Celtic in the USA and Canada

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

1951

In 1951 the Celts went to Toronto to play Fulham of England after winning the Scottish Cup against Motherwell. Celtic Travelled aboard the S.S. Queen Mary and arrived at New York City on 14 May 1951. The Canadian Soccer Football Association and the United States Soccer Football Association, co-sponsors of the Celts tour, thought it would be appropriate for them to bring the cup along. Jimmy McGrory was the manager and true to the Celtic tradition (don't spend too much money) the prized possession of the Scottish FA was taken to New York in a small wooden box. In New York the wooden box was lost and McGrory picked up a shopping bag from Macy's, one of New York's top department stores. The team arrived in Toronto around eight o'clock and newspapermen and radio commentators were on hand, television was not in vogue in those days. Stepping from the train at Toronto's Union Station McGrory asked "Where the hell is the cup?" Nobody could find it but eventually a young Scottish lad, taking his holidays to follow his favourite team, said "Mr McGrory here it is." The story was used throughout the World and since then the Scottish Cup has never again been allowed out of Scotland.

Players at the time included McPhail (captain), Hunter, Fallon, Rollo, Evans, Boden, Baillie, Weir, Collins, Peacock and Tully. Back in Scotland after the tour, Celtic added the St. Mungo Cup to their list of honours.

GILES HERON
Giles Heron was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1922. He played at centre forward for the Jamaican national team as well as playing for the American club side Detroit Corinthians. During this tour he was spotted by a Celtic scout and signed on 5th August 1951. He scored on his debut a 2-1 win against Morton and quickly became known as the ‘Black Flash’. He played his last match for Celtic on 1st December 1951 and by May 1952 he was released by the club and signed for Third Lanark. Tom Campbell in his book titled "CHARLIE TULLY- Celtic's Cheeky Chappie" from (available from Breedon Books £16.99) suggests a reason why this talented player left Celtic so quickly while discussing the factions that were apparent in the Celtic dressing room at the time "Gil Heron was another victim of the cliques operating within Celtic Park." Campbell is suggesting that (although not alone) Gil Heron was not liked by the Tully, Weir and McPhail clique. After Third Lanark, Heron also played for Kidderminster Harriers before returning to play for his original club. He excelled at many sports including boxing, cricket and ice-hockey. Father of highly regarded jazz musician and poet Gil Scott Heron whose lyrics and music inspired the majority of cutting edge American Black musicians in the late 70’s and 80’s.

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

1957

Celtic made the trip to America aboard Cunard's RMS Mauritania. A menu from the trip, autographed by the Celtic team, was sold on ebay for £112 in March 2004. The seller described the menu as follows "Cunard's RMS Mauritania Menu, dated Monday May 13th 1957, for a Gala Dinner held on board. The back of the menu has been autographed by the players and management of Celtic FC, which include Robert Kelly (Chairman), Jim McGrory (Manager), Sean Fallon, Duncan MacKay, John Donnelly, Eric Smith, Charlie Tully and Bertie Peacock, to name but a few. I think the football team were on their way across the Atlantic for a tour of the USA and Canada. Included in this are three black and white photographs of the Mauritania, which were taken by relations before embarking at Southampton, as the ship set sail with my grandparents aboard." The menu is displayed below.

Autographed RMS Mauritania Menu

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

1966

This tour of the States started with the team having a holiday in Bermuda and playing against a couple of local teams. It was on this tour living, sleeping and eating together that a young team of Scottish youths would be moulded into the team that became the Champions of Europe in the coming season. Jock Stein saw enough on this tour to convert Bertie Auld from a traditional winger to a midfielder and a partnership with the late, great Bobby Murdoch. We all know how well that worked out.

