Hearts this time and echoes of Neil Lennon...
I'm working on another detailed article from Matt Corr about Celtic in the 1930s and it will be up shortly. It's a long but brilliant read. Just paused to cut and paste a small portion of the article here, it about a young red-headed Irish goalkeeper playing for Celtic at Tynecastle. See if it rings any bells...
Jim (Foley) would gain his sixth international cap in the 5-2 victory at Dublin’s Dalymount Park over Germany on Saturday, 17 October 1936, as Hitler basked in the glory of his Berlin Olympic Games that summer, and the world looked on and wondered. The following month, he was part of the Celtic side which faced the Hearts ‘A’ side at Tynecastle in an Alliance fixture. Foley was subjected to a torrent of racist abuse from ‘fans’ behind his goal at the Gorgie Road end. ‘Fenian* this’. ‘Irish that’. I’m sure you have the picture. At one point, he retrieved the ball from the track then, depending on what version you believe, volleyed the ball off a wall and/or into the crowd. Cue bedlam. In the ensuing melee, Foley was headbutted by a spectator, one of many who had invaded the pitch to attack the Celtic keeper.
What happened next borders on the farcical. A Hearts fan claimed that he had been ‘momentarily hurt by a glancing blow’, and Foley was charged with assault, ‘by kicking a football deliberately and with great force in his direction’. Despite evidence to the contrary, including the word of teammates, John Doyle and Bertie Duffy, and requests from Foley’s King’s Counsel to dismiss the charge on the grounds of triviality, with ‘no question of injury having been inflicted’, Jim was convicted and fined £2, as an alternative to a 20-day custodial sentence. It was a strange interpretation of Scottish justice. Sadly, for whatever reason, he would not be the last red-haired Irish Celt to be assaulted in the Gorgie stadium.
*Please note that the version that will appear on The Celtic Star this morning will be edited, we are not permitted to use this word or the article is filtered out from the News sites. Foley had just played against Nazi Germany for Ireland, he must have wondered which opponent was the most disgraceful....
I'll drop Matt's article in here when it's ready, been at it for hours!
I'm working on another detailed article from Matt Corr about Celtic in the 1930s and it will be up shortly. It's a long but brilliant read. Just paused to cut and paste a small portion of the article here, it about a young red-headed Irish goalkeeper playing for Celtic at Tynecastle. See if it rings any bells...
Jim (Foley) would gain his sixth international cap in the 5-2 victory at Dublin’s Dalymount Park over Germany on Saturday, 17 October 1936, as Hitler basked in the glory of his Berlin Olympic Games that summer, and the world looked on and wondered. The following month, he was part of the Celtic side which faced the Hearts ‘A’ side at Tynecastle in an Alliance fixture. Foley was subjected to a torrent of racist abuse from ‘fans’ behind his goal at the Gorgie Road end. ‘Fenian* this’. ‘Irish that’. I’m sure you have the picture. At one point, he retrieved the ball from the track then, depending on what version you believe, volleyed the ball off a wall and/or into the crowd. Cue bedlam. In the ensuing melee, Foley was headbutted by a spectator, one of many who had invaded the pitch to attack the Celtic keeper.
What happened next borders on the farcical. A Hearts fan claimed that he had been ‘momentarily hurt by a glancing blow’, and Foley was charged with assault, ‘by kicking a football deliberately and with great force in his direction’. Despite evidence to the contrary, including the word of teammates, John Doyle and Bertie Duffy, and requests from Foley’s King’s Counsel to dismiss the charge on the grounds of triviality, with ‘no question of injury having been inflicted’, Jim was convicted and fined £2, as an alternative to a 20-day custodial sentence. It was a strange interpretation of Scottish justice. Sadly, for whatever reason, he would not be the last red-haired Irish Celt to be assaulted in the Gorgie stadium.
*Please note that the version that will appear on The Celtic Star this morning will be edited, we are not permitted to use this word or the article is filtered out from the News sites. Foley had just played against Nazi Germany for Ireland, he must have wondered which opponent was the most disgraceful....
I'll drop Matt's article in here when it's ready, been at it for hours!
nice first post ==////// NOT ===///..
