Dunn, Willie

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Fullname: William Marshall Dunn
aka: Willie Dunn, Billy Dunn, William Dunn
Born: 9 October 1910
Died: 7 September 1980
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 6 February 1933
Left: 7 June 1935 (to Brentford)
Position: Centre-Forward
Debut: St Johnstone 1-1 Celtic, League, 23 Sep 1933
Internationals: none

Biog

Centre-forward Willie Dunn was signed by Celtic in February 1933 from Ashfield. He was one of an incredible set of nine footballing brothers.

As a junior, Willie Dunn boasted an impressive scoring record and he made his Hoops debut in place of the injured Jimmy McGrory on 23rd September 1933 in a 1-1 league draw at St Johnstone.

Whilst Jimmy McGrory nursed his injury, Willie Dunn was given a run in the first team in season 1933-34 for six games but failed to score in any of them, a run that saw Celtic win two matches, draw two matches and lose two matches.

His first Celtic appearance was actually against a Chile/Peru touring team at Celtic Park on 4 October 1933.

After being dropped it wasn’t until February 1934 that he was given another match (again deputising for Jimmy McGrory) and this time he scored in a 2-2 draw at home to Aberdeen in the league. Willie Dunn had set up the first goal and scored the second with some claiming it could be offside, only for Aberdeen to spoil his day by cancelling out his efforts with a goal in each half.

Again the next season he was given three matches only, once more deputising for Jimmy McGrory, and scored his second goal for the first team in a 5-1 win over Albion Rovers in the league, best remembered for a Delaney hat-trick. It was reported that:

“Dunn, although not too prominent, distributed play quite well, and was most unselfish“.

Despite becoming a frequent scorer for the reserves, Willie Dunn failed to repeat that form for the first team. To fill in for Jimmy McGrory is quite an honour but also a daunting task, and Willie Dunn couldn’t match up sadly.

In June 1935 he was sold to Brentford after nine league appearances and two goals for the Bhoys, then later moved onto Southampton and Raith Rovers. During the war, he guested for various sides including Albion Rovers, Dumbarton & Leeds.

He passed away in 1980.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

Pictures

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