Bobby Lennox mentions this tour in his 1982 autobiography "A Million Miles For Celtic" (written by Gerry McNee and Forwarded by Jock Stein - ISBN 0 09 150240 3, Stanley Paul publishers). Reading it it is obvious that Bobby really enjoyed himself on this tour for he tells us "... it was a dream and really gave us a chance to mix and get to know each other. Morale was sky high" He goes on to remember some funny moments from the tour -

We were there only a couple of days when my buddy Jimmy Johnstone and I bought a couple of 'Texas-Style' hats to make us look like a couple of big shots! We had decided to mosey along to the room shared by Billy McNeill and John Clark to show off our purchases. Billy looked really impressed as he took the hat from my head then with a grin and a flick of the wrist sent it spinning across the room, over the balcony and down eight storeys! I remained calm and casually picked up a book by his bedside and inquired, "Enjoying this Billy?" Before he could reply I had sent it spinning in the same direction as my hat. He froze in his tracks with a look of horror on his face and I remember thinking, "It can't be that good a book". John Clark flew past me onto the balcony and as I ran over it was raining five pound notes. Billy's entire holiday money had been hidden in the pages!

In eleven matches played, Celtic scored 47 goals and conceded only 6. The table below shows a list of all matches played, dates, venues, results and indicates if a programme was issued or not.

Tour dates: May 12, 1966 - June 12, 1966. Results: 8 wins, 0 draws, 3 losses | Goals: 47 for, 6 against.

" with that impressive record behind us we looked forward to 1966-7 with confidence yet not realizing that for all of us the greatest season of our lives was about to dawn."

Bobby Lennox

Celtic returned from this tour to win every competition that they entered during the 1966/67 season. They won the European cup, beating Internationale Milan 2-1 in the final in Lisbon, pipped a great Rangers team to the Scottish League Championship, beat Aberdeen in the Scottish FA Cup final and won the Scottish League Cup beating Rangers (again) at Hampden Park.

NORTH/SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR

1968

The tour of North and South America and Canada in 1968 was more of a holiday than work for the players of that time. The team arrived in the states on May 16 but didn't play their first match until ten days later. The mode of transport was vastly more modern than that used by the touring Celtic teams of the 30's and 50's. Those teams had traveled by sea on a Cunard liner and the journey took days rather than hours. This group of young Celts were getting used to the best and, for once, it looks like no expense was spared. Writing in his tour diary, Dr John Fitzsimons described the journey ....

"Splendidly attired in green club blazers and grey flannels our party of 16 players and five officials board the plane at Prestwick Airport that is to take us to New York on the first stage of our transatlantic tour."

The green club jackets and matching grey flannels didn't last long for he tells us later that ....

"For the next week the players are free to enjoy themselves as they please. The first indication that all are in true holiday mood is the casual wear chosen by those immaculate young men of 24 hours ago. Some of the creations now being paraded would make the Beatles look staid by comparison."

The party had arrived in New York at 4 p.m. local time, 40 minutes faster than the 6 and a bit hours it was scheduled to take. However, this was only the first leg of the journey. The camp where the team was to be based was in Newport, a suburb of Miami in Florida. By 6 p.m. they were aboard a Boeing 727 bound for Miami and their resort motel. The players and officials were very impressed by the facilities for Dr Fitzsimons ended his first day entry by describing the accommodation .....

"Motel! Picture our surprise and pleasure when we behold a magnificent 14-storey hotel situated right on the beach and with all the other trappings of luxury at hand. We find ourselves housed in the Penthouse suites. Scrumptious!"

Over the next few days the Celtic party relaxed and took advantage of all that Miami has to offer. Colour television (this was new technology) with multiple channels, deep sea fishing and golf were among the favourites. On the 24th of May it was time to leave Miami and board the plane back to New York in time for the entire party to attend the Bob Foster v Dick Tiger light heavyweight championship boxing bout at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

It was still two days until the first of the two matches played against A.C. Milan. On the 25th they went to the famous New Belmont Racetrack and on the 26th attended a service in St. Patrick's Cathedral. That night Celtic met A.C. Milan at the Roosevelt Stadium in the first of the two matches. Milan were champions of Europe and Italy and half of the fans attending the match were there in support of the Italians. Celtic only managed a 1-1 draw which disappointed the players and officials but they would get another chance in the match in Toronto .... and there was to be a trophy up for grabs.

