance of 18,000..”     

The report on the meeting went on as follows:   “AG Hill it is true was only second in the Mile handicap, but the race was run in fast time for this part of the country and Hill had practically no pacing.   Had McPhee, Hatton and Ross run, the result might have been different.   The Scottish champion was at 20 yards, Hatton at 30 yards and Ross at 35 yards, whereas Hill’s nearest actual opponent was at 45 yards.   In the circumstances Hill did well to beat all but one.   He did not start in the half-mile, in which MJ McEachern, the  quarter-mile champion of Ireland, secured a comfortable win in a very fast time.   The English champion, HFV Edward was seen to advantage in the quarter-mile invitation in which he was able to give the Scottish champion four yards and to finish a yard to the good.   Over one of his own distances, the 100 yards, however, he was unable to concede a yard to EH Liddell, the Scottish champion.   Liddell, a runner of good performance and even greater promise, gained a narrow victory, and emphasised his quality by winning the open furlong from scratch.

Open Winners.   Beyond Liddell’s meritorious win in the open furlong there was nothing outstanding in the open events.   The 100 yards was won by a runner who has hitherto been unheard of, AA Russell, from 8 yards.   He achieved some prominence at the Rangers Sports by winning his Heat and Semi-Final with a yard less, but was unable to find  place in the final.   Dobbie, of Maryhill Harriers, who has been running for several years, picking up a prize now and then, scored a meritorious win in the half-mile, and the mile went to a competitor who has this season shown improving form, D Farmer of Clydesdale Harriers.   In this event, J Hatton, Surrey Athletic Club, was virtual scratch at 10 yards, the Scottish champion being a non-starter, but he was able to get through the huge crowd – the entries numbered 146 – and failed to find a place.   The expeditious methods of the management of the meeting may be judged by the fact that the programme was completed fully 20 minutes before the advertised time.”

The invitation event winners were Eric Liddell in the 100 yards in 10 1-5th seconds; HVF Edwards in the 440 yards in 50 3-5th seconds, the half-mile by J McEachern (Clonliffe Harriers) from D McPhee in 1 min 56 4-5th sec, and J McIntyre (Dumbarton – 60 yards) in 4 min 23 sec from AG Hill (scratch).   And as a matter of interest, Rangers beat Celtic  5 – 1 in the five-a-sides.  Complete results below, courtesy Andy Mitchell:

Eric Liddell winning the 120 yards at Parkhead in 12.2 in 1922.

Liddell was back in 1922.   He had won the 220 yards at Ibrox a week earlier in 22 seconds from two yards, Edward having  failed to qualify.   The weather for the Celtic meeting was in stark contrast to that a week before with rain depressing the attendance to half of what it would normally have been.    The first race was the 120 yards invitation.   “The result of the first race, a victory for EH Liddell, pleased the crowd and the procedings were greatly enjoyed throughout.   The opening event was the 120 yards scratch race that was substituted for the handicap originally contemplated.   Liddell was to have received a yard from HFV Edward, but as it turned out he did not need it, winning by rather more than that margin.   It was a well-run race, Edward and Liddell being level until this last quarter of the distance when the Edinburgh man drew steadily away.   Again in the 220 yards handicap, Liddell gave a fine display.   He had two yards on Edward who showed some improvement on his previous running, but not enough to catch Liddell who won comfortably.   The quarter-mile proved a brilliant victory for GT Stevenson who showed that he has now regained championship form.   Earlier this season he ran indifferently but wins on two successive Saturdays prove that he is now at his best.   Duncan McPhee had little difficulty in getting home first in the half-mile.   He ran steadily all the way getting home without being seriously challenged.   His time, 1:58, is faster than the native record but he started from  six yards.   CR Griffiths, the scratch man, failed to find a place.”

It was a pity that the crowd was a relatively poor 15,000 compared to the 30,000 at the Rangers Sports but the meeting ran to time, the crowd were happy and it had been a successful meeting.

*

The SAAA Championships were held at Parkhead again in June 1923 with double victories for Liddell (100/220 yards), McPhee (half-mile/mile), JG McIntyre (Four Miles/ten miles) and FOUR victories for TR Nicolson (Putting the Weight, Throwing the Hammer, Throwing the Hammer (Standing Style) and Throwing 56 lb Weight).   Liddell was also a member of the Edinburgh University team that won the relay from Maryhill Harriers.   Liddell, McPhee and McIntyre all ran and there were no field events in 1923.   However, Liddell disappointed this time round – “Apart from his initial dash in the 100 yards invitation, when he showed traces of his wonted vigour, the British champion seemed still out of form.”  He finished third in this race behind J Crawford of Queens Park FC and WP Nichol of Highgate Harriers.  Duncan McPhee turned out in the Open Mile but was unplaced.    The only champion to win was McIntyre who won the Two Miles Invitation in 9:35.4 off an allowance of 60 yards from CE Blewitt, the scratch man, of Birchfield Harriers.   Reported as the race of the day, it seemed that Blewitt had it all sewn up when McIntyre’s late challenge carried him to victory.   The Glasgow Herald was in no doubt that the meeting had been a success:

