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Fullname: Matthew McVittie
aka: Matt McVittie
Born: 30 September 1937
Birthplace: Calderbank
Signed: 29 July 1953 (prov); 9 December 1953 (full)
Left: Feb 1956 - Feb 1958 (Army); 25 Nov 1959 (to St Johnstone)
Position: Inside-Right
Debut: Celtic 4-0 Clyde, Glasgow Cup, 23 Aug 1955
Internationals: n/a

Biog

A highly rated schoolboy prospect Matthew McVittie signed for Celtic on provisional terms from Wishaw Juniors in July 1953.

The inside-right made his first team debut for the Hoops as a seventeen-year-old as the Bhoys defeat Clyde 4-0 in a Glasgow Cup match at Parkhead on August 23rd 1955. A composed and intelligent ball player he had made good progress - mostly in in Jock Stein's reserve side -when he broke an arm during a match with Derry as part of the 1958 tour of Ireland.

A long stint in the army lost him time and development at Celtic, however Celtic were poor throughout the 1950s and Matt was unfortunate to be involved at this time. Celtic had a short purple patch (in the league cup) during his time at the club, but he wasn't involved heavily and didn't get a consistent chance in the first team to make a significant difference.

Having recovered from that blow Matt would eventually lose his place in the side by later 1959 to Steve Chalmers and by November had moved to England and Cambridge Town.

Matt played 44 times for Celtic and scored 12 goals. A fair record, but another for whom it could have been so much better potentially if the set-up at Celtic was far better than what it had become during his tenure at the club.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

No major honours

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