John Ferguson – A Dalmuir Boy who Lived the Dream | OneFootball

John Ferguson. A Dalmuir boy who lived the dream…

John Ferguson, Celtic FC

It started with a post!

I love it when a chance comment or article leads to the discovery of another story of a boy who lived the dream by pulling on those famous Hoops. In this case it was a Facebook post back on 18 October, on the Celtic Pics and Videos page.

“My Grandfather played with Celtic and Belfast Celtic around 1926/27. My dad had this scanned and enhanced photograph, but we are desperate to find an original copy. My Grandfather’s name was John Ferguson if anyone is able to help?”

I didn’t pick up the original Facebook post. The first I saw of this was a Twitter post from my good friend Jamie Fox on my timeline a few days later, and my OCD as always swayed me to correct the names in the captions. As it turned out, Jamie had already done that on Facebook!

Anyway, the real source of interest to me was the name John Ferguson, as I had found a few references to him as J.A. Ferguson and Jack Ferguson whilst researching my books on Celtic in the Thirties. I spent quite a bit of time back then trying to get further details on his career, which were fairly scarce. Anyway, I did find out that he had moved to Celtic from Scottish Junior Cup winners Maryhill Hibernian in the summer of 1929, and that he had played just once for the Celtic first team before moving on. He does not appear in the traditional reference books or sites to the best of my knowledge, but he is very much part of the Celtic Story. Time to do something about that.

At my desk, I still had a copy of a wonderful photo of Celtic’s Second XI from 1930 which featured John Ferguson, and which had been passed to me from the grandfather of former Celtic trainer Will Quinn a few months back, sadly too late for inclusion in the book. We shared the photo with John’s granddaughter, one thing led to another, and I offered to see what else I could find out if she could give me some basic family information. One death certificate later, we’re underway. That highlighted a key issue. John’s name had always been stated in both Press reports and Celtic’s official handbook as J. A. Ferguson, but that was incorrect. His name was John Edward Ferguson.

Well, it’s taken a couple of weeks, but I now have a better picture I believe of John’s career, and to a lesser extent his life.

John Edward Ferguson was born at 5am on Friday, 28 September 1906 at 37 Buchanan Street, Dalmuir. His parents were Edward and Mary Ferguson, nee Millar, who married on Wednesday, 10 June 1903 in Stonehouse, Lanarkshire.

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Football career

1926/27 – First report I found of John is him playing centre-half for Maryhill Hibernian in a 5-0 win over Twechar Rangers in the Scottish Junior League on Saturday, 30 October 1926. Future Celtic teammate Joe Riley was at inside-left that day.

John made what may have been his first appearance at Celtic Park when the Hibs lost 2-1 to Cambuslang Rangers in the semi-final of the Glasgow Junior Cup on Saturday, 23 April 1927.

“Brown, Ferguson and Ronald, as a mid-line, held their own in tackling and forcing work.”

And from the Sunday Post of 5 June 1927…

“Maryhill Hibs have succeeded in retaining the services of Millar and Ferguson for next season. A right-back and centre-half respectively, these Dalmuir lads have been two of the stalwarts in the Maryhill side, and much pleasure locally is felt at retaining them.”

1927/28 – In July 1927, John was joined at Kelvinvale Park by goalkeeper David Nicol from Maryhill Juniors and centre-forward Willie ‘Woogie’ Gray from Wyndford Star. Nicol had recently signed provisional forms for Celtic and Gray would do likewise in early August after scoring twice and impressing in the public trial match at Parkhead.

John received his first representative honour in December 1927, when he was selected for the Scottish Junior League XI to face Munster Football Association in Cork on 2 January 1928. His teammates Nicol and Gray were also chosen but according to the Falkirk Herald the match “had to be abandoned shortly after half-time owing to a heavy rainstorm, no score having been effected by either side. The Scots played delightful football, considering the state of the ground.”

John continued to impress; this from the Sunday Post of 1 April 1928.

