"James McGrory" redirects here. For the Executive Director of Open Britain, see Open Britain.
Jimmy McGrory
Personal information
Full name
James Edward McGrory
Date of birth
(1904-04-26)26 April 1904
Place of birth
Garngad, Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death
20 October 1982(1982-10-20) (aged 78)
Place of death
Glasgow, Scotland
Height
5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Position(s)
Centre forward
Youth career
1918–1921
St Roch's Boys Guild
Senior career*
Years
Team
Apps
(Gls)
1921–1922
St Roch's
1922–1937
Celtic
378
(395)
1923–1924
→ Clydebank (loan)
30
(13)
Total
408
(408)
International career
1928–1933
Scotland
7
(6)
1926–1935
Scottish League XI
6
(6)
Managerial career
1937–1945
Kilmarnock
1945–1965
Celtic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World War.
He is the all-time leading goalscorer in top-flight British football with a total of 550 goals in 547 competitive first-team games at club and international level. McGrory is a legendary figure within Celtic's history. He is the club's top scorer of all time with 522 goals from 501 games and holds their record for the most goals in a season, with 62 goals from 46 games in the 1927–28 season. He has also notched up a British top-flight record of 55 hat-tricks, 48 coming in League games and 7 from Scottish Cup ties. Some argue that he scored 56, as he hit 8 goals in a Scottish League game against Dunfermline on 14 January 1928: The eight goals scored in that match against Dunfermline is also a British top-flight record.
He played for Celtic for 15 years between 1922 and 1937, although he did spend the majority of the 1923–24 season on loan at fellow Division One side Clydebank. After a spell managing Kilmarnock from December 1937 to July 1945, he became Celtic manager, where he remained for just under 20 years, until March 1965 when he was succeeded by Jock Stein.
Although he was only five feet and six inches tall, he was renowned for his prowess and ability for headers. His trademark was an almost horizontal bullet header, which he performed and scored with regularly, and which earned him the nicknames "the Human Torpedo" and "the Mermaid."
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to...
season". BBC Sport. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023. "ARFTS - JimmyMcGrory 1935-1936 Scottish First Division". Archived from the original on 21...
Bob McGrory (1891–1954), Scottish footballer Frank McGrory (born 1933), American lawyer Jackie McGrory (1941–2004), Scottish footballer JimmyMcGrory (1904–1982)...
goals in a game: 8, JimmyMcGrory (Celtic 9 Dunfermline Athletic 0, 14 January 1928) Most top flight hat-tricks: 48, JimmyMcGrory Appearances Most top...
Willie Gallacher (Celtic) JimmyMcMenemy and John McMenemy (Celtic) Jackie McNamara Sr. and Jackie McNamara Jr. (Celtic) Jimmy Parlane and Derek Parlane...
McManus, John. "JimmyMcGrory". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press., cited in The Newsroom (October 28, 2006). "Jimmy McGrory"...
Davison, League Managers Association (Celtic manager) McGrory, James, FitbaStats McGrory, Jimmy | Manager 1945 - 1965, The Celtic Wiki "Baxter appointed...
Paradise: The JimmyMcGrory Story Irnwurks Media, 2013 "Gerry McNee to bow out after Old Firm game". The Herald. 8 May 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2019. "McNee covers...
fourth person to be appointed Celtic manager, after Maley, JimmyMcStay and JimmyMcGrory, who was manager for 20 years. It was later suggested that Stein...
sign JimmyMcGrory from Celtic. He had set up a meeting with Celtic manager Willie Maley and young McGrory in summer 1928 when Maley and McGrory were...
footballer Ross McCormack – footballer James McFadden – footballer Frank McGarvey – footballer Danny McGrain – footballer and manager JimmyMcGrory – footballer...
French politician, 93rd Prime Minister of France (b. 1907) October 20 – JimmyMcGrory, Scottish football player and manager (b. 1904) October 21 – Sylvia...
ahead. On 18 September, Sinclair became the first Celtic player since JimmyMcGrory in 1922 to score in each of his first five league matches. Sinclair...
has currently scored the third most goals in Celtic's history (only JimmyMcGrory and Bobby Lennox scored more), which includes a total of 15 hat-tricks...
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