28.05.88

It would appear as if the newly-formed Glasgow club, the Celtic F.C., has a bright future before it. At any rate, if the committee can place the same eleven in the field as opposed the Rangers last Monday evening, or an equally strong one, the Celtic will not lack for patronage and support. 

The Scottish Umpire 05.06.88

Celtic played their first match on 28th May 1888. The opponents, a team called The Swifts, were a Glasgow Rangers XI. Celtic won by 5-2. 
The club had assembled a team that comprised both young Lanarkshire talent and established players of some repute. Professionalism was outlawed in Scottish football, but some of these players were undoubtedly paid to play and rewarded for signing on. The 11 featured 3 players who had previously represented Scotland (Kelly, McCallum and Dunbar ) . 7 were born in Scotland, 2 in Ireland and 2 in England. The average age was 22.
 Here is the line up:

Goalkeeper:  Mick Dolan (Drumpellier) 19
Dolan joined the newly formed club from Coatbridge's Drumpellier FC . The town of Coatbridge is noted for its strong Irish connections. Most of Dolan's career with Celtic was spent in the reserve team.

Right back: Eddie Pearson (Carfin Shamrock) 25
Pearson returned to Carfin Shamrock shortly after the establishment of Celtic. 

Left back: James McLaughlin (Hibernian) 23
McLaughlin became Celtic's first choice goalkeeper during his 2 years at the club. He was later a top class referee.

Right half: Willie Maley (Cathcart) 20
Willie Maley, a legend in the game, joined Celtic  by chance. A party  went to the Maley family home in Cathcart to ask Tom to join the new club. Tom was visiting his girlfriend,  Willie was at home. The visitors (Brother Walfrid was present) suggested that  Willie should also join Celtic.  Willie was at Celtic for 9 seasons as a player, winning 3 Scottish League Championships (1892-93, 1893-94, 1895-96) and the Scottish FA Cup (1892). He made 2 international appearances for Scotland in 1893. He then managed the club for 43 years, winning 30  trophies.

Centre half: James Kelly (Renton) 22
Kelly was Celtic's big signing. One of the leading players of his day and a World Championship winner with Renton. Controversy surrounded his signing, as inducements and payments were undoubtedly involved.  Kelly went on to play 139 games for Celtic, winning the Cup and League in the process. He was also capped by Scotland. He later served as a director and as chairman of the club.

Left half: Phil Murray (Cambuslang Hibs) 22
Murray was an Englishman who later emigrated to the United States. 

Outside right: Neil McCallum (Renton) 19
The Shadow scored Celtic's first ever goal. Another Renton star lured to the club.He later played for Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest as well as guesting for Glasgow Rangers. 

Inside right:  Tom Maley  (Cathcart) 23
Handsome Tom was another coup signing. A player (and all round athlete) of great repute. He later enjoyed some success in management. 

Centre forward: John 'Jake' Madden (Dumbarton) 22
Jake 'The Rooter' Madden, a shipyard worker and professional footballer (though no such thing existed officially in Scotland at the time) appeared in the inaugural celtic game in transit from Grimsby Town back to his hometown club, Dumbarton. In 2 spells with the Celts he played 118 games and scored 49 goals. He was capped twice by Scotland, scoring 5 international goals. 
Madden then made a huge contribution to the evolution of football in Czechoslovakia, coaching Slavia Prague for 25 years. 


Inside left:. Mick.Dunbar ( Hibernian ) 24
Capped for Scotland in 1886 when he was with Cartvale. Was at Celtic for 5 years, making 32 first team appearances. 


Outside left: Charlie Gorevin (Govan Whitefield) 24
An Irishman who later emigrated to the USA where he played both Gaelic and Association football.



Celtic's scorers were McCallum, Kelly and Tom Maley (3).

The Maley Brothers

Thomas Maley was an Irishman who served in the Royal Highland Fusiliers for 22 years. He was a veteran of the Crimea and had traveled the world. He had 4 sons. One,Charles,became a priest, the other 3 were involved in football.

Tom (1864 –1935)

Tom was born in Portsmouth. He was an all round athlete, particularly successful at the 100 yards. Unsurprisingly he played on the wing, as outside left. Known as Handsome Tom, he played football as an amateur, being a qualified school master. 