”  The closing meeting of the Western athletic season at Celtic Park must be written down an unqualified success.   True, the French champions were not forward, but such was the quality of the native talent that the absence of the continental contingent did not detract from the standard of entertainment provided.   CE Blewitt, WP Nichol and CR Griffiths maintained their high reputations, but EH Liddell and D McPhee were still in the shadow, neither being able to secure more than a third place.   The most thrilling event was the Two Miles Invitation, the finish of which will live in the memory of all present as the most stirring of the season.   JG McIntyre, Blewitt and   CH Johnston virtually hurled themselves at the tape almost simultaneously, the judges placing these runners in the order named.   … Blewitt who expressed his desire to compete in the eight laps steeplechase, found his task too formidable and it was not surprising to find him drop out with a lap to go.”

If the press were united in their praise in 1923, they were not so in 1924.   Let me quote from the ‘Glasgow Herald’ of August 11th 1924.   “In former years the second Saturday of August saw the last of the big amateur athletic gatherings in Scotland.   Rangers Football Club occupied the first Saturday, Celtic the second; but this year there has been a change, the East-End club giving up their sports in favour of a five-a-side football tournament.   The estimated attendance at Parkhead on Saturday, 15,000, compares badly with the 40,000 or 50,000  that assembled at Ibrox a week previously, but the Rangers offered attractions of an almost unprecedented nature, the competitors including some of the most famous competitors from the Olympic Games in Paris.    Had Celtic followed suit they might have had an equal attendance, but on this occasion they chose to follow a more prudent but less heroic course.   The performances of the Olympic giants at Ibrox were not impressive, and it might not have happened that the glamour had gone off, and that the Parkhead club might have been saddled with the heavy expense of a first class meeting and missed the reward.   Still, the decision to abandon an old-established meeting, and one that has always been held in the highest repute, is to be regretted, and all interested in athletics in Scotland and hope that the meeting will be revived next year.”

The none-too-subtle advice was taken and the event was held again on 8th August 1925.    The weather was good and there were 10,000 spectators – there were also no fewer than eight clubs represented in the five-a-sides.

“CELTIC’S SUCCESS.   Although Celtic were without the usual array of prominent athletes from a distance, their sports on Saturday proved from a sporting point of view one of the most successful meetings held by them in years.   JJ Ryan, the Irish four miles champion, was the outstanding personality in the distance race, and he had a hollow victory, only one other of the ten starters finishing.   Ryan conceded a start of 25 yards to TM Riddell, the Scottish one mile champion, who led for about half-distance; but the pace he set was too hard and he did not finish.   The weather was exceedingly hot, and the other seven runners found themselves in like case and were unable to stay the distance.   Riddell was successful in the half-mile invitation in which, from the 5 yards mark, he returned the good time of 1 min 57 4-5th sec.   Five-a-side football bulked largely in the programme and was probably responsible for a large proportion of the 10,000 spectators.    The winners were the redoubtable Rangers who are almost as successful in the abbreviated game as in the full Association code.”  

So there it is – the Sports returned but with an expanded football element.    There were eight races and a high jump – the distance race referred to was over three miles and the winning time was 14:48.6.   The Rangers meeting of the previous week had several American athletes among the participants and Scottish records were set in four events – the 1000 yards, the 120 yards hurdles, the high jump and the pole vault – the 1000 yards and high jump being British records as well.   There were four invitation events and nine open events of which three were field events and the estimated attendance 30,000.     The contrast was marked and two football club sports meetings which had at one time been pretty well comparable, had diverged to a fairly large degree: the one going for bigger names, top quality competition and maximising the athletics, the other pulling back from athletics (the two best competitors in 1923 and 1925 being Irish champions among almost entirely domestic fields) and inflating the football component.   It was a trend that would continue to develop.

