Sandy McMahon

In the pantheon of Celtic greats, the name of Alexander McMahon must rank alongside some of the more illustrious or well-known names that immediately spring to mind. Indeed, it could be argued that McMahon, better known as Sandy, and often eulogised by supporters of the time as ‘the Duke’, was the very first legend of the club. Certainly, he was the first player to pass the 100-goal mark and for that alone he deserves to be recognised.

"It could be argued that McMahon, better known as Sandy, and often eulogised by supporters of the time as ‘the Duke’, was the very first legend of the club."

He also stands at the head of a great goalscoring lineage which has stretched down through Celtic’s glorious history. After McMahon came Jimmy Quinn, then Patsy Gallacher and Jimmy McGrory in the pre-Second World War era, to be followed later by the likes of Bobby Lennox, Stevie Chalmers, Kenny Dalglish and Henrik Larsson.

PRELUDE TO PARADISE
Born in Selkirk on October 16, 1870, Sandy McMahon played for Woodburn, Darlington St Augustine’s and Leith Harp as a youngster before making the move to Hibernian while he was still 15-years-old in 1885. A move south to Burnley followed but he was back at Hibs in 1889 and, by then, the lure of the new club in Glasgow became too great. The inside-left joined Celtic on December 20, 1890 at the age of 20 and very soon became the club’s first superstar.

DEBUT BHOY
Having joined Celtic from Hibernian just five days before Christmas 1890, it would be over a month before Sandy McMahon pulled on the green and white stripes of the time in earnest. His debut came in a 3-1 league defeat away to Vale of Leven on January 24, 1891, with Johnny Campbell scoring the Celtic goal. McMahon, though, would enjoy better fortunes against the same opposition later in the season when he scored four times in the 9-1 return win at Celtic Park.

FIRST GOAL
The first time the name ‘McMahon’ appeared on a scoresheet for Celtic was on April 11 that same year in what was his sixth appearance for the club. A crowd of around 10,000 were at Celtic Park to witness the moment, though it’s unlikely any of them would have appreciated the significance of the goal. Certainly, none of them could have predicted that McMahon would go on to score a total of 177 goals for the club in a 13-year period.

HIGHLIGHTS
With four league title wins and three Scottish Cup winner’s medals, there was no shortage of highlight material in Sandy McMahon’s Celtic career. He scored in each of his three Scottish Cup-winning finals, hitting two in the 5-1 win over Queen’s Park at Ibrox in 1892 in the club's first ever win in the competition, and he went on to find the net in the 1899 2-0 win over Rangers and the 1900 4-3 win, again against Queen’s Park at Ibrox.

100^th GOAL
In a 2-1 win over St Bernard’s on December 7, 1895, it was the opening goal which would be Sandy McMahon’s 100^th for the club. It was an impressive achievement for a player who, at a time when the league season was only 18 games, had taken just five years to reach his century, and in the process, he also ensured a special place in Celtic’s history as the first ever player to score 100 goals for the club.

BOWING OUT
Sandy McMahon’s final goal for Celtic – his 177^th no less – came on February 14, 1903 in a first round Scottish Cup tie against St Mirren. He was one of four scorers that day in a 4-0 victory for the Celts, though it was a second replay of the tie, the two previous games having finished 0-0 and 1-1. He netted Celtic’s third of the game in front of a crowd of 30,000, though just like the 1,000 who had witnessed his very first goal, none of the supporters that day would have realised they were celebrating a Sandy McMahon goal for the very last time. Or indeed, that well over 100 years later, his goalscoring exploits would continue to be written about and remembered. There was an episode in 1892 when McMahon went south to join Nottingham Forest, but Celtic managed to talk him back without ever playing for the English club. When he finally did leave Celtic, it was for Partick Thistle on October 7, 1903, but he played very few games for them before retiring in 1904.

217 CELTIC CAREER APPEARANCES
League: 174, Scottish Cup: 43

177 CELTIC CAREER GOALS
League: 130, Scottish Cup: 47

7 CELTIC CAREER MAJOR HONOURS
League Titles: 4, Scottish Cup: 3