Rae, Joseph

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Personal

Fullname: Joseph Rae
aka: Joe Rae, ‘Do Rae’
Born: 6 March 1925
Died: 1 May 1987
Birthplace: Partick
Signed: September 1942
Left: 14 June 1943 (Navy); July 1948 (Torquay Utd)
Position: Forward (and later a goalkeeper)
Debut: Partick Thistle 2-3 Celtic, Regional League, 3 Oct 1942
Internationals: none

Biog

Joe Rae was a centre-forward who signed for Celtic as a 17-year-old from Arthurlie in September 1942.

His first team debut came on October 3rd at Partick Thistle when Celtic secured a 3-2 Regional League win.

This hard running youngster put in some promising early performance but Joe then joined the Royal Navy in June 1943 as the war effort continued on land and sea. A great loss to the club first side but there were national priorities.

Loaned out to Plymouth Argyle for the 1945-46 season, Joe Rae returned to Glasgow for the next season where he was even called up as a stand-in keeper on a number of occasions and never failed to impress with his performances between the sticks.

One of his most notable league games was v Third Lanark in March 1946, when he scored a hat-trick in the Southern League Cup (wartime League Cup competition equivalent). He was mostly a regular in 1946-47 where he had a fine goal scoring form despite the poor form of the first team, with Celtic finishing 7th behind even Morton in the fight for the league title. The warning signs to the club management should have been already flashing at this point.

The next season was even more difficult. He was part of the Celtic squad that came close to relegation in 1947-48. His last four league appearances for Celtic were defeats in that season. However, there were major issues across the board at the club at the time. After this, it was obvious to all that big changes were needed and that will have included Joe Rae.

He departed to Torquay in July 1948 after having second thoughts about a proposed move to FC Rosario in Argentina (cost him £61 ten shillings to get out of it). He was only 23 years of age when he left Celtic.

Joe Rae had played 45 competitive games for Celtic and netted 21 goals, almost a goal each second game. Taking in his age range at Celtic, it’s an incredible record especially in light of the circumstances. Celtic should possibly have tried to retain him.

This was a period when Celtic really were at their lowest ebb as Rangers pushed their weight around with establishment support. Club & board management was poor at Celtic, but Joe Rae was one of the few at Celtic who could mostly hold their head up high from that time. Sadly wartime lost him valuable match experience to develop & make a greater name for himself, and so on a footballing front both he & Celtic lost out.

Joe Rae passed away in May 1987.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

Pictures

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Links

• World War Two