Into 1926 and the football season started on the second Saturday of August – with the Rangers sports on the first Saturday, what were the Celtic management to do?   Abandon the whole idea?   No, what they did was to switch from a Saturday to the following Tuesday evening.   The ‘Glasgow Herald’ previewed the meeting.   “The last of the big athletic meetings in the West takes place tomorrow evening at Parkhead, where Celtic Football Club hold their annual sports.   Many of the distinguished athletes who competed at Ibrox have stayed over, and several special events have been framed.   JJ Webster Birchfield Harriers will take part in a Three Miles handicap and  Tom Riddell will do his best at his own headquarters in the Mile.   The entries actually exceed last year’s total.”   Tom Riddell had attempted to break the mile record at Ibrox on the Saturday and was going to have another go four days later at Parkhead, where as a member of Shettleston Harriers, also domiciled in the East End of Glasgow, he probably did regular training.   The report simply read: “CELTIC FC SPORTS.   Celtic Football Club held their annual athletic sports and five-a-side tournament at Celtic Park last night before 8000 spectators under moderately good conditions.   There was a good representation of amateur talent providing interesting running; and a particular attraction, to JW Webster, of Birchfield Harriers, who unfortunately failed in his attack on the Three Miles record.   The Maryhill Harriers members were prominent on the prize list.”

The result of the three miles handicap special was – 1.   D McLean (Maryhill Harriers) 145 yards; 2.   WH Calderwood (Maryhill Harriers) 125 yards;   3.   F Stevenson (Monkland Harriers)   145 yards.    Time 14 min 39 45th sec.

Second in the Mile Handicap was D McSwein from Greenock Wellpark Harriers off 100 yards – Parkhead seemed to suit him – he had won the event the previous year from 125 yards.   Duncan McSwein went on to be a famous long serving treasurer of the SCCU.

The picture above comes from the annual SAAA championship meeting in April where the two long distance events took place – the 10 miles championship and the 7 Miles Walk.   It had been held often at Celtic Park and it took place again in 1927.   The Celtic Sports did not take place on the second Saturday in August since the football authorities felt that their season should now begin on that date and it is fair to suppose that Celtic were looking for a suitable date.  What is sure is that it did not take place on the first Saturday, the following Tuesday or the Tuesday after that.   The meeting had decamped to the 2nd July.   Their range of alternative dates was circumscribed (a) by all the other regular meetings, and (b) by the lengthening football season – ending later and starting earlier.   Queen’s Park FC Sports were on the first week in June, the Glasgow Police on the third week in June, SAAA Championships a week later, Greenock Glenpark were on the last week in July, Rangers on the first week in August and so on.   It had to be a move back and the second Saturday in July seemed a good choice but this year it fell on the same day as the English championships.

“There was a time in the past when Celtic Football Club’s meetings scintillated with most of the stars that shone in the athletic firmament, but this year the bringing forward of the gathering, due to the encroaching of the football season and its consequent coincidence with the AAA championships compelled the management to rely entirely on home talent.  Frankly the absence of the imported element did not affect the afternoon’s sport, so varied and well balanced was the programme.   Chief interest centred naturally on the two special handicaps over 880 yards and the two miles, as it was no secret that these had been framed with a view to giving JD Hope and Donald McLean , both national champions, opportunities of placing new national figures on the record books of the SAAA.   Neither of them succeeded but the feeling of disappointment, particularly in McLean’s case, was more than counter balanced by the interesting character of both events.   In the half-mile, JD Hope ran his best race ever over the distance as far as time goes, as in finishing three yards behind WH Calderwood (Maryhill Harriers) the winner, his time worked out as 1 min 58    1-5th sec.   Calderwood, who made such an excellent showing in the half-mile against Griffiths and Houghton at the Tramways meeting on Tuesday evening, ran from 12 yards, and his time was recorded as 1 min 57 4-5th sec, the same as CB Mein’s Scottish record.    It is somewhat surprising to find the Maryhill man in this form when it is considered that he made his first public appearance of the season only a week ago.

It cannot be said that in the two miles McLean displayed sound judgment.   Probably the failure of his pacemaker, and his anxiety to be in touch with the leaders may account for his mile time of 4 min 38 1-5th sec, but it was evident that his exertions in the early stages had left him with no reserve when challenged by F Stevenson and J Suttie Smith 100 yards from the tape, as he eased up when headed and cantered the rest of the way home.   From start to finish it was a replica of the four miles championship duel between Stevenson and Smith, and as before Smith’s superior speed in the finishing straight brought him home a good winner.

In Smith we have one of the most promising distance runners we have had for a long time.   His action is easy and his judgment good, and when allowance is made for the few opportunities he had had in Dundee for testing his strength against first-class opposition, his advance has been rapid.    He has had four visits to Glasgow  this season and has collected three first prizes and one second.   His time on Saturday off 20 yards was 9 min 31 sec, and running out the full distance was was clocked as doing 9 min 34 2-5th sec.”

The meeting had seven open races and four special invitation events with one field event  and two cycle races included in the programme.   The five-a-side was won by Rangers 3-2 over a Celtic side which included McMenemy and McGrory.

