Punch-ups, Masons and Al Capone – Celtic’s American Tour of 1931 | OneFootball

Icon: The Celtic Star

The Celtic Star

·29 June 2022

Punch-ups, Masons and Al Capone – Celtic’s American Tour of 1931

Article image:Punch-ups, Masons and Al Capone – Celtic’s American Tour of 1931

I was shown a photo yesterday of Celtic skipper Jimmy McStay and the Hakoah All-Stars captain meeting before a game played in New York City in 1931 and asked if I knew anything about that match.

Well, the short answer is yes, as it’s included in a book which I’ve been working on for several months covering Celtic in the 1930s, a fascinating period in the club’s history, with so many triumphs and tragedies featuring some of our greatest-ever players.


OneFootball Videos


Article image:Punch-ups, Masons and Al Capone – Celtic’s American Tour of 1931

“This 1931 photo is from “Football Under The Yellow Star” by Frantisek Steiner. The book is on the league that was organised between 1943 and 1944 in the Theresienstadt Ghetto. Mahrer survived the Holocaust although his brothers Kurt and Otto were murdered in Auschwitz,” pat don tweeted.

I’ve attached an extract from the manuscript which covers that game in some detail, but I’d also like to put something out there. The book is a work in progress but already it includes anecdotes from friends and family about events and characters of the time.

For example, a city centre vigil on the night John Thomson fought for his life and recollections from the grandson of a Celt who played beside the great McGrory and indeed became his lifelong friend. Anecdotes such as these add real value to any historical account and ensure that events are captured forever. It is my intention to ensure that every Celt who pulled on the famous Hoops during that decade is mentioned so if you have memories of hearing stories from perhaps your dad or grand-dad or have any photographs to share from Celtic in the 1930s then please email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk and we will endeavour to include them.

As a taster, here is an extract from the famous summer tour of 1931.

Read ‘Punch-ups, Masons & Al Capone – It could only be Celtic’s American tour of 1931’on the next page…

Punch-ups, Masons & Al Capone – It could only be Celtic’s American tour of 1931

Article image:Punch-ups, Masons and Al Capone – Celtic’s American Tour of 1931

The following day, Sunday, 14 June 1931, an unchanged Celtic team was back at the Polo Grounds in New York City – scene of their victory over the New York Giants in late May – for a clash with Hakoah All-Stars. Celtic’s latest opposition had been established the previous year as a merger of two clubs playing in rival competitions, the ASL’s Brooklyn Hakoah and New York Hakoah from the Eastern Soccer League.

There would be at least one familiar face in the hosts line-up, Englishman George Moorhouse having played against Celts for the New York Yankees in their 4-3 win in Boston two weeks earlier. New York-born wing-half Philip Slone became the latest member of the USA’s 1930 World Cup squad to face Celtic, albeit his solitary international cap came against Brazil in a friendly played after that tournament.

The bulk of the All-Stars team were from Eastern Europe, many of them internationalists who had played at one time for Austrian club Hakoah Vienna, an all-Jewish outfit who had toured the USA in 1926 and 1927. Wing-half Pavel Mahrer was a Czech internationalist whilst inside-forward Moritz Hausler had represented Austria on seven occasions and his countryman Siggy Wortmann is viewed as one of the country’s greatest footballers.

Despite hopes that he would arrive from Montreal in time there was no sign of Erno Schwarz, but the Hungarian contingent included former Ujpest defender Laszlo Sternberg, who would captain his country in the 1934 World Cup finals, centre-forward Rudolph Nickolsburger, who had played club football in four European countries and centre-half Bela Guttman, a title-winner in both Hungary and Austria before he embarked upon a successful playing career across the Atlantic.

Having just about lost everything following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Guttman would go on to become one of the all-time great managers, winning national titles in Hungary with Ujpest and Honved, in Portugal with Porto and Benfica, and in Uruguay with Penarol. He would also win two European Cups whilst in Lisbon, becoming the first coach to break Real Madrid’s five-year stranglehold on the tournament. Two play-off goals from Santos star Pele then denied him the chance to add the South American version – the Copa Libertadores – with Penarol in 1962.

The Celtic and Hakoah teams had been guests at a pre-match banquet hosted by New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker in midweek, however events on the pitch were anything but cordial, the sides finishing the match with nine players apiece. Charlie Napier and Peter Scarff were dismissed, as were Hungarians Guttman and Nikolsburger in a brawl of a game. Nickolsburger had given Hakoah the lead on the half-hour with Napier equalising after the break as the match ended in an unpleasant 1-1 draw in Upper Manhattan in front of 20,000 spectators.

Article image:Punch-ups, Masons and Al Capone – Celtic’s American Tour of 1931

From New York, the Celtic party headed to Chicago the following weekend for a match against the exotically named Bricklayers & Masons, no punchlines please! The Windy City had rarely been out of the headlines in recent years, primarily due to ongoing feuds involving Italian and Irish syndicates fighting for supremacy in the bootlegging business in Prohibition America.

By far the most notorious of the crime figures involved was Al Capone, whose Robin Hood-like popularity had waned in the aftermath of the St Valentine’s Day massacre in the city in 1929. Capone had pled guilty to tax evasion and prohibition violations in Chicago that very week and his subsequent 11-year sentence would effectively mark the end of his reign of terror.

In terms of the football, having played at Boston’s Fenway Park, Celtic would now appear at another iconic baseball stadium, Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, on Sunday, 21 June 1931. This would mark a first appearance in Hoops for Ayrshire-born winger Joe McGhee, who partnered Charlie Napier on the left flank with Willie Hughes moving into the centre and Peter Scarff stepping back to left-half to replace Bobby Whitelaw.

The Bricklayers had been runner’s up to Fall River Marksmen in the National Challenge Cup in April 1931 and they also had a number of ex-patriot players from the UK within their ranks, most notably their winger ‘Wee Willie’ McLean. Born in Clydebank in 1904, McLean narrowly missed out on selection for the USA World Cup squad in 1930 but would play his part in the tournament held in Italy four years later.

By that time, he was playing his club football in St Louis, but his life would take a turn for the worse when he collapsed during a League game in 1936. Having spent the best part of a year in a Missouri sanatorium, Willie returned to Chicago, but he disappeared without trace in the summer of 1938 and was never seen again.

Celtic took command of the match from the outset, Bertie Thomson then Peter Wilson giving them a 2-0 lead within eight minutes and Charlie Napier adding a third from the penalty spot before the break. The sides then traded goals in the second half, Willie Hughes, Wilson again and a debut strike for Joe McGhee taking the final tally to 6-3 in the Hoops favour.

Hail Hail,

Matt Corr

Follow Matt on Twitter @Boola_vogue

More Stories / Players

View publisher imprint