Pistols fired as Celtic’s Joe Dodds attacked and beaten by mob in Belfast | OneFootball

No Solitude for Celtic’s Joe Dodds as pistols are fired in Belfast..

Photo courtesy of Steven Quinn

This incredible photograph was another from the wonderful memorabilia collection of Will Quinn’s great-grandson Steven, whom I had the pleasure of meeting recently.

In the first part of our series of articles, we looked at Will’s early days as a runner, taking part in the Ibrox sports day of August 1896 and claiming a unique prize which remains in the family to this day, almost 130 years later.

READ THIS…Celtic History – A young Will Quinn wins a race and a clock…at Ibrox

Today we’re back with Will in the role he is normally associated with, that of football Trainer. Steven had suggested that this photo was taken at a Scotland match at Celtic Park because of the pavilion in the background, but Saddos like me have viewed enough images of the old stadium to recognise that this structure looked slightly different from ours.

So now we have a mission. Where, when and what does this image reflect?

What do I see?

Well, other than Will Quinn, wearing the bunnet and polo neck in the centre of the back row, there are only two other faces I immediately recognise.

Joe Dodds (right) and Alec ‘Icicle’ McNair against Aston Villa at Celtio Park in April 1912 with the old Jungle in the background. Photo The Celtic Wiki

The player on the left of the back row is Joe Dodds, the Celtic full-back of “Shaw, McNair & Dodds” fame, our Holy Trinity.

And seated on the left of the front row, next to the gent with the black coat, is Andy McAtee, a powerful Celtic winger of the time. No-one else is jumping out.

Andy McAtee, Celtic FC, Photo The Celtic Wiki

The other thing I notice is that the players are wearing different socks, so that suggests this might be an Inter-League international, where individual club footwear was the norm. Andy is wearing our black socks with two green and white rings or hoops at the top.

And finally, the date 1890 painted on the pavilion roof, so we might be able to establish which stadium is involved from that with a bit of luck.

Photo courtesy of Steven Quinn.

Looking through the representative careers of Joe Dodds and Andy McAteer, we can establish that the match was between the Irish and Scottish League selects and took place at Solitude, the home of Cliftonville in North Belfast, on Wednesday, 6 November 1912. The old pavilion there was known as The White House and can be seen in the photo below.

The old photo of Solitude…

Photo courtesy of CliftonvilleFC.net.

Great stuff, but who else is in the photo?

Easy ones first. The goalkeeper, standing next to Will in the polo-neck jersey, is Colin Hampton of Motherwell, on whom club historian @SteelmenHistory did a feature recently. Colin is heavily involved in the story to follow, displaying tremendous courage to help his teammate.

And captaining the side is the distinctive figure of Alex Raisbeck of Partick Thistle, seated front and centre as was the tradition.

The full Scottish League team that day in 2-3-5 formation was as follows.

I have now managed to identify where each player is sitting, as reflected in the caption below.

Players back row from left: Dodds, Gordon, Lawson, Hampton, Walker, Reid.Players front row from left: McAtee, Jackson, Raisbeck, Bowie, McNeil.Photo courtesy of Steven Quinn.

The side largely reflects the clubs which were doing well in domestic football at that time

The side largely reflects the clubs which were doing well in domestic football at that time. Celtic, Clyde, Dundee and Hamilton Academical had all featured in Scottish Cup finals in the previous three seasons, whilst the Hoops and Rangers were dominating the League title races of the day, with Airdrieonians, Partick Thistle and Motherwell all enjoying top six finishes.

Willie Maley and Peter Johnstone

The Scottish League party in Belfast included Celtic manager Willie Maley and his former player Peter Somers, then a director with hometown club Hamilton Academical. Indeed, I believe that is Peter seated on the extreme left of the photo, next to Accies player Bobby McNeil. If that is so, then this may be one of the last photos he was involved in, as sadly Peter suffered from health problems beyond that which saw him lose a leg. He passed away almost exactly two years after this photo was taken, on Friday, 27 November 1914, just 36 years old.

