Cambusnethan Cemetery: The Final Resting Places Of Two Famous Celtic Players | OneFootball

In December 2020, I completed a compilation of Celtic landmarks and sites of interest, and put them into a book titled The Holy Grounds of Glasgow Celtic. Each place was listed with images, an address and its significance to the Celtic story. Since then, I have made a point of visiting some of the sites that I hadn’t previously been able to get to. One such location was Cambusnethan Cemetery, where two famous Celtic players are buried.

Eddie Pearson’s grave

Jimmy Delaney’s grave

Cambusnethan Cemetery is located on Coronation Street, Wishaw, ML2 8LF. There, the graves of Eddie Pearson and Jimmy Delaney can be found.

Eddie Pearson: Eddie Pearson was never a registered Celtic player, but he stands out for comprising part of the first 11 players ever to take to the field in representation of the club. Pearson had played four games for Edinburgh Hibernians in the 1887 Scottish Cup, though he didn’t play in the Final. It appears that he signed for Carfin Shamrock at the end of the season, but guested for Celtic, along with some of his former teammates, in the club’s inaugural match against Rangers on 28 May 1888. Eddie Pearson never played for Celtic again, but he did come up against the Celts in an 1890 Scottish Cup clash. The first meeting was drawn 2-2 and Celtic took the replay by three goals to one. His grave was identified, and he was suitably honoured by the Celtic Graves Society, during the group’s admirable effort to find the final resting places of the first ever Celtic team.

An early Celtic line up

Jimmy Delaney: Celtic have been blessed with entertainers in every generation. Bobby Templeton, Patsy Gallacher, Charlie Tully, Jimmy Johnstone, Lubo Moravcik, Paddy McCourt. Jimmy Delaney was an outside right of this ilk. A Cleland Bhoy, Delaney played for his beloved Celtic from 1933 until 1946. These were testing times at Celtic Park, but Jimmy’s skill was a source of enjoyment for the throngs of fans on the Paradise terraces. Speaking of the throng of people at Celtic games, this is an understatement as football was the number one source of entertainment at the time. Indeed, Jimmy Delaney exhibited his talents to 300,000 fans in the space of a week in 1937! The first match was a 3-1 win for Scotland against England at Hampden Park, witnessed by 149,547 fans, whilst the second was the Scottish Cup Final, which Celtic won 2-1 against Aberdeen at Hampden, in front of 147,433 people. The attendance at that cup Final remains a world record crowd for a domestic cup final.

Delaney had that quality that so many Scottish playmakers had in those days, in the sense that he was also as brave as a lion. This is reflected by the fact that a horrific broken arm injury kept him out of the game for two years between 1939 and 1941 but he bounced back to stardom on his return and single-handedly performed for Celtic at times.

Jimmy left Celtic in 1946 with two league titles, a Scottish Cup and an Empire Exhibition Cup to his name. He signed for Matt Busby’s Manchester United in a £4,000 deal and within two years, Jimmy had won the English FA Cup. He was held in high regard in Manchester but moved back to Scotland at the age of 36 in the twilight of his career. Delaney played against Celtic a few times for Aberdeen and Falkirk, then he signed for Derry City in 1954 after the Ulster club paid an Irish Football League record transfer fee of £1,500. Delaney repaid Derry’s faith in him as a 39-year-old by helping them to win the Irish Cup that year.

Jimmy Delaney concluded his time in Ireland by serving as a Player-Manager with Cork Athletic, where he lost in the FAI Cup Final, before bringing the curtain down on his career after one final season back in Scotland with Elgin City in the Highland League.

Jimmy passed away in 1989 and, as he had requested at Tom Maley’s funeral some years earlier, a Celtic shirt was draped over his coffin. He is remembered as a football legend through winning a unique trio of national cup trophies in Scotland, England and “Northern Ireland”.

The Delaney connection lives on at Celtic Park today as his grandson is none other than Celtic Assistant Manager John Kennedy.

Jimmy Delaney commemoration

The Holy Grounds of Glasgow Celtic: A Guide To Celtic Landmarks & Sites Of Interest is a popular book, covering over 60 stories and locations.All proceeds go to Celtic FC Foundation and you can purchase a copy by clicking the image above.