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Details
Title: Celtic Football Club – 100 Greats
Author: Paul Lunney
Published: 2003
Player Homepage: Playing Greats & Legends
Synopsis
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Review
(by David Potter)
This book is well worth a read, and has “Xmas present for Dad” written all over it. Paul, already a fine historian for Celtic and other clubs, enhances his reputation here with a well produced book of 100 Great Celtic players.
If you are really great (like Billy McNeill, Henrik Larsson and Jimmy Johnstone, for example) you get two pages; lesser mortals only get one. But every one of the 100 has a picture (or a drawing) and some of the pictures are rare ones. For example, Jimmy McGrory walking off the field at the end of the 1937 Scottish Cup Final, and a Scottish Daily Express cartoon about Patsy Gallacher which seems to have a couple of dates wrong.
Incidentally, Paul calls him Patsy Gallagher, whereas Patsy himself (according to his daughter in law) insisted on Gallacher, which was more Scottish.
As Paul himself admits, restricting Celtic Greats to 100 commits a few injustices with men like Peter Johnstone and John Clark omitted, and obviously one can quibble with Paul about who should or should not be in. My impression is that his judgement is generally valid.
The only inclusion that raises my hackles is that of the execrable Maurice Johnston whose contribution to Celtic on the field was really rather marginal. Better John Clark, one feels than that detestable character, Johnston. He certainly had the capacity for inspiring hatred, venom and bile in many writers (myself not excluded), but is he really a Celtic great?
The tone is light hearted and readable, never too heavy and never over reliant on statistics. One gets interesting asides that are not too well known. For example, Bertie Mee of Arsenal tried to sign Bobby Lennox, Jimmy McMenemy played for Partick Thistle against Rangers in the 1921 Scottish Cup Final only as a late replacement for an injury, and that Danny McGrain’s father played for Hearts.
It is a good read, possibly for the bedside table as a “dipper in” sort of a book.
Well done, Paul! Keep doing this! Celtic must be the most written about team in the world, and Paul has made another notable contribution.
Product Details
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: The History Press LTD (25 April 2003)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0752427415
ISBN-13: 978-0752427416
Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 16.4 x 1 cm
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