Jimmy McStay
Scottish footballer and manager (1895–1973)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James McStay (1 April 1895 – 31 December 1973) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He spent most of his career at Celtic, and was a captain and manager for the club.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James McStay | ||
| Date of birth | 1 April 1895 | ||
| Place of birth | Netherburn, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 31 December 1973 (aged 80) | ||
| Place of death | Stonehouse, Scotland | ||
| Positions | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1917–1920 | Larkhall Thistle | ||
| 1920 | → Royal Scots Fusiliers | ||
| 1920–1934 | Celtic | 409 | (7) |
| 1934–1937 | Hamilton Academical | 63 | (0) |
| 1937–1938 | Brideville | ||
| International career | |||
| 1926–1931[1] | Scottish League XI | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1937–1938[2] | Brideville | ||
| 1938–1940 | Alloa Athletic | ||
| 1940–1945 | Celtic | ||
| 1946–1951 | Hamilton Academical | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
A full back (successfully converted from left half by manager Willie Maley), he joined Celtic in 1920 and took over the club captaincy from his elder brother Willie McStay in 1929. The siblings played together 246 times for Celtic[3] as well in as one Scottish League XI match in 1926[4] and a Scottish Football Association summer tour of North America in 1927;[5][6] however unlike Willie, Jimmy never gained a full international cap. Taking all cups into account he played in exactly 500 matches for Celtic,[7] ranking 14th on the club's all-time list and making the most appearances overall for the Hoops without being selected for his country (Charlie Shaw holds the unwanted record in terms of Scottish Football League matches).
McStay managed Celtic between 9 February 1940 and 23 July 1945 but this coincided with the suspension of the League and Scottish Cup during wartime, meaning he never had the opportunity to manage the club in official competitions.[8] He also managed Irish club Brideville and Alloa Athletic prior to his appointment at Celtic,[9] and afterwards took charge of Hamilton Academical[10] (where he had also finished his playing career, appearing for Accies in the 1935 Scottish Cup Final aged 40).[11]
In addition to Willie and Jimmy, another McStay brother, Francis, was also a footballer, played for Motherwell in the 1910s.[12] Their great-great-nephews Paul and Willie and Raymond played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s (Paul also captaining Celtic and gaining 76 caps for Scotland).
Honours
Player
Celtic[7]
- Scottish League: 1925–26
- Scottish Cup: 1922-23, 1924–25, 1926–27, 1930–31, 1932–33
- Glasgow Cup: 1927–28, 1930–31
Manager
Alloa Athletic
- Scottish Division Two promotion : 1938–39
Celtic[13]
- Glasgow Cup: 1940–41[14]
- Glasgow Charity Cup: 1942–43
- Victory in Europe Cup: 1945
Hamilton Academical
- Lanarkshire Cup: 1951–52
Managerial statistics
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Alloa Athletic[9] | August 1938 | February 1940 | 43 | 26 | 5 | 12 | 60.47 |
| Celtic[8] | February 1940 | June 1945 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Hamilton Academical[10] | February 1946 | April 1951 | 194 | 68 | 47 | 79 | 35.05 |
| Total | 237 | 94 | 52 | 91 | 39.66 | ||
- Does not include wartime matches with Alloa; P20, W10, D2, L8, WP50%[9]
- No competitive games played during his time at Celtic; wartime totals P220, W112, D38, L70, WP50.9%[8]
- Does not include wartime matches with Hamilton; P11, W2, D2, L7, WP18.1%[10]
- Wartime grand total: P251, W124, D42, L85, WP49.4%