VE Day – Celtic winners of the Victory in Europe Cup

The Celtic Star

·8 May 2025

VE Day – Celtic winners of the Victory in Europe Cup

80 years ago, the defeat of Nazi Germany was celebrated across Europe. Thousands of people took to the streets to mark the end of years of European conflict; Scots were cheered at the thoughts of loved ones finally returning home…

Whilst football paled in significance compared to war events, the game had continued in a modified way from 1939 to 1945. And when the fighting came to an end, the festivities of VE Day saw Celtic gain another piece of silverware.

Victory in Europe Cup – won by Celtic

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This is the story of the Celts, World War Two and the Victory in Europe Cup…

The Second World War was a devastating time for so many people. Millions of lives were lost at home and abroad, children evacuated away from their families and homes destroyed.

Scotland was no stranger to the horrors of war. As well the Scots that went away to fight, the country suffered under the aerial bombings of Germany, notably during the Clydebank Blitz of 1941.

Whilst war victory was the top focus, the government wanted to ensure that some level of normality continued at home. This meant that football was allowed to be played, albeit with certain restrictions.

Scottish football underwent significant changes during the war. To limit travel around the country, alternative regional tournaments were held instead of the usual national contests. For example, Celtic played in a Southern League and Southern League Cup, which later became the League Cup.

There were also limits on the size of crowds that could attend games, often based on a percentage of the stadium’s actual capacity. Bizarrely, in January 1940, this saw Celtic choose to play Rangers at Ibrox – with the Hoops as the official home team!

Celtic manager Willie Maley. Photo The Celtic Wiki.

The following month, Celtic witnessed the end of an era. Willie Maley – who had been manager since 1897 – left Celtic Park. As well as the club’s longest serving manager, he is also the man that has led the Bhoys to most trophies.

Maley had also been a player since Celtic’s first ever game in 1888, and was part of many club firsts including first Scottish Cup and league title. In fact, he scored when the Celts won their first ever competition, the 1889 Glasgow North Eastern Cup.

Celtic’s wartime manager Jimmy McStay. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Maley was replaced by Jimmy McStay, who was manager until 1945. McStay had a generally unhappy time at the club, failing to win any major trophy, albeit he was not helped by the war stopping normal competitions. He was eventually replaced as boss by Jimmy McGrory the same year that World War Two ended.

Many Celtic players made an important contribution to the war. This includes those that served in the military, with examples including Alec Boden, George Paterson and many others.

Gorbals-born James Stokes VC

And Celtic supporters were an essential part of Britain’s war effort too, at home and abroad. Arguably the most notable of these was Gorbals-born James Stokes, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery. A Celtic Supporters’ Club in that area still bears his name.

Gorbals-born James Stokes VC

James Stokes VC CSC

In footballing terms, the war years (1939-45) were not successful for Celtic. They played in various competitions, including the Emergency Cup, Southern League, Southern League Cup and Summer Cup. However, they failed to win any of the non-Glasgow competitions they entered.

The Bhoys’ only two moments of success during the war came in 1940, when they beat Rangers at Ibrox to win the Glasgow Cup. In 1943, the Celts also brought home the Charity Cup after beating Third Lanark.

One reason for Celtic’s struggles was the club choosing to not use guest players. Many famous pre-war players were in Scotland due to military service, and available for selection. This included Stanley Matthews, who played for Rangers, Airdrie and Morton.

The Celtic Board declined to make use of such players, including rejecting offers to pull on the Hoops. One such example was Matt Busby, who had been a Celtic fan but was not wanted by the men who ran the club.

Manchester United football manager Matt Busby handing the Team of the Year Trophy to Celtic manager Jock Stein, while the rest of the Celtic team hold the European cup trophy their had won the previous season, December 1967.

Despite a war being on, it did not end instances of footballing controversy. One significant example came in 1941 when Celtic were punished by the SFA.

A Rangers versus Celtic game at Ibrox saw significant violence in the stands, including bottle throwing. Despite this happening at Ibrox, Celtic were blamed and so Celtic Park was shut for a month in response. There were various protests against this, including from Glasgow’s Lord Provost who saw it as unfair to target one team and not the other.

This wasn’t the only problem that Celtic faced. All teams struggled to get strips owing to restrictions concerning clothing and materials. In fact, Celtic asked the fans to make coupon donations to try and get green-and-white hoops to play in!

Another notable Celtic event during the war came off the park. In September 1944, a Celtic fan named Willie Fanning wrote a letter to the Daily Record asking for representatives from different supporters’ clubs to work together.