On the 28th, Celtic took a short flight from NY to Toronto and booked into the Royal York Hotel. The tempo was changing. Not so relaxed as it had been as Dr Fitzsimons recorded .....

"the big man [JS] is back on the ball and it's now training in earnest."

The match in the C.N.E. Stadium in Toronto was scheduled for June 1st and 31,000 fans turned up to set a stadium record attendance. Celtic are magnificent during the match and give Milan a taste of what Inter had suffered just 1 year earlier in Lisbon. Celtic attacked from start to finish, scoring two goals through Lennox and Gallagher with no reply from the Italians.

The final match of the tour was against Nececa of Mexico in Mexico City. Because of the difference in altitude, some of the party have difficulty breathing properly and it seems to affect the players during the match. At half-time Celtic are 3-1 down, Billy McNeill heading Celtic's only goal. During the half-time break the Celtic players are given oxygen and they play a bit better in the 2nd half - Wallace scoring to make the final score 3-2 to Nececa. On June 5th the players took a cultural excursion to the Mexican pyramids and visited the shrine of Our Lady of Guadeloupe which, in 1999, became the most-visited Catholic shrine in the world.

The next day the party departed for Glasgow and arrived back at the old Abbotsinch airport in Paisley (now Glasgow Airport).

Dunfermline Athletic were also on tour in the USA in 1968. They played 10 games with 3 wins, 6 draws and only 1 loss against Greek-Americans in New York City. During this tour the Pars played three games against Manchester City without defeat..

BERMUDA

1972

The Celtic team that went on this break to Bermuda had just won the 7th League Championship in a row and this trip was arranged as a reward.On returning home after the trip, Jock Stein said "The players deserved this break. They have worked hard for it all season.". They were based at the luxurious Princess Hotel in Hamilton Harbour. The trip went well and Celtic won both games easily against local sides.

In the first game, Celtic beat Somerset 2-0 with both goals from Bobby Lennox - one in each half. The team for that match was - Williams, Hay, Quinn, Murdoch, McNeill, Connelly, Wilson, Dalglish, Deans, Callaghan, Lennox. Subs - McCluskey, Davidson, Hood.

In the second match, Pembroke got on the end of an 8-1 thrashing with Lennox scoring four, Macari two, Connelly and McCluskey grabbing one a piece. The team for that match was - Williams, McCluskey, Quinn, Murdoch, McNeill, Connelly, Hood, Macari, Wilson, Callaghan, Lennox. Subs - Dalglish, Davidson, Deans. Billy McNeill was sent off in this match for a remark to referee Carlisle Crockwell - who had Tommy Docherty suspended for remarks made during a visit by Chelsea six years earlier.

No one knows if a programme was issued for either of these matches. If you are living in Bermuda and can help us out with this please send us any info you can on any literature published during this tour.

The pictures below appeared as part of a tour report in the Celtic View of June 1972

NASL TRANS-ATLANTIC CHALLENGE CUP

1981

The NASL Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup (shown above) was in existence for only 5 season from 1980 to 1984. In the 1981 tournament Celtic were a late replacement for Shakhtyor Donetsk, the Soviet (Ukranian) team that withdrew because Cosmos intended to field a South African (this was in the days of apartheid.) In his article in the New York Times called "FOREIGN SOCCER TEAMS LACK PRACTICE", Alex Yannis wites that "The Scottish team was a last-minute replacement for a Soviet team that withdrew because the Cosmos planned to play Steve Wegerle, a native of South Africa."

