A Day Of Celtic History – Part 2 – Celtic Graves | OneFootball

After visiting James McGrory Park, detailed in part 1, this weekend, the next leg of my historical Celtic day took me to a trio of Celtic graves.

The first was located 3 miles from Provanmill, in the shadow of Celtic Park at Eastern Necropolis Cemetery. Situated behind the North Stand, yards from the Janefield Street wall, is the grave of Celtic’s first star goalkeeper – Dan McArthur.

McArthur signed for Celtic from Parkhead Juniors in 1892 and graced the goal just yards away from his final resting place. In his ten years at the club, he won 4 league titles, 2 Scottish Cups and 2 Glasgow Cups. He was renowned for being fearless, regularly standing up to forwards after being knocked unconscious in the days of bundling goalkeepers over the line. McArthur recorded 36 shutouts in 120 games – no mean feat considering that football featured 1-1-8, 2-2-6 and 2-3-5 formations in his career.

He retired a club legend in 1902 and lived to the age of 76.

From the last line of defence to the furthest line of attack, my next stop took me to Kilsyth Cemetery to visit the graves of Jimmy Quinn and Andy McAtee.

The Mighty Quinn was perhaps Celtic’s first goalscoring hero. He rose to prominence in the 1904 Scottish Cup Final, when he scored a hat trick to defeat Rangers and hand Celtic the trophy in a game that they had trailed 2-0 in.

Playing for the club from 1901 to 1915, Quinn scored 216 goals in 331 games. He was described by Willie Maley as “the keystone in the Celts greatest ever team” , and was ever present in Celtic’s famous 6 in a row triumph. In total, his honours amassed to 8 league titles (6 in a row), 6 Scottish Cups, 5 Glasgow Cups and 4 Glasgow Charity Cups.

Quinn was small in stature but built like a tank. He was brave , strong, versatile (deployed out outside left on occasion), two footed, a great finisher and wonderful in the air. He is immortalised as part of the Willie Maley song.

Jimmy Quinn’s grave sits at the top of the hill on the left side as you first enter the cemetery. By contrast, Andy McAtee is down the bottom of the hill and to the right, not too far from a couple of benches which lie under shelter.

Few Celtic players can be mentioned in the same conversation about legendary status as Jimmy Quinn, but Andy McAtee is one of them. A teammate of Quinn’s, McAtee signed for Celtic from Mossend Hibernian in 1910. He too would become a fan favourite for more than a decade.

A skillful outside right, McAtee possessed blistering pace and a powerful shot. He was a match winner, a provider for Quinn and a scorer of spectacular goals, rather than a regular goalscorer. Indeed, his stats of 72 goals in 439 games bears testimony to that. McAtee’s trademark was to run down the line and then cut inside to unleash an extremely powerful shot at goal. Although, within a few years of his arrival, he started linking up with an incredible inside right named Patsy Gallacher, to form a formidable partnership on Celtic’s right hand side.

WW1 interrupted the great winger’s career, but he kept playing for Celtic in title winning side’s while undertaking a reserve occupation down the mines. However, he was unavailable for a large chunk of 1918 when he served as a gunner with the 29th Division in the Italian Alps and at the Somme.

He returned to star in the team in 1919 and earned huge adulation for scoring Celtic’s goal in a 1-1 draw at Cappielow on the final day of the season in 1922 – a result which secured the Hoops the league title.

Overall, McAtee’s 14 years at Parkhead saw him win 6 league titles, 4 Scottish Cups, 4 Glasgow Cups and 6 Glasgow Charity Cups.

As the late great David Potter once recounted on our podcast about the greatest pre-Lisbon players – a poem was written in tribute to Andy McAtee. The main two stanzas were as follows:

The Kaiser, they say Only once saw him play And remarked, it is said “Dearie me!!”

My German artillery’s Just fit for the pillory They can’t shoot like young McAtee.

With James McGrory Park visited and three legend’s graves found, it was onto Bellshill for the last leg of the journey.