L | Player Pics | A-Z of Players
Personal
Fullname: (first name unknown) Laughlin
aka: Laughlin, Loughlin, Loughlan, Laughlan, M Laughlin
Born: […]
Birthplace: […]
Signed:[…]
Left: […]
Position: Midfielder
Debut: 1893-03-18: Celtic 5-1 Dumbarton, League
Biog
This unknown player had a very brief on-field time at Celtic, where in his debut (a 5-1 league victory over Dumbarton) he had to come off with an injury, and then appears to have never played for Celtic again:
“The play continued vigorously, and Loughlin had to retire suffering from an injury“.
The Glasgow Herald described him as being from the “2nd XI“. The Celtic reserve team was mostly made up from the Junior ranks, many from the local Irish teams. Players could also be drafted in from Carfin Shamrock, Broxburn Shamrock, etc straight into the first team on occasion, before professionalism, as the need required.
The match came one week after Celtic had lost the Scottish Cup final to Queens’ Park 2-1. Bouncing back v Dumbarton was a big result as Dumbarton were the joint league title holders, although a shadow of the side this season to last season. Also as there were no substitutes back in the day, Celtic likely won the match playing with only ten men after Laughlin’s departure.
Despite the absence of some players for internationals in the following league match of the season (2-0 win v Renton), Laughlin wasn’t in the side, but then again maybe he was still injured.
One silver lining for Laughlin is that as Celtic went on to win the league title that season for the first time in the club’s history, Laughlin helped to play his small part in the success & history-making, albeit a walk-on part. Something to take pride in. As Celtic won the title by just the 1pt ahead of Rangers, every effort & involvement counted.
Truth is that little else is known about this player! It was the early days, and things were not as well documented or administered as they were to become.
We have only got three reports (two from one match & one from a reserve/scratch match):
- For Celtic v Dumbarton, 18 March 1893, Loughlin (The Scotsman) or Laughlin (The Herald) plays. The Herald describes him as being from the “2nd XI”.
- The previous year (8 August 1892), Celtic played Partick Thistle in a ‘scratch match’ (the first team was in Dundee that day). One of the Celts was named as ‘M Laughlin‘. It’s possible – if not likely – that these are the same person. If so, we would at least have an initial.
Of course, all of this assumes the newspaper articles are accurate!
There are alternative theories:
- It could simply be ex-Celt James McLaughlin. He had become a referee that season but he could have been brought in as a reserve/stop-gap player.
- It could even just be an alias/covername for a trialist (not an unknown tactic back in the day).
There was also a “McLaughlin” (first name unknown) who had played one game in 1892 for Celtic but again there’s not much more info to add. Could be the same player, or as said before it was just a catch-all alias/covername for trialists.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1892-93 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 |
| Goals | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
(Honours are marked below in which the player has played in at least one of the matches in the campaign.)
Scottish League
Pictures
- Player Pics
Notes
- Above helped put together with @hailhailhistory.
Articles
The Scotsman – Monday, 20th March 1893, page 5
This League match came off at Celtic Park. Dumbarton kicked off against the wind and in a twinkling were on Cullen, where a corner was conceded. The Celts got away, and were soon storming the opposing goal, where an excellent defence prevented disaster. From a most determined attack a corner was awarded the home team. The play continued vigorously, and Loughlin had to retire suffering from an injury. At this period the Celts were the most aggressive, but Miller and Smith, the Dumbarton backs, were playing a steady game, and scoring was prevented. The visitors had an innings, but it was short-lived, and the Celtic, returning to their opponents’ quarters, maintained a prolonged attack, but all to no advantage, Barr proving himself invincible. Ultimately from a piece of very tricky work on the part of the Celtic left wing, an opening was forced. Half-time -: Celtic , two goals; Dumbarton, nil. The play that got the Celtic their goal on the call of half-time was continued at the start of the second half, and the operation repeated in less than five minutes, Davidson taking the parting kick. The quality of the play somewhat fluctuated, and Dumbarton, through the instrumentality of Johnstone, opened their score. This success did not increase the quality of the visitors’ play for shortly after it was evident that the Celts had the game in hand. The home team added a fifth point. Result – Celtic, five goals; Dumbarton, one goal.
Celtic Team:- Cullen, Reynolds, T. Dunbar, Maley, Kelly, Laughlin, Blessington, Davidson, McMahon, Mulvey, Campbell
Scorers:- Davidson (2), Kelly, Mulvey, Blessington
