Kidnapped – Some remarkable Celtic transfer true stories

But strangely, it has a title that could have described some of Celtic’s historic transfers! As the club begins (hopefully…) to make some moves in the transfer movement, this article tells the story of some strange historic goings-on.

Back in the late-1800s, claims of abduction and kidnapping were often right at the heart of transfer news. And one particular Celtic story reads like something out of a spy story, replete with betrayal, threats and secret journeys.

Until 1893, Scottish football was not officially professional. This meant that players could not be paid or sign an official contract – although under-the-counter payments were commonly used. It also meant that the only way a player could be tied to a side was to play for them in a competition, after which he could not appear for another team in the same tournament.

Over the years, when various Celts came to the club, the team that the player had left cried foul about Celtic’s tactics, although sometimes this hurt the Bhoys too. One such example was a night visit made by a Celtic party to secure the signing of defender Jerry Reynolds, spiriting him away from Carfin under the cover of darkness.

Another tale claims that Johnny Madden – Celtic’s first ever centre forward – had gone to Sheffield to sign for Wednesday, before a Catholic priest in the city tracked him down and arranged for his Glasgow return.

However, the story of Sandy McMahon is surely the most bizarre and exciting of all these tales.

Sandy McMahon was one of the most significant early Celts, part of multiple early triumphs and milestones, including the club’s first Scottish Cup, when he scored twice, and the maiden league title, when he finished the season as top scorer.

The Selkirk-born forward arrived at Celtic in 1890. He made the move from Edinburgh where he had played for sides like Hibs and Leith Harp. As a consequence of his goalscoring prowess, McMahon – who was known as ‘the Duke’ – soon became a fan favourite and first-choice pick for each week’s Celtic XI.

He would ultimately spend 13 years at Celtic Park, bringing his time at Parkhead to an end in 1903, before a brief foray with Partick Thistle. However, in the summer of 1892, it seemed that he was no longer to wear Celtic’s green-and-white stripes.

Season 1891-92 had been the Bhoys’ most successful to date, as they claimed a ‘Holy Trinity’ of trophies – the Scottish Cup, Glasgow Cup and Charity Cup. McMahon’s goals and performances in these matches had attracted the attentions of English scouts. They had an advantage in recruiting players from Scotland as they could officially pay players, whereas this was outlawed in Scotland.

Given the short nature of footballing careers, McMahon’s head was undoubtedly turned by the prospect of good wages south of the border.

And he wasn’t the only one. Neil McCallum – another Bhoys’ hero and scorer of the club’s first ever goal – was also a wanted man.

In the case of both forward players, it was Nottingham Forest who were most keen to sign the men. At this point, fighting began between the two clubs. So much so, that there were public arguments between Celtic and Forest, leading to the English team making the two players write letters to Scottish sporting magazines confirming that they were moving south.

On 23 August 1892, the Scottish Sport publication printed a letter which read:

“Dear sir, We beg to inform you that we have left the Celtic Club, and have signed for Notts Forest on a legal agreement. We have left to improve our position. Yours truly, Alex McMahon, Neil McCallum”

After this, Celtic’s first act was to look inside the club for a negative influence. One newspaper report claimed that Celtic’s committee believed the Bhoys’ camp contained a “traitor” who had helped facilitate the English move.

Worse than that, the treacherous Celt – who was unnamed – was understood to have taken money from an English agent in doing so. In fairness to the English agent, it often took genuine bravery to make approaches to Scottish players and club officials. It was not unknown for violent mobs of fans – sometimes nicknamed ‘Vigilance Committees’ – to attack anyone who was believed to be trying to recruit their star players.

Celtic now stepped into action to bring home their Prodigal Sons, although another Scottish paper – the Scottish Referee – published a cartoon purporting to show both men buying only one-way train tickets to Nottingham.

The Celts’ first step was to set up a hunting party – and soon they were off in pursuit of McMahon – although not McCallum, who may well have been the man that the Bhoys’ blamed for the Duke’s departure.

There has been some debate about the identity of the hunting group, although it certainly included Sandy McMahon’s brother, and possibly also Mick Dunbar, a player and later Board member for Celtic. Other possible people that were named were Joe Shaughnessy and David Meikleham.

