The Life and Times of Willie Maley – ‘The Man Who Made Celtic’

Willie Maley was also part of the first Celtic side to win a major trophy – the 1891 Glasgow Cup – and involved in the Bhoys’ first Scottish Cup success (in 1892) as well as league title (in 1893). In all of this, he had proven himself to be an essential part of the team.

Recognition of Willie’s playing ability came from elsewhere too. In a time when there were far fewer International games, he was capped twice for Scotland, and also played for the Scottish League Select. In fact, his Scottish caps proved controversial; some people objected to him playing for Scotland on accounts of having been born in Ireland.

From a club perspective, he will always be thought of as Willie Maley of the Celtic, although he did play one game for Manchester City in 1896. This was the side that his brother, Tom would go on to manage a few years later.

However, it was not simply on the pitch that Willie had proven to be an effective individual, he was also seen as a strong organiser and leader, and had a role in the arrangements of many Celtic games, as well as many footballing competitions.

This became relevant when the Celts underwent a notable change in the late-1890s. Since the club had been formed, Celtic were member-owned, with those members paying annual subscriptions. However, for a number of years, some committee members had been pushing for Celtic to become a private company. Finally, in 1897, this happened and 5000 shares were issued in Celtic.

At this same time, it was decided to appoint an official Secretary-Manager to oversee the running of the club. Given his fine reputation as a player and administrator, Willie Maley was appointed to this role. Those that gave him this job could scarcely have imagined that he would still be in post more than four decades later.

Continued on the next page…