Billy McPhail

William Simeon McPhail (2 February 1928 – 4 April 2003) was a Scottish football player who played for Queen's Park, Clyde and Celtic. He scored three goals in Celtic's record 7–1 victory over Rangers in the 1957 Scottish League Cup final. After retiring, he developed a neurodegenerative disease, which he believed to be a result of brain damage acquired from heading footballs. He was the younger brother of fellow player John McPhail.

Billy McPhail
Personal information
Full name William Simeon McPhail[1]
Date of birth (1928-02-02)2 February 1928
Place of birth Possilpark, Scotland
Date of death 4 April 2003(2003-04-04) (aged 75)
Place of death Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1941–1947 Queen's Park 12 (2)
1947–1956 Clyde 137 (90)
1956–1958 Celtic 33 (13)
International career
1949 British Army[2] 1 (0)
1952 Scottish B League XI 1 (3)
1953 Scotland XI 1 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

McPhail's 17-year playing career began when he signed for Queen's Park in 1941.[3][4] He was a centre forward and soon earned the nickname "Teazy Weazy."[5] He was, according to football historian Bob Crampsey, "an extremely graceful player... a particularly good header of a ball".[6]

He was then sold to Clyde in 1947, but his career there was interrupted with recurring injuries. He had an excellent scoring record whilst with the Bully Wee, scoring 90 goals in 137 league games. At Clyde, McPhail missed the 1955 Scottish Cup final with injury.[7]

His early career at Shawfield was interrupted in January 1948 when he was called up to the army.[8][9] McPhail continued to play football in the army. He represented the Southern Command in the Army Command Challenge Cup,[10][11] and featured regularly for the British Army representative team.[12]

The Bully Wee won four trophies in season 1951–52. As the team won Division Two, McPhail finished as top scorer in the league. He also scored in three separate cup finals, the Glasgow Cup, Charity Cup, and Supplementary Cup, all of which were won.

In May 1956 he signed for Celtic for £2,500,[13] the team his elder brother John had previously captained. He made his debut in a 2–1 Scottish League Cup win against Aberdeen. Later that season, McPhail scored twice in the League Cup final, helping Celtic lift the trophy for the first time. The following year, he starred in the Celtic team that played fierce Old Firm rivals Rangers in the final of the same competition. The match, referred to by fans in poem[14] and song[5] as "Hampden in the sun", resulted in a record 7–1 victory to Celtic, with McPhail scoring a hat-trick.[3][15]

A knee and ankle injury forced McPhail to retire the following year, after just two seasons with Celtic.[3] He played just 57 games for the club in the major domestic competitions,[16][17] however he is widely described as a "hero" or "idol" for his three goals in the 1957 final which remains a record margin of victory in the fixture.[6][14][18] John McPhail had also scored three goals against Rangers, in the 1950 Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup; this is the only occasion in Old Firm history that brothers achieved this feat.[19]

He was listed on the Greatest 50 Celtic Legends by the Evening Times in 2013.[20]

International career

While never capped at full international level, McPhail was included in the Scotland squad for a game against Wales in 1955, but was forced to withdraw through injury.[7]

He did net a hat-trick for a Scotland XI against Sunderland in a benefit match for Jimmy Mason of Third Lanark in 1953.[21] In addition, he scored another hat-trick for a Scottish B League XI against an Irish B League XI in 1952.[22]

Health problems

According to his wife Ophelia, McPhail discovered in the 1990s that the left hemisphere of his brain was damaged. Then aged in his 70s, he had displayed signs of dementia since his 30s, and was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.[6] McPhail, with the support of medical specialists, associated the neurological symptoms with heading the leather football used in the 1950s, explaining how "the ball used to get very heavy when it rained – when you took that full in the forehead it nearly knocked you over."[18]

In 1999 McPhail launched a legal case claiming he was entitled to disability payments. However, an industrial tribunal did not accept that a clash of heads during his playing career could have caused the dementia. The tribunal would not consider whether heading the ball might have contributed, as it categorised that as "part of the job [as a footballer]" and not an industrial injury. The decision was upheld by the Social Security Commissioner of Scotland.[6][23]

McPhail's condition and its possible causes were discussed during a BBC Scotland investigative television programme on the subject in 2000, also featuring another former Celtic forward Jock Weir who was suffering from a similar illness.[6] His mental health continued to deteriorate and he died in Glasgow on 4 April 2003.[3][14]

Career statistics
Club Division Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Queen's Park Southern Division A 1944–45[4] 20––––––20
1945–46[4] 81––––2[lower-alpha 1]0101
Scottish Division One 1946–47[4] 12220002[lower-alpha 2]0162
Total223200040283
Clyde Scottish Division One 1947–48[24] 145106[lower-alpha 3]53[lower-alpha 4]2[lower-alpha 4]2412
1950–51[25] 15521671[lower-alpha 5]02413
Scottish Division Two 1951–52[26] 2536216211[lower-alpha 6]12[lower-alpha 6]4451
Scottish Division One 1952–53[27] 261732672[lower-alpha 7]03726
1953–54[28] 151000621[lower-alpha 8]02612
1954–55[29] 115541000179
1955–56[30] 311232311[lower-alpha 9]03815
Total13790161034241914210138
Celtic Scottish Division One 1956–57 136441081[lower-alpha 10]2[lower-alpha 10]2820
1957–58 2070010143[lower-alpha 11]03321
Total 3313442022426141
Career Total 192106221454462716299182