Problems arose on the new date almost immediately – the triangular international with England and Ireland which had previously been held on the last Saturday in June moved to the second Saturday in July in 1929, and was still there in 1930.   The reason is understandable.   It was the week after the SAAA Championships.   To compete in two such high profile events in successive weeks was not ideal and they were moved.   This left Celtic with another headache.   Almost every Saturday in June and July was taken up with one event or another, some of the major events are listed above but other football clubs such as Partick Thistle and Falkirk had their own dates, and there were meetings all over the country from Golspie to Lockerbi via Aberfeldy, Beith and Catrine.

In 1930 the club was back at the first Tuesday in August, the 5th to be exact.    The report, in its entirety, read:   “KEEN TUSSLES AT CELTIC SPORTS.   The sports meeting under the auspices of Celtic Football Club were held at Celtic Park last night  in fine weather and before 5000 spectators.   The sport throughout was interesting.   In the two miles team race, the struggle between Donald McLean and WH Calderwood for victory was the chief feature.   McLean jumped into the lead at the bell and, running strongly, defeated his team mate by five yards.”    A good meeting with the report apparently written on the back of an envelope.   There were also cycle races and, naturally, a five-a-side competition.  McLean’s winning time was 4:46.8 and Celtic beat Partick Thistle 4 – 3 in the football.

Despite the success of the 1930 meeting there was apparently no follow up meeting in 1931 – at least not on the three dates previously used by the club – second Saturday in July, second Saturday in August or second Tuesday in August.

THE CELTIC SPORTS

In 1932, the  triangular international was again on the second Saturday in July and the Tuesday in August which had previously been the club’s alternative date of choice saw most of the regular athletes (Bobby Graham, Walter Calderwood, etc)  in action at the Springburn Harriers meeting at Helenvale.   At Celtic Park, Celtic FC had their final trial before the opening of the football season the following Saturday.

The sports of 1933 were unable to go ahead on the first Tuesday in August because the Glasgow Transport Sports were taking place at Helenvale that night – nor were they to be found on the following Tuesday or on any of the ‘vacant’ Saturdays in the year..

In 1934 the sports were held on Tuesday, 7th August and although the event was covered there was no report on the athletics – the entire report was devoted to the fact that a Celtic player called Crum (we were never told his Christian name by the ‘Glasgow Herald’) had his leg broken when he fell in a tackle by a Clyde player called McPhail during the first five-a-side match.   Five paragraphs were devoted to the event.   There were six races, two cycle races and a five-a-side tournament.   The races were all domestic affairs with not a single big name or champion among them.

Just when you thought the event was on its last legs, an excellent meeting came up on Tuesday 6th August 1935.    The headline read: “NEW SCOTTISH RECORD AT CELTIC SPORTS: R GRAHAM’S SUCCESS OVER THREE-QUARTER MILE.   The annual sports meeting of Celtic FC was held last night at Celtic Park, Glasgow, in fine weather conditions and before a moderate attendance.   Some excellent sport was witnessed, and in the special invitation race over the three-quarter mile, R Graham set up a new Scottish record of 3 min 4 6-10th sec, this time being 1 6-10th sec faster than that set up by Tom Riddell at the Queen’s Park Sports three years ago.   Graham ran from the scratch mark, instead of the 10 yards as originally intended in the handicap and he was accompanied by J Gifford and JP Laidlaw to both of whom he conceded 10 yards.   He covered his first lap in 61 seconds, but took 63 4-10th for the second.   In his final 300 yards however, he put in a great finish catching the leaders at the last bend went on to win by six yards from W Gunn. “   There were six races, three cycle events and a five-a-side.    The fields were entirely domestic and almost exclusively from the West of Scotland.

On 3rd August, 1936, the programme was even more reduced with only five races, three cycle races and a five-a-side competition with four teams taking part – Rangers, Celtic, Partick Thistle and Queens Park.    The fields were composed of local athletes and the complete report read: “CELTIC FC SPORTS: SHAWFIELD HARRIERS PROMINENT.   The annual athletics sports meeting promoted by Celtic FC took place last night at Parkhead, Glasgow, where an interesting programme was quickly and successfully carried through.   About 6000 spectators were present.     Shawfield Harriers were prominent, J Baillie having a good “double” by winning the 100 yards and 220 yards handicaps, and G Beveridge getting the Mile.   Celtic were popular and deserved winners of the football tournament.”  

In 1937 and 1938, team trials seemed to be the order of the day for the club and there were no notes of any Celtic FC Annual Sports on the usual dates available to them in the past.   On Wednesday, August 9th, 1939, there was no report on any sports although there was a lot of praise for Willie Maley’s book “The Story Of The Celtic.”

It would seem that the great sports meetings held by the club for several decades had come to a stuttering halt.    They were thrown in chaos when first of all the SFA decided to start their League programme on the second Saturday in August making the event impossible, and then by the SAAA/AAA/NIAAA altering the date of the international to the new Celtic date in July.    It might be instructive to look back at the Celtic Sports as they were at the start of the century on a fresh page.