One of the saddest stories in Celtic's history is that of Mick McKeown.

After a notable career with the Bhoys the Ayrshire man's life spiralled downwards.

It came to an end in awful circumstances - the exact location being in the shadow of Celtic Park.

1/10

#celticfc
McKeown was part of many important Celtic firsts, including:

* First game at original Celtic Park (playing for Hibs)
* Celtic’s first trophy (1889 Glasgow North Eastern Cup)
* First Scottish Cup game (his debut)
* First league game

And many others too.

2/10

#celticfc
After leaving Celtic he had multiple problems.

His most notable issue was being an alcoholic, which clouded every experience.

McKeown played for various other clubs and worked as a miner, dyer, navvy, labourer and soldier.

But in all he couldn't escape the demon drink.

3/10
He also spent a fair bit of his time in trouble.

At various times McKeown was arrested and spent time in jail for different petty crimes.

This often involved stealing or sleeping in places he shouldn't, including factories or industrial buildings.

4/10
On 24 October 1903 Mick was in the east end of Glasgow. Celtic played that day although it's not known if he watched them.

That night - almost certainly very drunk - he looked for somewhere to sleep.

Eventually he came to the site of Robert Paul bottle works.

5/10

#celticfc
Mick McKeown's chosen shelter was a lime kiln. This proved to be a fatal mistake.

The day next his dead body was by workers. He had suffocated when in the kiln, a sad and awful ending to any life.

6/10

#celticfc
The Robert Paul bottle works was in Broad Street in Camlachie.

There has often been some mystery about this location.

Many people assume it is the modern day Broad Street near Bridgeton Cross - but this is not correct.

7/10

#CelticFC
Broad Street from 1903 no longer exists. It has become part of Biggar Street, next to the Forge Retail Park.

The bottle works was somewhere near the modern site of Pets at Home.

This is just over half a mile from the original Celtic Park where McKeown played.

8/10

#celticfc
After McKeown's body and identity were discovered, he faced a pauper's grave.

Celtic however stepped in to pay for his funeral.

He is buried in Dalbeth cemetery near Celtic Park (in the lair of his Quillan family in-laws).

9/10

#celticfc
McKeown's name will never be as revered as other early Celts like James Kelly, Dan Doyle or Willie Maley.

But his contribution to Celtic's development deserves to be better remembered.

He, like many other forgotten men, helped create the club we now have.

10/10

#celticfc

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More from @hailhailhistory

Dec 9
How many clues will it take you to guess the mystery Celt's identity?

#celticmysterycountdown

5 points if it you get it in Round 1, 4 points in Round 2, etc.

FIRST ROUND - 5 POINTS

1. Spent most of his career in England

#celtic #CelticFC
Can you guess the Celt from the clues so far?

#celticmysterycountdown

SECOND ROUND - 4 POINTS

1. Spent most of his career in England

2. Won two leagues with Celtic

#celtic #CelticFC
Can you guess the Celt from the clues so far?

#celticmysterycountdown

THIRD ROUND - 3 POINTS

1. Spent most of his career in England

2. Won two leagues with Celtic

3. Born in Edinburgh

#celtic #CelticFC
Read 6 tweets
Jan 8
The song 'Willie Maley' is a firm favourite of @CelticFC fans.

It tells the story of the club's history, from the very start until more recent times.

This thread looks at all of the verses, giving more detail for each of them.

1/21

#celticsongs #celticfc #williemaleysong
The first verse is about Willie Maley.

A @CelticFC legend, in fact the club were trying to sign his brother Tom and he was asked to also come along.

He ended up playing for and managing the club for more than half a century.

2/21

#celticsongs #celticfc #williemaleysong
The opening verse also mentions Patsy Gallagher.

The Irishman was a forward who became a huge fans' favourite, known for various tricks.

He played from 1911-25. His most famous goal was a somersault in the 1925 Scottish Cup Final.

3/21

#celticsongs #celticfc #williemaleysong
Read 21 tweets
Sep 10, 2021
One unusual @CelticFC history story features the circus.

In 1893 it was advertised that a team of "past & present" Celtic players would participate in a tour of Scotland as part of @CircusGinnett shows.

They would play 6-a-side games versus local teams.

1/9

#celtic #celticfc
There is some dubiety about these claims.

Certainly some people involved had played for @CelticFC but many hadn't.

It's unlikely Celtic even knew about this, even if all circus adverts said it was an official team. Nowadays litigation would stop such claims!

2/9

#celticfc
The only notable former @CelticFC player to be involved was the circus team captain, "General McLaren".

James (Jimmy) McClaren played for Celtic in the 1880s/1890s. His nickname was the "Ould Gineral (or General)".

thecelticwiki.com/players/all-ti…

3/9

#celtic #celticfc
Read 10 tweets
Sep 4, 2021
A fascinating insight into @CelticFC supporters' clubs in the past.

These are the 1960s membership rules for the @DundeeCeltic Travel Club (likely similar to when it was formed in 1948).

Very strange seeing rules against women members.

1/7

@csasocialclub #celtic #celticfc
The rules are the same type you'd find in any private members' club at the time.

As member of the @csasocialclub, they would likely have been repeated by other @CelticFC supporters' clubs.

This includes a commitment to be non-political and non-sectarian.

2/7

#celtic #celticfc
Other rules describe disciplinary and general membership procedures, or outline the process of electing office bearers.

3/7

#celtic #celticfc
Read 8 tweets
Jun 5, 2021
It's #walkonweekend, a chance to exercise and raise money for @FoundationCFC.

The pictured route has lots of @CelticFC sites, such as:

* Maley's grave
* Hampden
* Cathkin Park
* Shawfield
* Celtic Park
* St Mary's Church

History/photo updates across the day!

#celtic #celticfc
As part of the #walkonweekend planning, @cfcliamk96's book, 'The Holy Grounds of Glasgow Celtic' has been very useful.

A great guide for learning more about @CelticFC-related locations:

charity.celticfc.com/news/blog-news…

Even better - all profits go to @FoundationCFC.

#celtic #celticfc
#walkonweekend stop 1

The grave of Willie Maley.

Willie Maley was @CelticFC's legendary first manager.

He led the club for 43 years and won 30 major trophies. He also played for Celtic on 70 occasions.

#celtic #celticfc @FoundationCFC
Read 13 tweets
May 22, 2021
Nowadays it's easy to listen to Celtic songs between streaming music, CDs and sites like YouTube.

But in the past it was harder to do so. In the 1990s, various CDs were released with famous @CelticFC songs.

This thread looks at some of those CDs.

#celtic #celticfc #celticsongs
The first CD release in the 1990s available in the @CelticFC shops (that I remember) was 'The Celtic Songs EP'.

Released in 1994, it featured four songs:

The Celtic Song
The Johnny Thompson Song
The Fields of Athenry
You'll Never Walk Alone

#celtic #celticfc #celticsongs
This CD was followed in 1995 by 'The 2nd Celtic Songs EP'.

This had the @CelticFC first team from different years (1964, 1970, 1977) singing songs:

Over and Over
Celtic are here
Celtic, Celtic

Jimmy Johnstone also sang 'Passing Time'.

#celtic #celticfc #celticsongs
Read 8 tweets

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