The match itself resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Scots but only after they trailed by a Johnny McDonnell goal at half-time in front of 8,000 spectators at Solitude. McDonnell played with Bohemians, one of three Dublin-based clubs who competed in the Irish League that season, as did the now defunct Derry Celtic. It was an incredible afternoon for Glasgow Celtic’s Joe Dodds, who gave away an early penalty for handball – saved by Colin Hampton – cleared a McDonnell shot off the line then was attacked by opposition supporters at full-time.

Scotland’s equaliser involved a huge slice of good fortune, Belfast Celtic full-back William Lavery’s attempted clearance rebounding off James Reid past his former Hoops teammate, goalkeeper Leslie Murphy, then with Glentoran. Bobby McNeil’s superb 30-yard effort gave the Scots the lead before James Bowie ended the scoring at 3-1.

But the result was overshadowed by the events at full-time, as reported in the Daily Record the following morning.

“SCOTS MOBBED. NATIONAL TEAM ASSAULTED IN BELFAST.

INTERVIEWS WITH HAMPTON AND DODDS

(From our Belfast Reporter).

At the close of the Scottish League v Irish League match in Belfast a nasty scene occurred.

A section of the spectators invaded the playing pitch and attacked Dodds, the Celtic back, who received a severe kicking and blows about the head.

Hampton, the Motherwell goalkeeper, was also kicked severely on the legs.

After much difficulty the players were rescued from the rowdy mob and escorted to the pavilion.

In an interview Dodds said:

Hampton said he received one bad kick on the leg which had lamed him. “Disgraceful!” remarked the Motherwell goalkeeper to me. “I shall not forget Belfast in a hurry.”

The incidents were also reported in the Daily Record of Friday, 8 November 1912, with Willie Maley this time the quoted eyewitness.

“MR MALEY SPEAKS. WHAT THE SCOTS HAD TO SUFFER IN BELFAST.

Daily Record Interview.

The Scottish team that gained such a brilliant victory over the Irish League in Belfast on Wednesday arrived in Glasgow yesterday morning.

Confirmation of our reporter’s narrative and the disgraceful conduct of a rowdy section of the spectators, who assaulted certain members of the Scottish team at the close of the match was readily given by various members of the party.

Players back row from left: Dodds, Gordon, Lawson, Hampton, Walker, Reid.Players front row from left: McAtee, Jackson, Raisbeck, Bowie, McNeil.Photo courtesy of Steven Quinn.

Interviewed by the Daily Record, Mr. William Maley, the Celtic F.C. manager, who is a member of the Scottish League committee, said “the trip to Belfast was only marred by the closing scenes of the game when that abominable spirit which seems to be rife amongst a certain clique in Belfast, manifested itself. It brought disgrace on the game, and also spoiled what would have proved one of the best trips to the old country I have participated in.

“The Irish League people entertained us right royally”

“From the time of our landing until our departure, the Irish League people entertained us right royally. No one could have done us better than they did.

“The game was a hard one, and our victory was as welcome as it appeared to be distasteful to our opponents, who after their big show against the English League expected to ‘put it across us’ so to speak.

“They were very confident of their ability to do so. Our young team did not get going at all in the first half. The hurricane tactics of the Irish defence upset our forwards altogether, both physically and mentally.

“The Irish forwards played a fast, tricky game in the first half, and should have led us by at least two goals at the interval.

“In the second half our lot were a new set, and gave as much as they got every way, and playing their own proper game, they soon settled to a real good game. When they equalised, luckily off Lavery, it seemed this was the tonic needed to make them play up.

‘The game was soon won for Scotland, McNeil and Bowie scoring fine goals’

“With our wing forwards romping through the Irish defence, the game was soon won for Scotland, McNeil and Bowie scoring fine goals.

