Patsy Gallacher

Patsy Gallacher

Patsy Gallacher

Patsy Gallacher, (16 March 1891 - 17 June 1953) is a Celtic legend, known as ‘The Mighty Atom’. Irish international  Gallacher was barely 5 feet 4 inches and  7 stones when he played his first senior game in 1911.  He soon gained a reputation as a complete footballer, renowned for his tactical vision and dribbling skills.  Gallacher signed for Celtic in October 1911 and made his debut for the club on 2 December of that year in a 3-1 home victory over St Mirren. He  went on to make a total of 464 appearances for the club, scoring 196 goals.  Such was his value to the team that the club allowed him to own a public house while still a player, a privilege denied to other team members. He was also paid substantially more than others in the team, although the exact details were never made public.   During those 15 years, he won seven league championships and four Scottish Cups, and he is famously remembered for the ‘somersault’ goal he scored against Dundee in the 1925 Scottish Cup Final which began with a mazy dribble in which a variety of tricks took him through a thick wall of opponents:  when it looked as though he would lose possession, he fell backwards with the ball held between his feet and somersaulted into the net.   In October 1926, Celtic, believing that Gallacher was past his prime, sold him to Falkirk.  He went on to play another six seasons before retiring on 30 April 1932. Rangers’ legend Alan Morton once declared: 'There never was a player like him, and I often wonder if we shall see his like again. I wish we could, just to show the present day players that we of Patsy Gallacher's time had something to boast about.' 

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