In the same article, John Clark (in charge as Billy McNeill did not travel to the tournament) said "I don't want this to sound like an excuse but we came here in the middle of their season. Fitnesswise, we're about 40 percent short. We haven't played a match for eight to nine weeks." Infact, The Celts hadn't kicked a ball in ernest since playing St Mirren on 2nd May, the last day of the 80/81 season.

As well as Celtic, there was Southampton FC from England, New York Cosmos and Seattle Sounders of the N.A.S.L. (North American Soccer League. - now defunct) Seattle Sounders beat Celtic and were the eventual winners of the 1981 tournament. Celtic also lost out to the Cosmos but managed to beat a Southampton team that included Kevin Keegan other English stars in the third/fourth place play-off match. Like Celtic, Southampton were not yet match fit and in their close-season trianing but they had more time to plan for the tournament, having agreed to take part just after the season had ended in England.

Here is a full list of the Challenge Cup winners -

• 1980 New York Cosmos
• 1981 Seattle Sounder
• 1982 Chicago Sting
• 1983 New York Cosmos
• 1984 New York Cosmos

This site - www.soundercentral.com is an excellent resource for NASL T-AC. The ticket below is for the Seattle Sounders v Celtic match and is displayed there along with some excellent memorabilia from the matches that you are unlikely to have seen before including some action photos from the games that include players like Charlie Nicholas and Tom McAdam.

Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup

Tournament issue. Celtic beat PRSL 2-1. Ajax were beaten on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw by North Shore Colts.

at the Ivor Wynne Stadium,Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton Cup tournament joint issue. Celtic 1 v Hearts 1

CHAMPIONSWORLD SERIES 1

2003

This tour was organised by ChampionsWorld, a New Jersey-based sports promoter The ChampionsWorld Series 1, which also featured Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan attracted 368,000 spectators in all and was broadcast to more than 50 countries worldwide.

Manchester United

Jul 22

yes

in Seattle Seahawks Stadium, Seattle.

Attendance: 66,772.

Manchester Utd 4 Celtic 0.

in Brown's Stadium, Ohio.

Attendance: 20,842.

Celtic 1 (Sutton) Boca Juniors 0.

CHAMPIONSWORLD SERIES 2

2004

Celtic returned to America in July 2004 to play in the 2nd ChampionsWorld Series of matches against Roma, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. The tour was organised by New Jersey-based sports events promoter Charlie Stillitano, head man of ChampionsWorld. Eight other teams took part - MANCHESTER UNITED (England); AC MILAN (Italy); CHELSEA (England); AS ROMA (Italy); LIVERPOOL (England); BAYERN MUNICH (Germany;) FC PORTO (Portugal). At the start of the 2003/04 season, Celtic lost to Manchester United in Seattle and beat Boca Juniors in Cleveland, Ohio in the inaugural series.

Martin ONeill and his hooooooped heroes were away for 13 days, from 19 to 31 July. The Celtic players had four days rest and light training at their base camp in Seattle before playing Chelsea in the first match on Saturday July 24 in the Seahawks Stadium where they met Man U last year. Next up was our UEFA Cup opponents from last season, Liverpool on Monday July 26 in the Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Connecticut, followed by Manchester United on Wednesday July 28 at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia and finally AS Roma in the SkyDome, Toronto on Saturday, July 31.

Television Coverage was by Fox Sports World/ Fox Sports Espanol and Setanta in the UK. ChampionsWorld made a loss from this tournament and folded as a result.

UNITED STATES TOUR

2006

Celtic played three matches against MLS teams in the USA during this tour.

UNITED STATES TOUR

2007

Celtic played two matches in the USA during this tour - the first against the MLS All-Stars team and the other against Chicago Fire.

TORONTO

2009

A young Celtic team were beaten 1-3 by SL Benfica of Portugal in the CNE Cup in Toronto. The match was played as part of the annual Canadian National Exhibition of 2009, the winners receiving the CNE Cup.

USA and CANADA

2010

USA

2012

USA

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