Celtic let slip that they believed McMahon was being hidden in London, and that’s where their men would head. However, in fact they were going to Nottingham. There were suggestions that the Bhoys were being given local help to find McMahon – from none other than Notts County, Forest’s local rivals. The Scottish Sport reported that “scarcely a day passed last week but [Celtic] had voluntary messages from Nottingham giving news of the runaways.”

It was believed that County would not want to see their near neighbours sign a prolific forward in the form of McMahon and so helped the Celts track down their wayward player. It may or may not been coincidence that later that season Celtic invited Notts County to Glasgow to play in a money-spinning friendly!

One Sunday in August 1892, McMahon was in Nottingham. He wanted to go to church, but men from the Forest committee – “smelling a rat” – worried he might not return so instead he was taken for a drive. The next day he went out for a walk with Neil McCallum and Alexander Barbour, a former Renton player. During this stroll, the three footballers met Celtic’s hunting party.

Neil McCallum stepped forward to insist that neither of them would return to Glasgow. However, Celtic’s first ever goalscorer was told that he wasn’t actually wanted. McMahon was persuaded to leave, but then came the problem of transport.

The Celtic group tried to hail a cab. They found one but when they got in, McCallum threatened the driver, suggesting that he would face problems if people found out that he had taken away a potential star for Forest. The driver decided to choose an easy life and left without any passengers.

The next step was for the Celts to make a run for it, leaving the other two Scottish players behind. Eventually, McMahon and the others found a pub where they able to get a room to stay for the night. Their plan was to travel to Manchester the following day, where they would get a train back to Glasgow.

But this was not a simple task. They were warned that a group of Forest committee men were waiting for them at Manchester station, hoping to steal back their McMahon prize. Somehow the Celts managed to evade capture and caught the train back to Scotland. Even then, they were still worried about capture. As a result, they got off the train one stop early (at Eglinton Street Station) in case any Forest representatives were waiting at for them in Glasgow’s main station.

The Celts then instructed McMahon to write to Forest confirming that he would not be joining them. He sent a letter to the English team thanking them for their hospitality during his visit but added that “I’m home, and I’ve come to stay.” Forest’s loss in this strange tale was to Celtic’s huge benefit as the season progressed as ‘the Duke’ would finish top scorer and help the Bhoys claim their first league title..

It was not just Celtic that celebrated McMahon’s return. Many Scots had grown tired of the country’s best players being poached by English sides, and so were amused at Celtic managing to do the same to Forest.

A Scottish Referee comment congratulated Celtic on their success with McMahon. They noted that English journalists were complaining about Celtic’s actions, protesting that Scottish clubs should not be allowed to act this way. The Scottish publication retorted that: “neither can Englishmen!”

The Scottish Sport offered similar sentiments, writing that “Notts Forest have been bitten very severely, and it is a lesson to them, as well as other English clubs, not to tamper with Celtic players.”

Of course, all of this raised legitimate questions about how McMahon had been persuaded to return. Despite rules outlawing payment of players in Scotland, it seems clear that Celtic were breaking these instructions, as was commonly done by many other sides.

In fact, years later, Willie Maley wrote in his book that he believed all major sides defied the payments rule – except Queen’s Park.

From 1893, the issue of illegal payments – and claims of kidnapping – came to an end, because Scotland introduced a professional system, allowing Scottish teams to officially sign and pay players. It was a move largely engineered by Celtic, particularly Founding Father, John H McLaughlin.

The story of Sandy McMahon and his kidnapping is quite the tale, one that would not seem out of place in a John Le Carre or Graham Greene spy novel. It also shows just how different that 1890s football is from the modern era. Although perhaps it could yet give the Celtic board some ideas. If we can’t afford to sign some of Europe’s elite players, maybe that are more nefarious methods which be used to secure their signature!

Matthew Marr

If you want to learn more about Celtic history, follow Hail Hail History on Twitter/X. You can also take part in a FREE Celtic history walking tour. Visit celticwalkingtours.wordpress.com for more information.

Matthew’s debut Celtic book titled ‘The Bould Bhoys – Glory to their name’ was published by Celtic Star Books last year and is available to order HERE. This brilliant book is also available on Amazon Kindle for just £3.49 and includes all photo sections that appear in the hardback edition.