Celtic’s Football Specials – An Eventful History

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The Celtic Star

·6 November 2024

Celtic’s Football Specials – An Eventful History

After the demise of the old Celtic Brake Clubs, football special trains had the fans travelling together in larger numbers…

It was only when the rail companies decided to run a particular football special train that the club gave a guarantee and claimed a percentage of the bookings.

The specials were the first suggested by the clubs, as the rail companies took no risks but rather made the contracting club guarantee them against loss. Special saloons were put aside for the brake clubs.

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On January 24, 1925, after a game against Third Lanark at Cathkin, 60 supporters were injured when a train carrying 800 fans from Crosshill on its arrival at Glasgow Central ran into the hydraulic buffers at Platform 9 at an unusually high speed, which resulted in the telescoping of the two leading carriages.

Glasgow Cup Tie Train Disaster 1925. Press Cutting from Celtic Bars.

A number of passengers had opened the train doors in anticipation of getting off the train when the impact of the crash occurred. Their cries of pain could be heard over the din of the traffic. It took 30 minutes with picks, saws, and other tools to demolish the carriages and get the injured out. 45 supporters needed hospital treatment at the Royal Infirmary, with ten being kept in hospital.

Glasgow Cup Tie Train Disaster. Sunday Post Press Cutting from Celtic Bars.

When one casualty regained consciousness, he wasn’t concerned about his injuries, only asking how his coupon got on. A Celtic supporter on a stretcher noticed the guy beside him was a Third Lanark fan. They were both last seen being wheeled away to the casualty room having a full-blown argument about the merit of McStay’s penalty, with the Third Lanark supporter saying, “The penalty wasna fair.”

Glasgow Cup Tie Train Disaster. Press Cutting Celtic Bars

The Sunday Post reported that the ticket collectors were obstructive at the barriers, in spite of the police trying to clear the platform for the injured. They were persisting in collecting tickets, even from those who were injured. A special steam crane was brought in from Motherwell, and by 8 o’clock, all the wreckage had been cleared from the line. The buffers were credited with saving lives that day. They were installed 20 years previously after a smash at St. Enoch Station. The London Midland and Scottish Railway Company expressed their regret for the accident and said an inquiry was underway.

Glasgow Cup Tie Train Disaster. Press Cutting from Celtic Bars

On the same day, Celtic supporters returning from the game were injured when a wheel came off their charabanc and overturned on Aikenhead Road. They were all thrown heavily out on the road. All sustained injuries, and seven men needed an ambulance to the hospital.

In 1939, one person was killed and 31 injured when the Balloch and Maryhill football trains collided at Stobcross Station. The tunnel was jammed with debris and many passengers found their escape blocked.

Queen Street Station crash 1954. Photo Celtic Bars

On 3rd March, 1954, the Pullman Express, Queen of Scots smashed through the buffers at Queen Street Station and sent the main destination board crashing 15 feet. Charlie Tully and Bertie Peacock were standing behind the wooden destination barricade, and when it was shattered, the falling wood narrowly missed them. Tully had to drop his bag and run for safety. He managed to retrieve his bag from under the debris shortly after.

Glasgow Train Crash. Press cutting from Celtic Bars.

Glasgow Train Crash. Press Cutting from Celtic Bars

For the funeral of John Thomson, Special trains left Queen Street for Cardenden, leaving at 13:06 and returning at 16:55. The cost of a return ticket was four shillings.

Football special to Funeral of John Thomson, September 1931. Photo Celtic Bars

David McIntyre – Celtic Bars

An extract from Football Without Fans – The History of Celtic Supporters Clubs by David McIntyre (Celtic Bars). Football Without Fans – The History of Celtic Supporters Clubs is out now and available in print and kindle versions HERE. More to follow from Football Without Fans on The Celtic Star, the Celtic supporters website.

You can order a copy in print or kindle from Amazon where ever you are in the world. Order your copy HERE

Parkhead Stadium Station: The Hidden History Of Celtic’s Football Specials

Photo taken in June 1963. Train leaves Parkhead Stadium Station and heads towards Tollcross. In the background you can see the floodlights of Celtic Park which were switched on in 1959.

Parkhead Railway station was opened by the Caledonian Railway company on 1 February 1897.

After much research and anecdotal evidence, it was clarified beyond doubt that the station was situated in a cutting overlooked by what is now called Whitby Street, but which was originally known as Winston Street in honour of Winston Churchill, who had married a niece of Lord Newlands. In fact, Lord Newlands was the landowner at the new Celtic Park site, which the club moved to in 1892. The club can, therefore, thank him for providing a more viable option at a time when the original Celtic Park was becoming impossible to afford due to the ridiculous upsurge in rental demands. Newlands was something of an unlikely saviour for Celtic, as he had been an active Unionist politician, who had worked as Foreign Secretary and Private Secretary for the Prime Minister. He was an enthusiastic establishment figure, who was President of the Lanarkshire Territorial Forces Association and even went on to become the Grand Master Mason of Scotland in 1899 until 1903.