Notes
  1. Includes Victory Cup (1 app) and Glasgow Charity Cup (1 app).
  2. Includes Glasgow Cup (1 app) and Glasgow Charity Cup (1 app).
  3. Includes 1 match from 1948–49 competition. McPhail's only appearance of season.
  4. Includes Glasgow Cup (2 apps, 1 goal) and Glasgow Charity Cup (1 app, 1 goal).
  5. Includes Glasgow Cup (1 app).
  6. Includes Saint Mungo Cup (1 app, 1 goal), Supplementary Cup (4 apps, 4 goals), Glasgow Cup (3 apps, 3 goals) and Glasgow Charity Cup (3 apps, 4 goals)
  7. Includes Glasgow Cup (1 apps) and Glasgow Charity Cup (1 apps).
  8. Includes Glasgow Cup (1 apps).
  9. Includes Glasgow Cup (1 apps).
  10. Includes Glasgow Cup (1 app, 2 goals)
  11. Includes Glasgow Cup (1 app) and Glasgow Charity Cup (2 apps).

    Representative matches
    Scores and results list for Scotland XI's, Scottish League XI's, and British Army XI's goal tally first.
    ! DateVenueOpponentGoalsResultCompetition
    B League Internationals
    17 March 1954Solitude, Belfast[31]Northern Ireland Irish B League XI36–0Challenge match
    Unofficial Internationals
    30 April 1953Cathkin Park, GlasgowEngland Sunderland35–0Testimonial
    British Army matches
    23 February 1949Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh[2] Scotland01–7International trial
    9 March 1949Molineux, Wolves[32]United Kingdom Royal Air Force03–3Inter-services match
    6 April 1949Fratton Park, Portsmouth[33][34]Belgium Belgian Army2Challenge match
    26 October 1949Recreation Ground, Aldershot[35][36]England Aston Villa02–7Challenge match
    2 November 1949The Valley, London[37][38]England Football Association XI01–4Challenge match

    Honours

    Clyde

    Celtic

    See also

    References
    1. Statutory registers – Deaths – Search results, ScotlandsPeople
    2. Army Team Outclassed at Tynecastle Park Glasgow Herald. 24 February 1949.
    3. Alford, Mark (12 April 2003). "So Farewell Billy McPhail". The Independent – via FindArticles.
    4. Name: McPhail, William Simeon, QPFC.com
    5. "Hampden in the Sun". The North American Federation of Celtic Supporters Clubs. Archived from the original on 11 January 2002. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
    6. Heading for Trouble (transcript), Frontline Scotland, 2 May 2000
    7. "Billy McPhail | Stylish Celtic forward whose career was marred by injuries". Herald Scotland. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
    8. "JACK HARK NESS HERE". Sunday Post. 4 January 1948. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    9. "PTE. MACPHAIL REPORTS FOR DUTY". Press and Journal. 6 January 1948. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    10. "TWO GOALS FOR BILLY M'PHAIL". Press and Journal. 13 October 1948. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    11. "Army (Scottish Command) 6–0 Royal Navy". Dundee Courier. 29 January 1948. Retrieved 13 June 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    12. "BOOM-END THREAT TO B LEAGUE CLUBS". Sunday Post. 28 November 1948. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    13. "Billy McPhail". The Scotsman. 7 April 2003. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
    14. Hoops bid farewell to hat-trick legend Billy, News of the World, 6 April 2003
    15. Rej, Arindam . Veterans battle to prove brain damage link, The Guardian, 23 December 2004
    16. (Celtic player) McPhail, Billy, FitbaStats
    17. "A Celtic State of Mind's Team of the Decade – The 1950s Midfield". Celtic State of Mind. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
    18. Headers harmed my brain, says footballer, The Independent, 16 April 1998
    19. Tom Campbell, Glasgow Celtic 1945–1970, Civic Press, 1970
    20. "CELTIC LEGENDS COUNTDOWN: 50-46". Glasgow Times. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
    21. "Now you know: Cascarino didn't fire a blank in Celtic tally". Evening Times. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
    22. "Scottish League Division B team". SFAQ. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
    23. Wade, Mike (12 November 2002). "Coroner rules heading ball killed striker". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 20 May 2005.
    24. "1947–1948 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
      "1948–1949 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    25. "1950–1951 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    26. "1951–1952 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    27. "1952–1953 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    28. "1953–1954 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    29. "1954–1955 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    30. "1955–1956 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    31. "McPHAIL'S THREEIN ROUT OF IRISH". Dundee Courier. 16 April 1952. Retrieved 13 June 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    32. "Army team was unlucky to draw". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 10 March 1949. Retrieved 13 June 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    33. "WEMBLEY SPECIAL". Sunday Post. 10 April 1949. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    34. "SPORTING GOSSIP". Belfast Telegraph. 7 April 1949. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    35. "Glamour Team's Come-Back". Dundee Courier. 24 October 1949. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    36. "FORD AND GOFFIN EACH SCORE TWO". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 27 October 1949. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    37. "WEMBLEY SPECIAL". Star Green un'. 29 October 1949. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    38. "Watson in England form". Daily News. 3 November 1949. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    39. "1951–52: Clyde 5 v 1 St. Johnstone". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
      "1951–52: St Johnstone 2 v 2 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
    40. "1951–52: Celtic 1 v 2 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
    41. "1951–52: Third Lanark 2 v 2 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
    42. "Billy McPhail". The Scotsman. 7 April 2003. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
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