“Frank Thompson, who has fixed up Simpson and Kelly of Bruntonians for Clyde FC, has also an interest in Ferguson, the Maryhill Hibs half-back, who has given little thought to going upwards.”

The following Saturday, 7 April 1928, Maryhill Hibs beat Saltcoats Victoria 3-2 at Firhill to qualify for the Scottish Junior Cup final, and six days later the Motherwell Times reports that John has been signed by Clyde, whilst his teammates Nicol, Burke and Gray are provisionally signed for Celtic.

John’s greatest football moment to date arrived on Saturday, 26 May 1928, when he was part of the Maryhill Hibs team which won the Scottish Junior Cup for the first and only time by beating Burnbank Athletic 6-2 in front of 8,000 at Firhill. Willie Gray scored four of the Hibs goals whilst Joe Riley added another directly from a corner kick. John’s photograph appeared in The Sunday Post the following day within the match report.

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Celtic manager Willie Maley, Tommy McInally and Sunderland boss John Cochrane were all at the cup final at Firhill, fan favourite McInally having left Parkhead for Roker Park in a £3,000 deal the previous day. Maley must have liked what he saw. Four days later, the Dundee Evening Telegraph reported that John had joined Celtic.

“Celtic have signed on Ferguson, the centre half-back of Maryhill Hibs, and an effort was made to fix Brown, the right half-back of the same club, but without success. Celtic have now booked four of the Maryhill Hibs for next season, the others being Nicol (goal), Gray (centre-forward), and Riley (inside-left). Burke, the inside-right, was also provisionally fixed but he has now been released.”

And the same day’s Edinburgh Evening News backed the story up.

“Celtic last night added another promising junior to their list of signed players in the person of J. Ferguson, the Maryhill Hibernian centre half-back.”

This would prove to be the most successful season in the history of the club. In addition to the Scottish Junior Cup, Maryhill Hibs also won the Scottish Junior League and Glasgow North-Eastern Cup.

1928/29 – On 14 July 1928, John signed Provisional forms for Celtic for season 1928/29. At that time, he lived at 10 (or 18) Greer Quadrant, Clydebank.

Whilst Willie Gray and Joe Riley went straight into the Celtic first team, John continued to play for Maryhill Hibs whilst awaiting his call-up. The following month, he lined up for a Glasgow Junior FA Select AGAINST Celtic at Celtic Park! This was a match played on Tuesday, 28 August 1928 to raise funds for Langbank Children’s Home. He would be joined at Kelvinvale Park that season by two youngsters farmed out by Celtic, Charlie Napier and Peter Scarff.

John’s next honour would arrive in February 1929, when he was chosen as captain of the Scottish Junior League team to face the new Irish Free State Association in Dublin and the Munster Association in Cork the following month. His Maryhill Hibernian teammate Charlie Napier was also selected.

Maryhill Hibs were again challenging for the honours that season, winning the Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire Cups and the Western Division Championship of the Scottish Junior League. They were defeated in the national League decider and the finals of the Glasgow Junior Challenge Cup, the Glasgow North-Eastern Cup and the Victory Cup.

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1929/30 – John signed for Celtic on 1 May 1929, the report misquoting his middle initial.

“…and J. A. Ferguson, a back from Maryhill Hibs, have been added to the staff.”

He was included in the list of 19 players signed by Celtic for the coming season in the Dundee Evening Telegraph of 24 July 1929, again shown as J. A. Ferguson, height 5-foot 9½ inches tall and weighing 11 stone 9 pounds.

John played in the second pre-season public trial at Celtic Park on Wednesday, 7 August 1929, lining up alongside legends such as Jimmy McStay, Peter Wilson, Paddy Connolly, Alec Thomson and Jimmy McGrory, plus his old Maryhill Hibs teammate Peter Scarff. The team is captured in the historic photograph below, and I believe would have lined up as follows.