An old newspaper advert for a football special train service in 1954

By 1904, in recognition of the railway station’s proximity to Celtic Park, it was widely known as “Parkhead for Celtic Park,” and was occasionally referred to as such in rail timetables. A junior football club named Parkhead Railway FC was formed in 1924 and were referred to as Parkhead Stadium by some, until their disbandment in 1926. The train station itself was then officially renamed Parkhead Stadium by the British Railway Board on 3 March 1952.

A football special timetable poster by British Railways

During the research for this article there was a multitude of confusion surrounding a station named Parkhead South. Some incorrectly claim that it was located a few hundred yards from Parkhead Stadium station. However, on further inspection, and with the help of Scottish Railway archivists, it became apparent that Parkhead South and Parkhead Stadium were the exact same stations. Parkhead South was merely an unofficial name that some people used to refer to the station, prior to 1952, in the same way that the Parkhead Stadium nickname was used prior to its official enshrinement.

The reason that some people used Parkhead South as a nickname was because at that time, with the official name of the site simply being Parkhead, this term helped provide clarity as there was another Parkhead station situated between Carntyne and Bellgrove stations, operated by the North British Railway company’s Coatbridge Branch. The latter was officially renamed Parkhead North by British Railways on 30 June 1952.

Before the renaming of both Parkhead stations, people would distinguish the two by using Parkhead North for the station on the Coatbridge Branch, and either Parkhead Stadium or Parkhead South for the station near to Celtic Park.

An old railway map showing Parkhead Stadium Station to be between Whitby Street and Helenvale Street

The previous stop to the west of Parkhead Stadium Station was Bridgeton. From there, the train would enter the tunnel beneath London Road, which spanned some 1,313 yards. The line then fully emerged into daylight for a brief period at the exit of the London Road Tunnel, very close to Celtic Park.

(This tunnel can still be seen behind Turnstyles pub. There is a door from which you can still enter the tunnel and walk all the way to Bridgeton. Access to the tunnel can be gained behind the Lisbon Lions Stand of Celtic Park, via Janefield Street, however it is gated, so you will need to be agile to reach it!)

Passengers did not enjoy daylight for very long as the train would quickly enter a smaller tunnel beneath Springfield Road, before entering a cutting on the other side, which led into Parkhead Stadium Station. The line then continued to Tollcross before finishing at Carmyle. Fans coming from the Carmyle/Tollcross end of the line, as opposed the Glasgow Central/Bridgeton end, would of course have a journey in daylight.

Parkhead Stadium Station

In terms of the London Road tunnel, the eastern approach cutting (Parkhead Stadium Station side) boasts near-vertical masonry walls; the portal is also in stone. The tunnel itself is 26 ft wide, brick-lined and with a flattened arch profile. The roof is being held up by steel columns coated with a fire-resistant material. There were rumours that this tunnel may be reopened as part of proposals for a second circle line on the Glasgow Underground. This was close to happening ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games but never materialised.

Sadly, Parkhead Stadium Station became a victim of Beeching’s Rail Reforms and was closed to passengers on 5 October 1964. It was then then filled in and landscaped in the late 1970s. It is now a large mound with trees growing on top. It remains a mystery as to whether the tracks and tunnel going beneath Springfield Road still exist beneath the earth.

Parkhead Stadium Station was located just out of shot to the left of the below picture (opposite The Oak Bar), where a collection of trees now stands. How wonderful it must have been for fans packed into the old carriages, singing songs on the way to a big game.

The view of Celtic Park from West Whitby Street (The Oak Bar on the right)

the mound covered by trees where the infilled Parkhead Stadium Station is (looking from Springfield Road down West Whitby Street)

A train calls at Parkhead Stadium station in July 1961. The tenements of Whitby Street can be seen to the right.

An old aerial photograph of Celtic Park. You can see the London Road tunnel behind the goal nearest goal (indicated by a star). The train tracks seen behind the far goal were part of an overground line, which crossed London Road on a bridge, which was located just past Kerrydale Street if you were to facing towards Glasgow City Centre, and led to Dalmarnock

Liam Kelly

Celtic in The Thirties – out now!

Matt Corr’s highly anticipated Celtic in the Thirties (Volumes One & Two) are available now on Celtic Star Books. Order your copies today and receive signed copies which will be posted straight away. Order at celticstarbooks.com