Personal

Fullname: William Patrick Maley
aka: Willie Maley
Born: 25 April 1868
Birthplace: Newry, Ireland
Death: April 2, 1958
Signed (player): 1888
Tenor as manager: 43 years, (1897-1940)

"It's not the creed nor his nationality that counts. It's the man himself." Willie Maley

Biog

William "Willie" Patrick Maley (born Newry, Ireland, 25 April 1868–April 2, 1958, Glasgow, Scotland) was the first manager of Celtic Football Club and one of the most successful managers in Scottish football history. He led Celtic to 30 major trophies in 43 years as manager.

Although Maley was born in Newry Barracks, where his father was a soldier in the British Army, his family moved to Scotland when he was young. As a young man, Maley was much more involved in athletics than in football, although he had played a few games for Cathcart Hazelbank Juniors in 1886 and had played with Third Lanark A.C. from later that year.

In 1888, he was signed by the fledgling Celtic and became one of the club's first players as a midfielder. As a naturalized Scot, he also played for the Scottish national team. In 1896, he made a single appearance for Manchester City in a Second Division match against Loughborough.

In 1897, the board of Celtic directors appointed Willie Maley, at just 29 years of age, as Secretary-Manager - the first manager - of Celtic. He won the League Championship for the club in his first full season as manager.

Maley never worked with his players in training, he watched games from the directors' box and never indulged in team talks or spoke to his players at half-time or post-match. Maley would not even announce the team: players learned if they were in or out through reading the line-up in the newspaper.

Celtic had been a buying club in their opening decade, spending heavily to bring professionals to the club. Maley decided to scrap that and rely almost entirely on recruiting youngsters fresh from junior football.

He created a young team who won six league titles in a row between 1905 and 1910 and won the first Scottish League and Scottish Cup doubles. It was the finest team in world football, and the six-in-a-row record remained unbroken until the 1970s. The stars of that side included right-back Alec McNair ("the Icicle"); inside-right Jimmy McMenemy ("Napoleon"); and the centre-forward Jimmy Quinn.

When they grew old, Maley built a second team, including Patsy Gallacher (and the ageless McMenemy), which won four titles in succession between 1914 and 1917 and set what is still the UK record for an unbeaten run in professional football: 62 games (49 won, 13 drawn), from 13 November 1915 until 21 April 1917.

That side won two more titles, in 1919 and 1922. Celtic continued to gather trophies throughout the 1920s and in the mid-1930s Maley built his third great team, featuring Jimmy Delaney and Jimmy McGrory. This side won the league title in 1936 and 1938 and the cup in 1937. By then, Maley was approaching 70.

The Maley years ended in a less than happy fashion. With Celtic at the bottom of the table, after a meeting with the board of directors in February 1940, Maley 'retired'.

Maley was the longest serving manager at Celtic. In his 43 years as manager, he won 16 league titles, 14 Scottish Cups, 14 Glasgow Cups and 19 Glasgow Charity Cups. It wasn't the mass of trophies that was most important about Maley. It was his ethos. Willie Maleys' mantra was clear: "It's not the creed nor his nationality that counts. It's the man himself". He engendered the moral framework around the club and how we were to work. There is no denying that we have swayed but that has been to our cost and we have always returned. We have always been a club that emphasises our support and culture, and Willie Maley has played a huge part in this. Any man who denies his importance, just needs to look to the Huns and the odious ethos that has underpinned their club since Struth imposed his disreputable values.

Willie Maley's name is still proudly chanted in every Celtic gathering; his name is detailed in the one of the club's most songs, "Willie Maley" by David Cameron, and it is one of the most popular Celtic songs amongst the support.

*In some games during his playing career Maley was listed on the team-sheet as 'Montgomery'. This alias - his mother's maiden name - was probably adopted to avoid his employers, an accountancy firm, from finding out he was continuing to play as a professional footballer! Such deception was not uncommon in the Victorian era.

Senior Honours as Celtic Manager

Scottish League Championship (16)

• 1897-98, 1904-05, 1905-06, 1906-07, 1907-08,
• 1908-09, 1909-10, 1913-14, 1914-15, 1915-16,
• 1916-17, 1918-19, 1921-22, 1925-26, 1935-36,
• 1937-38,

Scottish Cups (14)

• 1899, 1900, 1904, 1907, 1908,
  
• 1911, 1912, 1914, 1923, 1925,
• 1927, 1931, 1933, 1937,

Glasgow Cups (14)

• 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910,
• 1916, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1927,
  
• 1928, 1929, 1931, 1939

Glasgow International Exhibition Cup

• 1901-02

Navy and Army War Fund Shield

• 1918

Empire Exhibition Cup

• 1938

Glasgow Charity Cups (19)
[....]

Quotes

"It's not the creed nor his nationality that counts. It's the man himself."
Willie Maley

"Much has been made in certain quarters about our religion, but for forty-eight years we have played a mixed team, and some of the greatest Celts we have had did not agree with us in our religious beliefs, although we have never at any time hidden what these are. Men of the type of McNair, Hay, Lyon, Buchan, Cringan, the Thomspons, or Paterson soon found out that broadmindedness which is the real stamp of the good Christian existed to its fullest at Celtic Park, where a man was judged by his football alone."
Willie Maley from "The Story of The Celtic" (1939)

“Willie Maley was a great man but a person I used to regard with awe. Most of the time he was ensconced in his office and was not directly involved with our training. Now and again he would walk out the tunnel and when the players saw the familiar figure with the black crombie coat and stetson type hat you never saw such activity on the track.
It was a situation similar to the headmaster and pupil type of relationship, yet it was a style of management that brought results. Jimmy McStay was different in character. A quiet man he was there in difficult circumstances, similarly Jimmy McGrory was also very much a gentleman and although it’s often been repeated both seemed too nice to be really successful managers.”
Matt Lynch (Celtic Player)

'To me, Willie Maley was Celtic.'
Willie Buchan

Links

• Willie Maley Testimonial
• The Bank

Songs

• The Willie Maley Song

Books

• [Willie Maley Biog book links to be added once those pages are made]
  

Articles

• The greatest Manager - Sunday Herald Article (2003)
• Glasgow Press & Celtic, Bigotry & Representation (Lettter) (March 1906)
  

Pictures

• Willie Maley Pics
  

Willie Maley & Athletics

(source: Clydesdale Harriers)