It is no surprise that the greatest Celtic striker ever – yep, better than Henrik – and the best in Scottish football had his name committed to song by the Faithful.
Born in Glasgow’s ‘Garden of God’ – the Garngad – to Irish parents, Jimmy McGrory was a goal-scoring machine without compare. Many of his records still stand today, including his incredible 8 goals in one game (read about it here).
Occasionally, at supporters functions and pubs you’ll hear someone belting out the famous homage to McGrory, to the tune of the great Irish hymn ‘Hail Glorious Saint Patrick’:
In the war against Rangers,
In the fight for the cup,
When Jimmy McGrory put the Celtic one-up,
We’ve done it before
And we’ll do it again,
In Erin’s Green Valleys look down in thy love
In Erin’s Green Valleys x 3
In Erin’s Green Valleys look down in thy love
McGrory’s biographer, John Cairney, recalled a longer verse (to the same tune) in his excellent book ‘Heroes Are Forever’:
Oh, Jimmy McGrory,
The Prince of Garngad,
The best centre-forward,
The Celts ever had,
Oh, see him rise high in the goalmouth to score,
Oh Jimmy McGrory
Just gie us one more.
Oh, send for McGrory (x3)
Tae gie us one more.
To read about more Celtic songs and chants of heroes and villains of the dim and not so distant past, click here.
the shamrock 