The Price of Coal

 

The Price of Coal

In the years between the wars, it wasn’t unusual for working class lads of 14 to join their fathers and uncles in the coal mines of Scotland. The work was dirty, dangerous and demanding and as the price of coal fell, mine owners sought to continue profitability by cutting miners’ wages. In the space of a few years in the 1920s, miners in Scotland would see their pay drop from £6 to £3.90 per week. The ongoing industrial slump of the 1920s saw wages and conditions suffer. For Britain’s 1.2 million miners it was particularly difficult. They joined in the General Strike of 1926 hoping to protect wages and conditions but it was to no avail. The government of the day hired thousands of ‘special constables’ to combat the strikers and one of these ‘specials’ said…

'It was not difficult to understand the Strikers attitude towards us. After a few days I found myself sympathising with them rather than the employers. For one thing, I never realised the appalling poverty which existed. If I had been aware of all the facts I should not have joined up..’

The strike ended after just nine days, although the coal miners held out longer before being ‘starved’ back to work. They found their wages cut and their hours increased. It was a bitter time to be involved in heavy industry in Britain as employers were backed up by a government prepared to use the police and even the military to break the strike.

In that same year as the General Strike and with the miners still resisting the demands of the pit owners, Willie Maley, Manager of Celtic FC sent his chief Scout, Steve Callaghan to watch a young goalkeeper in Fife. The scout reported that the goalkeeper he was sent to appraise was mediocre but that the opposition keeper, though still a lad, looked an excellent prospect. He was short for a keeper at 5 feet 9, but he possessed a vice like grip and a graceful agility which saw him reach shots of all kind with ease. The youngster was a miner at Bowhill Colliery where the physical demands of the job strengthened and toughened his slender frame. His mother was fearful that the rough world of professional football could be dangerous and that playing for one of Glasgow’s two big clubs might bring other problems. However, the youngster saw a way to escape the hardship and uncertainty of the mine and be paid for doing something he loved. He joined Celtic and was paid £10 as a signing on fee. His name was John Thomson.

Much has been written about John Thomson’s ability as a goalkeeper as well as his bravery. James Hanley, wrote in the ‘The Story of the Celtic’: 1888-1938 (1960) that:

"It is hard for those who did not know him to appreciate the power of the spell he cast on all who watched him regularly in action. In like manner, a generation that did not see John Thomson has missed a touch of greatness in sport, for which he was a brilliant virtuoso, as Gigli was and Menuhin is. One artiste employs the voice as his instrument, another the violin or cello. For Thomson it was a handful of leather."

Desmond White, the chairman of Celtic, claimed Thomson was the best goalkeeper he had ever seen. He added:

"Johnny had the ability to rise in the air high above the opposition. It was this almost ballet-like ability and agility which, in his tremendous displays, endeared him to the hearts of all Celtic supporters."

Dr. James Hadley remarked: "The generation that saw John Thomson in action will agree it would be hard to exaggerate his magical skill and will acknowledge that neither before nor since have they seen a goalkeeper so swift, so elegant, so superbly safe in operation. He had the spring of a jaguar and the effortless grace of a skimming swallow."

Thomson’s bravery saw him dive at the feet of an Airdrie player and fracture his jaw, several ribs and collar bone. He also lost several teeth. Goalkeeper were fair game in those days and forwards set out to intimidate or ‘rough up’ goalkeepers. We may smile at grainy footage of goalkeepers of the era clutch the ball and then rush to clear it downfield. It was in fact the safest thing to do as forwards could barge or even attempt to kick the ball from the keeper’s hands without a foul being awarded. It was a dangerous time to be a goalkeeper.

Indeed just a few years earlier in 1921, 24-year-old Joshua Wilkinson was playing in goal for Dumbarton against Rangers. As a result of a very physical challenge he suffered early in the game, he suffered a ruptured intestine which he unwittingly made worse by playing for the rest of the game. Tragically, peritonitis set in and despite undergoing emergency medical surgery in Glasgow, he died on the Monday following the game.

We all know the price John Thomson was to pay on that fateful September day in 1931 at Ibrox. Brave as ever he had rushed to defend his goal from Rangers’ excellent striker Sam English. The resultant collision, totally accidental, proved fatal to John Thomson who died that night aged just 22. Scottish football and indeed the nation was stunned at Thomson’s death. The young star who had defied the great Dixie Dean of Everton as Scotland defeated England at Hampden was gone. Thousands walked from Glasgow to Fife to attend his funeral and six of his distraught team mates carried his coffin the one mile from his home to the cemetery. Willie Maley, a tough and hard-bitten old stager, admitted that he had cried at John’s passing.

Six weeks after John Thomson’s funeral there was an explosion at his old pit at Bowhill in Fife. It was fortunate that it was a Saturday afternoon and the 1200 miners who worked there were not at work. As it was 10 of the maintenance crew who worked at the pit were killed. Two of them were still teenagers. The price of coal was still high.

Next month marks 90 years since the tragic death of John Thomson. He is still recalled in the history and in the mythology of Celtic football club as one of their greatest sons. He is remembered in children’s football tournaments charity events in his honour, and pilgrimages to his graveside. There will now be very few, if any, people alive who saw John Thomson play but his place in the history of Celtic is assured. We who never saw him play heard tales from our fathers and grandfathers of a goalkeeper who was peerless, fearless and supreme.  In the words of the old song my father would sing, long ago…

So come all you Glasgow Celtic, stand up and play the game,

For between your posts there stands a ghost, John Thomson is his name.

 

                                               John Thomson (1909-1931)

                                                          Celtic Legend.