John Kelly; John Ferguson & Peter McGonagle; Peter Wilson, Jimmy McStay & John Donoghue; Paddy Connolly, Alec Thomson, Jimmy McGrory, Peter Scarff & Peter Kavanagh.

Note that the photo caption above is incorrect. Names should read as follows.

Back row: John Donoghue, John Ferguson, Jimmy McStay, John Kelly, Peter McGonagle & Peter Wilson.?Front row: Alec Thomson, Paddy Connolly, Jimmy McGrory, Peter Kavanagh & Peter Scarff.

This was the opposition line-up for that trial match, the most recognisable face being that of goalkeeper John Thomson, although a young Chic Geatons is also standing on the right of the back row, whilst John’s Maryhill Hibs teammates Willie Gray and Joe Riley are seated at the front.

Sadly, John suffered an injury during that trial match, which cost him his place in the opening League game of the season against Hearts three days later, on the day the new (current) main stand was opened at Celtic Park. John was listed at right-back in the match programme that day, which was a unique piece of history in itself as it was the first ever produced by the club, but it was a young Chic Geatons who played against Hearts in his place.

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As understudy to captain and virtual ever-present Jimmy McStay, first-team opportunities would be at a premium, and Celtic at that time did not run a reserve side. However, John did play one game that season, replacing McStay at centre-half for the Glasgow Charity Cup semi-final against Clyde at Celtic Park on Tuesday, 6 May 1930. The Celtic team that evening was as follows:

John Thomson; Willie Cook & Peter McGonagle;?Peter Wilson, John Ferguson & Willie Hughes;?Paddy Connolly, Alec Thomson, Peter Scarff, Charlie Napier & Con Tierney.

Celtic won 1-0 thanks to a goal early in the second half from Charlie Napier, one of three former Maryhill Hibs stars in the Celtic line-up. McStay returned to captain the team for the cup final against Rangers at Hampden four days later, ironically Jimmy losing the coin toss after the match ended level at 2-2. The Dundee Courier recorded that “Ferguson played a cool game at centre-half,” but that would prove to be John’s only competitive first-team appearance for Celtic. Seven of that team would win the Scottish Cup just 11 months later.

1930/31 – John commenced his second season at Celtic as the club made the decision to reintroduce a reserve team to compete in the Alliance League, the Dalmuir Bhoy proudly lining up in this photo of the Second XI in the summer of 1930.

As an aside, the trainer in the photograph is John Quinn, son of Celtic’s first-team trainer at that time Will Quinn. And I believe the player listed as J. Quinn on the front row to be James Quinn, who played trials with Celtic reserves at that time whilst starring on the left wing for Croy Celtic. I believe he was the son of the Celtic great of the same name and both he and brother Philip moved from Croy Celtic to Denny Hibs together at the end of that season.

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The 1930/31 – Alliance League campaign commenced at Rugby Park on Saturday, 9 August 1930, John partnering a young Jock Morrison at full-back in the following team which defeated Kilmarnock 4-2.

Ewing; Jock Morrison & John Ferguson;?Joe Buchanan, Denis Currie & Tom McCann;?Bertie Thomson, Hugh Smith, Joe Cowan, Joe McGhie & Peter Kavanagh.

Just 48 hours later, John was again at left-back as Willie Maley took a team to School Loan Park, Denny to face a combined select from Denny Hibs and Dunipace Juniors, who won 3-1. The proceeds of that match, around £25, went to St Alexander’s Church Extension Fund.

As with the goalkeeper who played at Kilmarnock on Saturday, known only as Ewing, I have no information on the man between the sticks that evening, his surname being McGuire. The full line-up was as follows.

McGuire; Jock Morrison & John Ferguson;?Joe Buchanan, James Gallagher & Chic Geatons;?Bertie Thomson, Hugh Smith, Joe Cowan, Willie Hughes & Peter Kavanagh.

