Hughie Gallagher

Born	Bellshill	Lanarkshire	02/02/1903
Arrived	Airdrie	12/1925	£6,500 plus
Debut	Everton H	Div 1	12/12/1925
Left	Chelsea	12/1973
Apps/Goals	174	143
Ht/Wt	5' 5

Three words that 5' 5" Hughie Gallagher once used to sum up his amazing career in football.

Hughie Gallagher is arguably the greatest player ever to play for the club. Not only is he the most prolific scorer in United's (competitive) history, but he also captained them to their last ever Championship in 1926/27.

Goals

He played at a time when the change to the offside law made scoring easier but his rate is still phenomenal. In 544 career games he scored 386 goals; at United he notched 143 goals in only 174 appearances.

Hughie was even more prolific at international level, scoring 22 goals in 20 games and was a member of the famous Wembley Wizards side of 1928.

He was a brilliant poacher of goals, razor sharp and deadly accurate with either foot. Despite his size his bullet-like heading supplemented his total and he could score from any conceivable angle.

But Gallagher wasn't just a poacher supreme. He wasn't the fastest forward around but his mental sharpness and awareness meant that he could usually be relied upon to be in the right place at the right time.

He worked hard to improve his skills and as a result became a supreme dribbler with excellent close control denying the defender a look in. Hughie always had his body well forward over the ball with a shoulder poised to see off any advancing defender.

He could bring the ball down from any height no matter how fast it was played and get on the move quickly. He also worked on his control, passing and general awareness and this allowed him to be a goal provider as well as a goal taker.

He practised and practised - "a proud boast of mine was that there was no one in the game more conscientious in training than I". Skill matched with stamina and determination made for a heady mix. Sometimes it is hard to visualise a player you have never seen but all the descriptions of him remind me of a super charged Peter Beardsley.

However the goals and the glory were just one side of this incredible player.

Sensations

The sensations he talked of were the many controversial incidents that he was involved in. Gallagher would always be unrepentant "few of them were my seeking. The majority came because my patience and quick temper were tried to the utmost by players of lesser skill".

From an early age Gallagher earned a reputation for being - in his own words - "the enfant terrible" and it was a label that stuck with him throughout his life. However, Hughie always defended himself against the accusations that he was trouble.

"Sweeney Todd never in his wildest moments had anything like the blood-thirsty ambitions I had. Yet the opponents I have killed and maimed are all still alive and kicking".

Gallagher was a marked man in both senses of the word with defenders employing methods both fair and foul to try and stop him. And opponents, aware of his short fuse, would continually goad him.

He was often on the end of some disgraceful challenges and regularly left the field with multi-coloured battle-scarred legs. Amazingly he never suffered a serious injury.

"I'm pretty tough but not tough enough to knit wire netting with crowbars or take deliberate rough usage with a saintly smile."

Woefully unprotected by referees Gallagher often handed out his own retribution; "I am quick to resent injustice". He was a fearsome competitor and opponents were often treated to a range of blasphemy seldom heard even on a football pitch.

Nor was he slow to put in hard challenges of his own and occasionally when he really lost it the fists would fly.

It was hard to blame him for losing his cool: "an angel could not have kept quiet under some of the provocation". But the referee's usually took a dim view of his personal retribution.

He was sent off a number of times and received bans from both the English and Scottish authorities. Even then Gallagher looked for revenge as referee Bert Fogg once learnt to his cost .

Gallagher thought he was victimised by referees: "I wish I could not count the many times when referees have given me that 'Gallagher look' before ever I kicked a ball in a match".

Fellow Scot Bob McKay was employed as his "minder" on the pitch with instructions to step-in whenever Hugh was getting into bother; but it was an impossible job

And it wasn't just the opposition who were out to get him . During the half-time of a match when he scored five goals for the Scottish League against their Irish counterparts he received a message stating he would be shot if he didn't ease up.

