Willie Maley

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Willie Maley middle row 1st from left

William Willie Patrick Maley (born April 25, 1868 in Newry , Ireland , now Northern Ireland , † April 2, 1958 in Glasgow , Scotland ) was one of the most renowned coaches in British football history . He was the first coach of the traditional Scottish club Celtic from Glasgow and won 30 major trophies with the club during his 43-year tenure.

Maley was born in Newry Barracks, Ireland, where his father served in the British Army . The family soon moved to Scotland . As a young man, Maley was more into athletics than football, although he also played a few games for Cathcart Hazelbank Juniors in 1886 and a season later played for what was then the famous Third Lanark club .

In 1888 he was signed by Celtic, who were founded the same year he joined the Glasgow team as a midfielder. As a naturalized Scot he also played for the national team of Bravehearts .

In 1897 he was appointed managing director and trainer by the Celtic board at the age of just 29 and immediately won the championship .

Maley never worked with the players in training himself, watched the games from the stands and did not speak to the team at halftime or after the game. Maley didn't even announce the line-up. Whether they were playing or not, the players found out from the newspaper.

Until Maley's appointment, Celtic primarily bought seasoned professionals from other clubs. Maley abandoned this strategy and relied almost entirely on young players.

He designed a young team that won six championships in a row between 1905 and 1910 and the double of the league title and cup . It was arguably the best team in world football at the time and the record of six championships was to last into the 1970s. The stars of the team were: right-back Alec McNair (nicknamed Icicle ), runner Jimmy McMenemy ( Napoleon ) and center forward Jimmy Quinn .

When some of these players passed their zenith, Maley built a team around Patsy Gallacher and the still strong McMenemy and won another four championships between 1914 and 1917, putting down a series of unbeaten games that have never been cracked in all of British professional football to this day became: 62 games with 49 wins and 13 draws between November 13, 1915 and April 21, 1917.

This team won other league titles in 1919 and 1922 and was able to bring some trophies to Parkhead in the course of the 20s . Maley had in the meantime built a team around Jimmy Delaney and Jimmy McGrory , who were champions again in 1936 and 1938 and won the cup in 1937. At the time, Maley was almost 70 years old.

Maley is the longest tenured coach in Celtic history. In 43 years he has won 16 championships, 14 national cups , 14 Glasgow Cups and 19 Glasgow Charity Cups.

The Maley era, however, ended more than miserably. Celtic was in the table cellar and after a meeting with the presidium in February 1940, Maley resigned from office. It is said that Maley was furiously angry about the way he was forced out of office.

His legacy at Celtic is in the song Willie Maley the band Charlie & the Bhoys discussed, one of the most popular songs among the Celtic supporters.