Charlie Gallagher

"When Charlie Gallagher hits them, they do not stop until they are trapped in the back of the net or fetched out of the crowd from the top of the terracing.... give Charlie room to work and there is no better inside-forward in the country."

Charlie Gallagher, a cousin of Paddy Crerand's, resembled the tragic John White of Spurs' great 1961 Double team, an unspectacular performer but a player's player, the deep-lying inside man who was constantly finding space and making a game for his other forwards.

He came commended to Celtic by his PE teacher, Mr John Murphy, who doubled as announcer at Parkhead in Saturdays. Jock Stein tried him out on March 6th, 1959 and signed him as a full-time professional that same day.

Charlie was short on pace, short on devil, but his passes were measured to the inch and (UNLIKE John White) his shooting thunderous. At Parkhead in the sun, August 11th, 1962, as the Hearts defenders dropped back expecting the through ball, he hit a shot for from 25 yards that no one saw until the net absorbed its impact behind Gordon Marshall.

Nobody placed corner kicks with greater accuracy and venom. To the delight of the Celtic support, Ireland against Turkey in Ankara on The 22nd of February 1967 and a second against Czechoslovakia in Dublin on May the 21st 1967 capped him.

Charlie became the first Scottish born player to be selected for Ireland.

Unfortunately for Charlie, he was at Celtic the same time as Bertie Auld. He was the Glenn Hoddle of his time.

Appearances:
Scottish League: 106 appearances 17 goals
League Cup: 29 appearances 11 goals
Scottish Cup: 23 appearances 4 goals
Europe: 13 appearances. 0 goals.
Total: 171 appearances. 32 goals.

Career:
St. John's (Gorbals) Boys' Guild August 1952
Holyrood Senior Secondary August 1953
Kilmarnock Amatuers May 1955
Yoker Athletic August 1958
Celtic (provisional) 20th September 1958/(full) 6th march 1959/free 1st May 1970
Dumbarton 18th June 1970
retired 30th April 1973
Celtic Scout April 1976/resigned April 1978.