There were off the field problems too. At Newcastle there were rumours of dressing room unrest and persistent stories about his fondness for alcohol although it is likely that both were exaggerated.

But It was this "baggage" that led United to sell their star player when he was only 27 and at his peak; it was a decision which led to public revolt.

Money

£22,000 was laid out on him during six moves between a number of English club. If he had received a cut from every move (as he allegedly did from Derby) he would have been a very rich man indeed.

Season by Season

Pre United

Gallagher was born into a close-knit protestant family in the hard working and hard living mining town of Bellshill. He started "biffing a twopenny ball" almost as soon as he could walk and he was a star for Bellshill Academy before he reached his teens.

Despite his lack of inches he was soon picked up by a couple of local mining teams, before he was literally pulled from the crowd to play for Bellshill Athletic. In 1920 he was picked for the Scotland Junior side and soon after he was signed by Queen of the South.

Such was Hughie's progress that within months - and despite a severe bout of pneumonia - he was signed (in a local undertaker's office) by First Division Airdrie. He had to spend a couple of years in the reserves but had established himself in the side by the end of the 1921/22 season.

During the next few seasons Gallagher's goals turned the run-of-the-mill Airdrionians into one of the most dangerous sides North of the Border. They finished runners up to Rangers three times in succession from 1922/23 to 1924/25 and won the Scottish Cup - their first ever trophy - in 1924. In the same season Gallagher won his first international cap.

He was already on the end of some rough treatment and his tendency to seek his own revenge brought him into confrontation with officialdom. One of his most extreme "spats" led to a five match ban by from the Scottish FA.

By 1925/26 his renown was extending South of the border and constant transfer speculation surrounded the young genius. A host of top English sides including Sunderland, Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton as well as Newcastle were trailing him.

Time and time again Airdrie knocked-back United's advances but with centre-forward Neil Harris having departed they were determined to get their man. The Airdrie fans were incensed and threatened to set fire to the stands if he left. But United had money to burn and although the exact fee was not published it is likely that it was a British record fee.

1925/26 [22/0 - 25]

After the initial shock at his lack of inches, a brace on his debut and the United fans soon knew they had a new hero to worship. Fifteen goals in his first nine games set the standard and he finished as top scorer despite signing half way through the season.

1926/27 [39/0 - 41]

United's directors cause a sensation by taking the captaincy from the vastly experienced Hudspeth and handing it to the 23 year old Gallagher. Many questioned their sanity but 9 months later the Championship trophy was in the cupboard.

United's subbuteo attack - average height 5' 7" - terrorised the opposition defenders plundering over a hundred goals with Hughie leading the way. He missed only four games (when on international duty).

1927/28 [33/0 - 21]

On Christmas Eve United entertained Huddersfield but despite Gallagher netting twice United lost. Just before the end, with the scores equal, Gallagher was bundled down in the penalty area twice in quick succession. Gallagher was incensed (and according to his 1932 memoirs) the following conversation ensued.

"Look here referee," I said "didn't you see that?". The referee turned away from me and said curtly "no penalty". "Everyone but you saw it" I said in disgust

"I'm reporting you" he said. After the game the story continues

Inside the pavilion I saw Mr Fogg. A crowd of people were discussing the match. "Fogg" said I furiously "is you're name and you've been in a fog all day!". The argument continued all the way to the referee's dressing room.

What happened next is open to conjecture. It was later alleged by a "friend" that Gallagher pushed the referee into the bath although he never admitted to this in public.

Gallagher received a two month ban; imposed without any chance of appeal. He couldn't train and received no wages. There were rumours that some of the United directors, tired of his antics, wanted to sell Gallagher but these were denied.

This was also the year of the "Wembley Wizards" when Gallagher and his Scottish colleagues famously thrashed England 5-1.

1928/29 [34/0 - 24]

Gallagher's indiscretions led to him being relieved of the captaincy and rumours abounded that he was to be sold.