Tom played in Celtic's first ever match , and when his playing days were over he became a director of the club (1897).

In 1902 Tom took over as manager of Manchester City. Maley's time at City got off to a tragic start. Welsh star Di Jones died as the result of an injury sustained in an exhibition match. Tom Maley was influential though in creating a strong bond between his players. They won promotion back to the First Division  in his first season in charge, and the following season (1903–04) they won the FA Cup and finished 2nd in the League. 1904–05 saw City finishing in 3rd place and 1905-06 5th. Maley was transforming City into a major force.

Manchester City's record under Maley:

P	W	D	L	F	A	Win %
150	89	22	39	322	178	59.33

However in the summer of 1906 an FA investigation into the payment of bonuses had a catastrophic impact on the club. 17 players were fined and suspended from football until January 1907 . City had to sell many players and Maley received a life ban from the game.

He returned to Glasgow and worked as a teacher, When his life ban was revoked in 1910 he returned to football management. 

As a player:
1881	Cathcart
1882	London Caledonian
1883	Partick Thistle
1884	Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers
1885	Hibernian
1886	Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers
1887	Clydesdale Harriers
1888- 1891	Celtic
1891	St Mirren  (loan)
1892-93	Preston North End
As manager:
1902	Manchester City
1911	Bradford Park Avenue
1925	Southport
1931	Celtic (assistant)

Willie (1868 –1958)

 Willie was born in Newry in Ireland. Like Tom, he developed into an all round athlete. His incredible association with Celtic began by chance. Brother Walfrid and Mr Glass were calling on Tom Maley in Cathcart to ask him to join the club they were forming. Tom was out, Willie was at home. They suggested that if Tom decided to take up the offer that Willie should come along as well. 

Consequently Willie played alongside Tom in Celtic's first ever fixture. 

Playing at half-back Willie was at Celtic for 9 seasons as a player, winning 3 Scottish League Championships (1892-93, 1893-94, 1895-96) and the Scottish FA Cup (1892). He made 2 international appearances for Scotland in 1893.

Maley had his first taste of football administration when he took on the role of Player-Secretary in May 1894. Maley became full-time manager of Celtic at the end of the 1897 season. He remained in post for 43 years, during which time he led the club to 30  trophy wins.

As a player:
1886	Cathcart Hazlebank
1887	Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers
1888-97	Celtic
1889	Ardwick  (loan)
1893	Scotland (2 internationals)
1895-96	Manchester City  (loan)
1896-97	Everton  (loan)
As manager:
1897- 1940	Celtic

	League	Cup
1897–98	Champions
1898–99		Winners
1899–1900		Winners
1900-01
1901-02
1902-03
1903–04		Winners
1904–05	Champions
1905–06	Champions
1906–07	Champions	Winners
1907–08	Champions	Winners
1908–09	Champions
1909–10	Champions
1910–11		Winners
1911–12		Winners
1912-13
1913–14	Champions	Winners
1914–15	Champions
1915–16	Champions
1916–17	Champions
1917-18
1918–19	Champions
1919-20
1920-21
1921–22	Champions
1922–23		Winners
1923-24
1924-25		Winners
1925-26	Champions
1926-27		Winners
1927-28
1928-29
1929-30
1930-31		Winners
1931-32
1932-33		Winners
1933-34
1934-35
1935-36	Champions
1936-37		Winners
1937–38	Champions

Celtic's record under Maley:

P	W	D	L	Win %
1,611	1,039	314	258	64.49

One of the only pics I've seen of Willie Maley sans hat- in a hat advertisement.

Alex (1874 – 1949)

Youngest brother Alex never played at a high level, but followed his brothers into management. He was, incidentally, the only one born in Scotland. He also worked as a journalist. 

He led teams to the Scottish FA Cup final on 4 occasions, but was on the losing side every time (1910 and 1912 with Clyde, 1923 and 1924 with Hibernian).

As manager:

1909–1912	Clyde
????–1921	Clydebank
1921–1925	Hibernian
1925–1927	Crystal Palace