On 11 October 1930, as Celts prepared for a Glasgow Cup final with Rangers, it was reported in the Edinburgh Evening News that the club had issued a circular to English sides alerting them to the availability of three players pictured together in the back row of that 2nd XI photo, “D. McCallum, a forward, J. Gallacher, centre-half and J. Ferguson, half or full-back. The Parkhead management explain that they are overstaffed.”

That story was followed up in the Sunday Post the next day.

“A sign of the times is Celtic’s offer for transfer of D. McCallum, J. Gallacher and J. Ferguson. Celtic have got together a winning combination, and realising, apart altogether from cost, the demoralising effect of keeping young players idle, are willing to release these lads for reasonable fees.”

Responses were swift, this from the Liverpool Evening Express of Thursday, 16 October 1930.

“Glasgow Celtic have received English offers for three players whom they have put on the transfer list. One of the English clubs is in Lancashire, another in Wales, and a third in London. McCallum (outside left), Ferguson (left half) and Gallacher (centre half) can be had for £1,500. Celtic paid no transfer fee for any of them. They were reared in Celtic’s nursery.”

Denis McCallum moved to Dundee United on loan at the end of the month and John agreed to move to Belfast Celtic on a temporary transfer around the same time. James Gallacher also joined the Belfast Celts on Friday, 7 November 1930, making his debut in a 4-1 defeat at Ballymena the following day, but it was reported in the Sunday Post the next week that John Ferguson was suffering from cartilage trouble and would not be available for Rovers’ Irish Cup ties.

In fact, despite a fairly extensive search I can find no trace of John playing in a competitive match for Belfast Celtic. It appears that the injury may have caused him to stay in Glasgow. In the Sunday Post of 26 July 1931, this article appears under the heading ‘IRELAND CALLING.’

“An Irish Free State club will be represented in the West this week. Two of the players in their eye are Ferguson (Celtic) and Burke (Airdrieonians). The first-named is a centre-half, who though two years at Parkhead, got very few chances, being off for a long period through injury.”

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1931/32 – Despite that report, I can find no record of John playing competitively in Belfast, Glasgow or the Irish Free State during this campaign. Indeed, the next report of his career which I discovered – from the Sunday Post on 7 August 1932 – would appear to confirm that.

“Brechin City yesterday signed John Ferguson, a Clydebank lad, whose last club was Belfast Celtic, and who for some time was a signed player of Glasgow Celtic. Ferguson plays at left-half.”

1932/33 – John played in 33 of Brechin City’s 36 Division 2 games in his season at Glebe Park, scoring 3 goals as they finished 15th in the 20-team table. Hibernian won that Second Division title, finishing ahead of Queen of the South and Dunfermline Athletic. John also played in Brechin’s only Scottish Cup tie that season, a 5-1 defeat at Leith Athletic on Saturday, 21 January 1933. Several of his old Celtic teammates were in the Hoops side which won 7-1 at East End Park, Dunfermline the same afternoon, and which would go on to win the trophy for the second time in three years at Hampden three months later. That would appear to be John’s final season in senior football.

Away from football, John found love and married Isabella McLachlan on Tuesday, 11 June 1937 at the Congregational Church, 43 Montrose Street, Clydebank. At that time, John was 30 years old whilst Isabella was 29 and both were sewing machine factory machinists, presumably at Singer’s in Clydebank. The couple would have two sons, Edward and John.

Sadly, John passed away at the southern General Hospital on Friday, 27 November 1987, aged 81. At that time, he was living in Paisley.

Well, there you have it.

Another boy who lived the dream, signing for Celtic and wearing those Hoops in a competitive match. It seems likely that injury cost John the opportunity to play in the first game at the revamped Celtic Park in the summer of 1929 and hampered his senior career thereafter.

Hopefully by filling in some of the gaps, his family can better understand and proudly share the story of their grandfather, and indeed brother, as John junior is still with us.

Hail, Hail!

Matt Corr

Follow Matt on X at Boola_vogue

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books.

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