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Note: There has been more than one player with the same name to have played for Celtic. So please check the other namesakes if need be.
Personal
Fullname: William McStay
aka: Willie McStay, The Tank, Hugh McStay [birthname]
Born: 21 June 1892
Died: 3 September 1960
Birthplace: Netherburn, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Signed: 13 January 1912, 19 July 1916, 23 January 1919
Left: 20 August 1929
Position: Defence, Full-back
Debut: St Mirren 1-5 Celtic, League, 19 Aug 1916
Internationals: Scotland / Scottish League
International Caps: 13 / 10
International Goals: 0
Biog
There have been few consistently excellent performers in a Celtic shirt as Willie McStay.
Signed from Larkhall Thistle in 1912 the robustly built Netherburn man spent his first few seasons on loan at Ayr United before finally making his breakthrough for the Bhoys in season 1916-17.
His competitive debut came at Love Street on 19th August 1916 when Celtic defeated St Mirren 5-1 in the league. Although his favoured position was at left-back, Willie McStay also turned out regularly as a centre-half and he excelled in both positions.
A strong but clean tackler, Willie McStay was an athletic and determined player whose natural strength and keen competitive edge made him a formidable opponent and an ideal team-mate, hence the nickname ‘The Tank‘.
He was a fearless performer who never ducked out of a challenge but he was also the most sporting of players. When on-field, he never gave less than his all. His fitness and stamina were legendary and coupled to his determined attitude and tremendous work ethic, he had a natural ability on the ball which made him one of the most accomplished defenders in the game.
His Celtic career was interrupted by the First World War, and as a soldier Willie McStay turned out as a loan signing for both Distillery and Belfast Celtic.
He returned to Parkhead in 1919 to help the club in a re-build, but the club’s domestic hegemony was to be at an end.
A high-mark was scoring a double v Dundee in the league in a 2-1 win in March 1923. He was a rare goalscorer, so to score both goals was quite personal achievement. His first was a penalty, and the second was a last minute winner from a free-kick! He has previously scored twice also v Hearts in March 1921, the first two goals in a dramatic 3-2 win.
Willie McStay fell out with the club in the immediate wake of the 1923 Scottish Cup triumph when the committee decided that despite the cup success they would cut the players’ wages. Willie McStay went AWOL and was suspended by the club. During this period, he headed to the United States, and with some US clubs paying the handsome sum of £14 a week to players, Willie McStay made an appearance for the New York Giants.
His stay in America was brief, and he returned to Glasgow and Celtic in time for the start of the new season. In little over a year, he would be made captain.
As Celtic’s skipper, he inspired his side to a famous 5-0 trouncing of Rangers in the 1925 Scottish Cup semi-final, and with so many great attributes it is perhaps unsurprising he went on to become a fine captain both for Celtic and Scotland.
Willie McStay helped further lead Celtic on to the league championship in 1926 and two Scottish Cup triumphs (1925, 1927). He was unfortunate in season 1925/26/ not to make it a league & cup double, with Celtic losing 2-0 to St Mirren in the final. However, it didn’t overshadow a fine season, in which he was a near ever-present in the league and even scored the winner in a 1-0 win over Raith Rovers, which helped push Celtic to the title by 8pts ahead of the competition.
He eventually left the Hoops in the summer of 1929 when he joined Hearts for £250, but retired soon after in 1930.
For Celtic, he had made 446 league & Scottish Cup appearances and scored 39 goals.
In an interesting twist, he was succeeded as Celtic captain by his brother Jimmy McStay in 1929.
He retired from play in 1930, and took over a pub in Kirkmuirhill (Lanarkshire), and appeared briefly for local side Kirkmuirhill Juniors. After the pub went bust he was to later become manager of Glentoran (Northern Ireland) for a period in the mid-1930s. He then returned to Glasgow where he worked as a factory security officer.
As a Celt, he had won a total of four league titles and three Scottish Cups, and as an international he had won thirteen caps with five as captain, as well as ten for the Scottish League XI.
He passed away in September 1960 after having been suffering from chronic bronchitis.
He was a truly great player and leader.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1916-1929 | 399 | 47 | – | – | 446 |
| Goals | 36 | 3 | – | – | 39 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Division One
Scottish Cups
Pictures
Links
Articles
Notes
- His birthname was actually Hugh and it was only formally corrected by him in 1957, although he spent his life known as Willie.
- In 1960, suffering from chronic bronchitis, he collapsed in Shettleston Road and was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where he was found to have already passed away.