This led to the formation of the Celtic Supporters’ Association, with Fanning as its first President. This brought together different supporters’ clubs, and met in areas across Glasgow, including Shettleston, Townhead and Grove Stadium in the west end. The Association soon had links with the club, including distributing tickets.

June 1944 was a significant month in World War Two. The D-Day landings involved British and American troops landing in France. One Celt that was took part was Willie Lyon, a Celtic captain and the man who lifted the 1938 Empire Exhibition Cup. He was injured in Normandy in July 1944.

Celtic in the Thirties – Unpublished works of David Potter – Willie Lyon. image by Celia Curio for Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr out now at celticstarbooks.com

The D-Day landings are considered to be the war’s turning point, the beginning of the end for Germany. Following this, the Nazis were pushed back, and had less than a year of fight left in them.

On 30 April 1945, Adolf Hitler faced up the reality of defeat and killed himself. Within days, Germany had surrendered and six long years of war in Europe came to end, although fighting continued in Asia until August.

On 8 May 1945, massive parties took place across Britain to mark Victory in Europe (VE) Day. Millions of people celebrated in street festivities all over the country.

As part of Glasgow’s celebrations, the Glasgow Charity Cup Committee quickly arranged a competition. Celtic and Rangers were invited to play a one-off game. However, the Ibrox side were unavailable, and so Queen’s Park instead took part.

On 9 May 1945 – on a celebratory public holiday – Celtic lined up against Queen’s Park. Around 31,000 attended the game, despite limited transport making it difficult to get to Hampden Park. Many people faced long walks to attend.

A large number of these were injured soldiers who were given free entry in recognition of their contribution to Britain’s war victory and the defeat of Nazism.

Celtic put out a strong team, featuring some men who played a notable part in the Bhoys’ history. The Celts’ XI was: Miller, Hogg, Patrick McDonald, Lynch, Mallan, McPhail, Paton, Malcolm MacDonald, Gallacher, Evans and McLaughlin.

Celtic in the Thirties. Malcolm MacDonald pictured with the Empire Exhibition Trophy. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Malcolm MacDonald was the captain, but he wasn’t the only player in this side who would have that title. Bobby Hogg had been a pre-war captain, and John McPhail and Bobby Evans would be post-war captains too.

Owing to the match being played on a holiday to celebrate the end of the European conflict, there is only limited match information available. Before the fixture began, there was a ceremony held to remember those that had lost their lives in the previous years.

Once it got underway, it was Queen’s Park who first had cause to celebrate. Arthur Dixon scored for the Hampden men, giving his side the advantage. However, later in the game, Johnny Paton equalised for the Celts.

As full-time approached, there were no further goals scored. It looked likely that the final would have to be settled with the toss of a coin, which was a common practice in those days for tied matches. However, there was one final twist.

With just a minute remaining, Celtic won a corner thanks to efforts of McPhail and Paton. Before a coin toss would be used, the number of corner kicks won was the decider. Therefore, with this being the only corner of the game, the Celts were the winners.

Victory in Europe Cup. 1945 was won by Celtic

As a result, they were awarded the Victory in Europe Cup, which can be seen on display at Celtic Park. In addition, reflecting the events of the time, the winning players were also given four War Savings Bonds.

The match had been held in aid of charity and raised £2500 for good causes; this was yet another reason for big celebrations. Of course, even without this, people had plenty of reasons to cheer; after Glasgow’s George Square victory party, three tonnes of empty bottles had to be cleared away!

The following year (1946), a Victory Cup competition was held. This was a much larger contest, bringing together teams from across Scotland. Celtic fared less well this time.

The Bhoys reached the semis but lost to Rangers after a replay. This was an incredibly controversial match. The referee was accused of being drunk, and a combination of injuries and orderings-off meant Celtic finished with only seven fit players.

In footballing terms, the era of World War Two was not a successful one for Celtic. The Bhoys didn’t win any national trophies from 1938-1951; in fact, between 1926 and 1954, only twice were they League champions.

Arguably the club’s most notable 1940s moment came when they were almost relegated in 1948, needing a final day win at Dens Park to guarantee their safety. In the 1940s, Celtic’s only trophy successes were in the Glasgow Cup on two occasions, one Charity Cup – and the Victory in Europe Cup too.

Visitors to Celtic Park can see this prize, as a reminder of an era when football was of secondary importance. Despite Celtic’s general lack of achievement at this time, the only outcome which truly mattered was the defeat of Nazism.

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.

Click on cover to order a hardback copy

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.

Matthew Marr with his debut Celtic book, Glory to their name, which tells the story of Celtic’s first ever title win. Photo The Celtic Star

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books.