Celtic in the Thirties: Unpublished works of David Potter – Frank Murphy

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The Celtic Star

·22 November 2024

Celtic in the Thirties: Unpublished works of David Potter – Frank Murphy

Celtic in the Thirties: Unpublished works of David Potter today features Frank Murphy…

The late David Potter

Name: FRANK MURPHY Born: December 6 1915 Died: February 12 1984 Appearances: 243 Goals: 77 Scottish League medals: 1935/36, 1937/38 Scottish Cup medals: 1936/37 Glasgow Cup medals: 1940/41 Glasgow Charity Cup medals: 1935/36, 1936/37, 1937/38 Scotland Caps: 1

Frank Murphy and John Divers. Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr. Image by Celtic Curio

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Frank Murphy was one of these players who simply “arrived” in the 1935/36 season. He had been with the club for a few seasons, having had a few good moments, not least his debut against Airdrie in 1934 in which he scored twice, but he had never really been able to replace Hugh O’Donnell on the left wing, his favourite position. Yet O’Donnell, although having won a Scottish Cup medal in 1933, had not been a total success either, and there was certainly a vacuum on the left wing.

The speedy Frank Murphy

Celtic had been well served on the left wing the past by Adam McLean, and to a lesser extent by Charlie Napier in recent years and by Davie Hamilton in the days of long ago, but it was a position that had caused a few headaches. But now in 1935, Celtic had a great right winger in Jimmy Delaney, and it was felt by Jimmy McMenemy, with the tacit approval of Willie Maley, that the speedy Frank Murphy could do the job on the other side.

Frank Murphy – a great Celtic forward

Frank Murphy

Frank, unlike some others like Delaney for example, did not obviously “hotch” with talent, but he learned on the job and by the end of the 1935/36 season was lauded as being a worthy member of that side – and in 1936 that was saying something!

Early in his career that season on November 9 1935 came the goal that Jimmy McMenemy, a man little given to hyperbole, described as the best goal he had ever seen as Frank dribbled round a Hibs defence (which included the great ex-Celt Peter Wilson) to score a wonderful goal.

“What a dazzler”

Given that McMenemy had seen at first hand goals from Jimmy Quinn, Patsy Gallacher and had also scored a few crackers himself, this was no mean compliment. But The Sunday Post seems to agree – saying “what a dazzler” to describe the goal, and adding laconically that Murphy “will do” as Celtic’s left winger.

Celtic star Frank Murphy in action. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Frank’s attitude was totally correct. He was never a man to be pushed around, but he always had the ability to keep himself under control especially on the occasions when brutal defenders saw no problem in chopping down speedy left wingers. He enjoyed training, and trained hard. Like Stein and Mochan did a generation later, McMenemy was able to make training fun, knowing how to encourage and how to get the best out of his players. As far as Murphy was concerned, life was absolutely heavenly, for he also had the advantage of suffering from that incurable condition of being Celtic daft.

Set piece expert

In addition to his speed and his ability to stretch defences, there was another skill of the game in which he clearly excelled. This was the ability to take set pieces. Statistics cannot really show how often McGrory scored from a Murphy corner kick or free kick. All we can say was “a lot”, the conventional wisdom being that all Murphy really had to do was to float a ball into the penalty box, and McGrory would rise like a bird to score. There was a lot more to it than that of course, but McGrory was always very happy to pay tribute to the ability of Murphy to supply the high balls.

Mark and his Mum (Frank Murphy’s daughter) with scottish cup team. Photo The Celtic Star.

The other feature of that fine side was the ability to interchange position. It was a tactic worked out by McMenemy, based on the great side that he had played in 30 years before, and it meant that sometimes Delaney would appear on the left, which meant that Murphy of course went to the right – or sometimes, more effectively, stayed on the left, making an apparently unbalanced forward line but also disorientating the opposition defence and creating openings for the talented Willie Buchan on the right.

The all-British Empire Exhibition trophy

The Scottish League and the Glasgow Charity Cup on 1936 were followed by the Scottish Cup in 1937 before a crowd of a lot more than even the record attendance given and before which many players confessed to feeling faint because of the sheer noise. Murphy played his part in all this with honour, and then of course came 1938 and the great triumphs of that year which included the all-British Empire Exhibition trophy.

Celtic in the Thirties, Vol One by Matt Corr.

Celtic in the Thirties – Volume Two

All this was good enough, but he was also given his International debut. Modestly, although he had had a couple of games for the Scottish League against the Irish League, he never considered himself good enough for a full International honour – and indeed Scotland was not short of left wingers at this point – but on May 21 1938, Frank found himself in the Scotland team to play Holland in the Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam.

Murphy scored a marvellous goal for Scotland

Scotland won comfortably 3-1, and Murphy scored a marvellous goal. A cross ball from George Brown of Rangers found Frank Murphy on his left wing. Frank took the ball in his stride, ran through the defence and hammered home a great shot to the delight of the Scottish Press, particularly Alan Breck of The Evening Times. One might have thought that this might have been good enough to earn him a few more games for Scotland, but Scottish selectors were as irrational as ever.

Celtic ‘old crocks’ side. Photo The Celtic Wiki

1938 was in fact the apex of his career, for although Murphy himself played well in season 1938/39, the rest of the Celtic team didn’t and then of course came the War with all the problems that that brought. Murphy would eventually join the RAF in 1943, but for the first few years, he was available to play in that dysfunctional set-up that prevailed at Celtic Park.

Glasgow Cup in September 1940

There was one moment of glory when they won the Glasgow Cup in September 1940, but these were sad days, and although football still provided some sort of relief from the horrors of war, people’s minds were generally speaking elsewhere. Murphy left Celtic in 1942 and played for a spell with Albion Rovers, where he met Jock Stein, before joining the RAF. He turned out for Tranmere Rovers, Aldershot and Limerick before his career come to an end in 1946.

Author Matt Corr with Frank Murphy’s daughters Bernadette and Kathy and grandson Mark. Photo The Celtic Star

Always a quiet, shy man, Frank retained his love for Celtic

Always a quiet, shy man, Frank retained his love for Celtic, often appearing at games at Parkhead to cheer on the team in the crowd who were unaware of who he was. He seldom sought the limelight, but he did on one occasion give an interview to the Press saying that he thought that the 1967 was better than the team he played in, and that the speed of Lennox was something to behold. The modest and unpretentiousness of the man was apparent in those remarks, but none of this detracts in any way from his own dazzling career.

Frank Murphy, photo The Celtic Wiki

A truly great Celt

He also, without anyone making any great fuss about it, acted as PA address announcer at Celtic Park on occasion. Always friendly, encouraging and with a sense of humour, he remained much loved. Frank died in 1984, a grossly under-rated player, and a truly great Celt.

David Potter