GLF 67: Graham recalls some of the great forwards who moved from Fir Park to Parkhead over the years.
THEY CAME BACK TO HAUNT US!!!
Everyone knows we've always been a selling club and over the years one of major beneficiaries of this policy has been Celtic. Since I started watching Motherwell in the 1960's they've plundered a striker in almost every decade.
First was Joe McBride who signed for Motherwell from Partick Thistle in the summer of 1962 by Bobby Ancell as he looked to replace Ian St. John who had departed to Liverpool only months earlier.In his three years at Motherwell McBride made a total of 115 appearances scoring a remarkable total of 78 goals, a staggering record of scoring two goals every three games.Sadly this alerted Celtic manager Jock Stein to his talents and he snapped him up as his first outfield signing in 1965.Stein then went on to describe him as the quintessential striker, a man who stuck the ball in the back of the net when he couldn't think of anything else to do with it.There was to be one disappointment for McBride.During season 1966/67 he picked up an injury around Christmas. This forced him to miss the greatest occasion in the Bhoy's history as they went on to Lisbon to win the European Cup.
Despite that he was still top scorer in the country that season, scoring 37 goals. His courage and style won him the affection of a generation of Celtic supporters for whom McBride is recalled as an honorary Lisbon Lion.By the time he returned from injury Stein had settled on a strike force of Chalmers and Wallace, and he was allowed to leave rather than be merely a squad player. He finished his career with spells at Hibs and Dunfermline. Joe McBride made 94 appearances for Celtic scoring 86 goals. He won two caps for Scotland.
The second to make the move was John "Dixie" Deans. Deans signed for Bobby Howitt from Junior side Neilston Victoria in 1965. He took time to establish himself in the side but finally made the breakthrough two years later and scored eleven goals in 1967/68 despite us being relegated.
He was then to play a major part in getting us promoted back to the First Division as he bagged thirty goals the following season.He was a major part of the team who played so well in the early years of the Texaco Cup as we took on the likes of Spurs, Stoke and Coventry.He signed for Celtic in a £17,500 deal in 1971 and played for the Hoops until 1976.During this time he scored 132 goals in just 184 games for the club and set several scoring records.The six goals he struck in a defeat of Partick Thistle is a post-war record for goals scored in a single game.He is also the only player in Scottish football history to twice score a hat-trick in a major cup final, achieving the feat in the 1971/72 Scottish Cup final and the 1974/75 League Cup final , both against Hibernian.Deans also won two Scottish Caps in his time at Celtic.
Next up was Brian McClair who moved to Celtic after only two years at Fir Park. He signed at Fir Park after being released from Aston Villa where he had moved as a boy. He only played 45 games for 'Well, but his return of 21 goals was enough for him to become a target for many clubs. His reputation was enhanced when his goals helped defeat each of the Old Firm in the space of a month.He moved to Celtic for £100,000 in 1983.In four seasons with Celtic, he made 145 league appearances and scored 99 goals. In the 1986/87 season, he scored 35 goals in 44 league appearances and won both the Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year and the Scottish Players' Player of the Year awards. This then attracted the attention of Manchester United and he moved South in 1987 and went on to have a glittering career at Old Trafford winning almost everything there is to win.
He did return to Motherwell for a short spell under Harri Kampman but it was obvious his best days were behind him and he was allowed to leave early in the season. He took all of his coaching badges and he is now putting these to good effect as the Director of Manchester United's Youth Academy.
Not long after McClair moved he was replaced by Andy Walker. Walker started his career with Motherwell in 1984 signing from Baillieston Juniors. He made 91 appearances in three seasons scoring 20 goals before moving to Celtic in the summer of 1987.His first season at Celtic Park was hugely successful as the Bhoys won the double in their centenary season and Walker himself earned a first Scotland cap against Colombia. The following 3 seasons were less fruitful and by 1991/92 Walker was out of the picture. After loan spells with Newcastle and Bolton, he joined the Burnden Park side permanently in 1992.At Bolton, Walker returned to his form of 1987/88, establishing a prolific partnership with John McGinlay as the Lancashire side earned promotion to the First Division in 1992/93. That same season, he famously scored at Anfield to help the Trotters knock holders Liverpool out of the FA Cup. Walker continued in the same vein of form the following season until sustaining a serious knee injury against Swansea. Upon his recovery, he was the subject of a surprise bid from Celtic and he returned to Glasgow in 1994. 1994/95 was a mixed season for Walker - on the positive side he won a Scotland recall and earned his third (and last) cap in October, while Celtic won the Scottish Cup in May 1995.In between these events though were the negatives, as the Hoops struggled in the League and suffered a shock defeat by Raith Rovers in the League Cup final.Due to the arrival of Andreas Thom in the summer of 1995, Walker was again deemed surplus to requirements at Parkhead and joined Sheffield United for £500,000 in early 1996.He is now best known for his media work on TV, Radio and in Newspapers.
The latest to move is Scott McDonald and we will welcome him back safe in the knowledge he has already scored a hat-trick against us earlier this season. After a troubled start to his career at Southampton and Wimbledon he found a home with Terry Butcher's Motherwell side. He became an instant hit with 'Well fans when he scored on his debut in a Scottish Cup tie against St. Johnstone in January 2003.McDonald scored 44 goals in his 109 appearances for Motherwell and he will always be remembered for his role in our run to the CIS Cup Final, scoring the SPL's 5,000th goal against Falkirk and his two goals that denied his current employers the title on the last day of season 2004/05. He has already made a big impact at Celtic scoring the winning goal in the Champions League tie with AC Milan at Celtic Park.
Graham Barnstaple
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