“All through the Irish defence played on the ‘follow through’ principle, taking the man certain when they did not get the ball. Our lot suffered badly from this game.

“Gordon got badly kicked in a melee, and Dodds, who was against the great Linfield favourite [Johnny] Houston, was soon in disfavour with the ‘Blues’ followers, who shouted and howled the Carluke youth till they had him wondering what was up.

“Houston, too, sailed into him in no gentle fashion, but he soon found Joe was giving as much as he got. Things were sultry for a while. Houston fouled Dodds so badly once when quite clear of the ball that Dodds appealed to the referee, and for the same he got another ‘Royal’ reception.

“At this time, when Houston gave Dodds a lovely throw, several pistols were sent off. All this happened at the end of the field farthest from the pavilion, and when the crowd broke into the field at five minutes to go matters looked bad.

“The police were there in large numbers, but they will not interfere in Belfast as our men do here. There was thus no real protection. When the whistle blew a rush was made for Dodds. Seeing them at Joe, Hampton rushed up to protect him but got well kicked for his pains. Dodds was hit and kicked all through the crowd, and but for one or two fellows protecting him he would have been badly marked.”

“From the pavilion some of us rushed down to get on to the field, but the crowd was so thick it was impossible to get there. We had just to wait till the two unfortunates arrived at the entrance, where, amid a chorus of howls, they reached safety.

“The Irish League and officials were in no way to blame. It is the stupid system over there whereby they do not get the police protection we do here. Until the Irish football officials can have this, a like affair may occur at any time. Rowdyism is certainly spoiling the game in the eyes of all sensible people in Belfast and district.

“That rowdies of the class who caused the trouble should be allowed to carry revolvers is absolutely ridiculous and should be put down at once. The Celtic club’s experience at Buda Pesth [Budapest] among the hot-blooded Magyars was nothing to Wednesday’s treatment of the Scottish players in Belfast.

“Dodds was badly shaken through his experiences”

“Dodds was badly shaken through his experiences, but he hopes to be all right for Saturday’s game against the Hearts. Hampton, too, felt better this morning, though he has two lovely smashes on the ankles just to show the ‘Blues’ kindly appreciation of his goalkeeping.”

So what was Will Quinn’s background story in November 1912? Well, he was a year into his long career at Celtic Park, working with some of the greatest players in our history, including a genius born in Donegal.

These links will take you to that part of his incredible story.

In sharp contrast to the scenes at Solitude in November 2012, just over a century later – in July 2013 – I had the pleasure of visiting the stadium with my kids as Celtic faced Cliftonville in a Champions League qualifier. This was one of the most enjoyable European trips ever as North Belfast became Party Central, a triumph of colour and song, as we celebrated with our friends in red, many of whom double up as Hoops supporters. Celtic won 3-0 that sunny evening.

Neil Lennon. Cliftonville v Celtic, July 2013. Photo The Celtic Wiki

James Forrest. Cliftonville v Celtic, July 2013. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Hail, Hail!

Matt Corr

Follow Matt on X @Boola_vogue

You can read all of Matt’s brilliant articles in our Authors section at the top of The Celtic Star. Indeed you can do so for all our writers including the late David Potter.  Click HERE to see Matt Corr’s article archive and HERE to see David Potter’s brilliant collection of Celtic features.

To see the hardback Celtic books published on Celtic Star Books click HERE and feel free to purchase. Matt will be happy to sign your copies and add any personal dedication you would like. Celtic in the Thirties – in two volumes – is absolutely outstanding. Both volumes are also available on Kindle with all photographs there too.

Celtic in the Thirties

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

Both volumes of Celtic in the Thirties are available on Amazon Kindle, with the links to order below. Signed copies of both volumes are available on hardback from Celtic Star Books and if you would like author Matt Corr to add a special dedication to your copies please let us know. Order hardback copies HERE or for Amazon Kindle click on the links below…

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