Hogg, Bobby

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Fullname: Robert Brown Hogg
aka: Bobby Hogg, Robert Hogg
Born: 19 May 1914
Died: 15 April 1975
Birthplace: Larkhall
Signed: 11 May 1931
Left: 19 Nov 1948 (free own request); 23 Dec 1948 (signed for Alloa)
Debut: Queen’s Park 4-1 Celtic, League, 17 Sep 1932
Position: Defence, Right-back
Internationals: Scotland / Scottish League
International Caps: 1 cap / 5 Caps
International Goals: 0


Biog

“A credit to the team he loved”
The Celtic View

Hogg, Bobby - PicIn a 17-year Celtic career the great Bobby Hogg experienced the highs and the lows of life in the Hoops, and sadly had his career interrupted by war. Few players have played for the club for as long and seen as few great honours, but time & circumstance did not help Bobby Hogg who still more than played his part for the club.

Signed from junior outfit Royal Albert in May 1931 the Larkhall-born right back made his competitive first team debut in a 4-1 league defeat at Queen’s Park on September 17th 1932.

The perfect professional Bobby Hogg was a dedicated Celtic man whose quiet but assured ways made him an immensely well liked and respected figure among team-mates, fans and opponents. Not necessarily as pivotal as say Alec McNair or Danny McGrain were in their sides from different generations, but still wholly dependable as a player.

As a defender he was as swift as they come, and his coolness and assured tackling made him one of the best full backs of his day. He struck up a wonderful partnership with McGonagle which was much praised, creating a much respected defence.

He won his first Scottish Cup medal early, in the same season he made his debut. It may likely have wetted his appetite for more silverware but it was to be hard to find at Celtic.

One of his finest moments was in the Glasgow Cup when he scored a 65-yard shot against Third Lanark in 1936, something that he failed to repeat doing in the major competitions.

With Jimmy McMenemy entering the fray as assistant manager (and in practise the de facto manager), things were to change at Celtic and a turn for the better. He won two league championships and two Scottish Cups at Parkhead. These fine achievements gave Bobby Hogg the silverware he deserved to treasure and truly mark his career, without which it would have left him with nothing to show.

He was also a vital part of the team which famously lifted the Empire Exhibition Trophy in June 1938. Bobby Hogg played his part in stifling the highly rated Everton line in the Empire Exhibition Trophy competition.

What was very commendable about him as a person was that, Bobby Hogg was among the most honest players ever to step on a football field and if he could not win the ball fairly then he would never resort to fouling.

Bobby Hogg’s career suffered due to a combination of reasons: Celtic’s neglectful approach to wartime football, lack of international football in the war years and an increasing bias against Celtic. No easy time to be at the club, and players like him suffered due to circumstances both within and outwith of the club.

However, Celtic were becoming a poorer side relative to others in the club’s history, and consequently he played out his career at Parkhead in sides which struggled to compete with even the most mediocre of opponents.

The War Years were torment off the field, with no respite on it either. Jimmy McStay as the new manager did not fare well, and the situation at Celtic was a shambles. One of the few lucky points for Bobby Hogg during the war was that he thankfully got to miss the 8-1 tanking off of Rangers.

The post-war years were still a travesty for Celtic, and his final season with Celtic was the nadir season of 1947-48 where Celtic only just scraped through to avoid relegation. Bobby Hogg played in that vital 3-2 win over Dundee which safeguarded Celtic from relegation but he deserved to end on a better high to his senior career. It was his last major match for the club, not a fitting end. He’d actually only played sporadically that season, and it appears that he was pulled in late for that do or die match despite having last played in January, and only a handful of times for the first team in the past six months. Likely highlights the desperation at the time.

His last actual game for the first team was a Glasgow Charity Cup final v Rangers which Celtic lost 2-0. For no other reason, it would have been wonderful to win this if only for Bobby Hogg. Maybe it just mirrored the true state of affairs at that time in Glasgow football and especially at Celtic.

On the international front, he was awarded just the one Scotland cap. Curiously, he was a travelling reserve for the national side so often that he was awarded his Scotland jerseys as a souvenir. Next thing, during the war years when clothing was rationed, the SFA approached him for a loan back of the shirts to help fit out their First XI.

He would eventually leave Celtic Park on a free transfer with a £500 gift from the club, and sign for Alloa in December 1948. By then he had played – including the unofficial wartime matches – an incredible 538 games for Celtic in the major competitions. This total would have been higher if not for the wartime circumstances.

Incredibly, he never scored any goals in the major competitions (excludes the Glasgow Cup). Possibly with the number of games he played, he likely holds the record for the most games that any Celtic player will ever play without ever scoring for the first team. It could even be a UK record.

Bobby Hogg was a class act in every sense and fully deserves his status as a Celtic great. He was totally committed to the club as could be seen in how he stuck by Celtic even through its most tumultuous time.

He passed away in 1975. A great & fine Celt.


Playing Career

APPEARANCES LEAGUE SCOTTISH CUP SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP REGIONAL LEAGUE REGIONAL LEAGUE CUP
SCOTTISH WESTERN CUP TOTAL
1931-48 278 10 34 179 35 2 538
Goals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League

Scottish Cups

Empire Exhibition Trophy

Glasgow Cup

  • 2

Glasgow Charity Cup

  • 3

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Hogg, Bobby - The Celtic Wiki