Gallagher continued his personal battles with the opposing backs and during one particularly fiery tussle with Burnley's Jack Hill he threatened to walk off and it needed the intervention of several of his colleagues to persuade him to stay on. .

More referee back-chat earned Gallagher a "severe warning" and a series of newspaper articles entitled "Inside the Football Game" brought a £5 fine and a writing ban.

Gallagher was caught in the centre of another row when Newcastle played in a end of season tour match in Bratislava. On a baking hot day United were beaten 8-1 and their hosts refused to pay the fees due accusing the United players of being drunk.

An inquiry followed and Newcastle vehemently denied that they were D and D although Gallagher admitted that he, Maitland and Hill had "sipped and gargled our throats with some cognac from a bottle that stood handy on the dressing-room table".

1929/30 [44/0 - 34]

Before the season started United signed a new centre forward from Dundee United; Duncan Hutchinson. When he wore the Number 9 shirt for the first match of the season with Gallagher moved to inside-right it looked as though a move was imminent.

Whatever happened behind the scenes it resulted in Gallagher getting his shirt back for the next match and he was soon scoring goals at his usual rate.

But it was to be a disastrous season for the club and relegation was only narrowly averted. Gallagher was still knocking-in the goals but too many were going in at the opposite end.

During the season Newcastle signed the vastly experienced Andy Cunningham from Rangers; widely regarded as one of Scotland's greatest ever players. Cunningham and Gallagher had clashed whilst in Scotland and his presence at the club spelt danger for Hughie. Gallagher even suffered the ignominy of being dropped for one game.

With United still in desperate trouble at Easter United asked him to forego an international cap to help the cause. After lengthy consideration he agreed but this brought scathing criticism from the press in Scotland

With United saved on the last day of the season and a new contract signed it looked as though Gallagher might be staying after all; he was settled on Tyneside and did not want a move. But the local press published a story that he had been offered to Sunderland. The club denied it but Gallagher maintained it was true.

Off he went on a tour of France with his international compatriots and whilst he was away Newcastle agreed to sell him to Chelsea. He was furious that United had done the dirty on him and later said. "Why Newcastle wanted to let me go I never found out, but with such an attitude, I was bound to leave the club. Better sooner than later".

Gallagher cost Chelsea a record transfer fee of £10,000

Post United

The first home match of the 1930/31 season saw Gallagher make a swift return as a member of the Blues. The match attracted a record attendance of 68,386 (a record which still stands) with thousands more locked out. It seemed that everyone wanted to "pay their respects".

Gallagher spent four troubled years in London where he never really settled, although he still finished as the club's top scorer in all of them. They had some excellent players but continually under performed. Hughie got involved in more trouble as he couldn't resist the bright lights and ale houses.

Every bad turn he made (and there were many of them) was splashed across the newspapers in a manner that the modern day footballer would be only too aware of. Bankruptcy, arrest, illegal payments, divorce, drunkenness and leading a players revolt; Hughie got through them all.

Next stop was Derby; a £2,750 fee taking him there in November 1934 at the age of 32. He nearly helped them win the Championship in 1935-36 but at the start of the following season he was on the move again to struggling Notts County for £2,000. Despite still retaining his lethalness in front of goal age was catching up with him and further moves took him to Grimsby (January 1938) and Gateshead a few months later.

He would have probably carried on playing for ever if Hitler hadn't curtailed his career. When peace returned he unsuccessfully tried for coaching jobs with both Newcastle and Gateshead and settled down to factory life, working for a number of companies in the Team Valley. Even then he still turned out in Charity games whenever he could.

Gallagher was never the same after his (third) wife died in 1950 and he committed suicide seven years later when he was called before the court for allegedly striking his beloved fourteen year old son when under the influence.

A short article like this can in no way do justice to the remarkable career of a footballing genius whose life story makes that of George Best and Paul Gascoigne look fairly staid.

For those who want to know more about this true legend we can heartily recommend Paul Joannou's compelling biography.