Newark Americans v Celtic @ New Jersey 1931 Ticket

[Baltimore]

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This is an interesting and rare item.


Does anyone know why this game was postponed?


Does this make it super Rare?

Any thoughts?



Ian[/img]

[bluejames]

Absolutely stunning item.I notice it was under floodlights in 1931.
It must be worth a fortune

[Baltimore]

It would be good to hear from some Celtic experts.

[Auchinleckian]

Please excuse my ignorance, but rare means rare, putting anything else in front of it does not make it any rarer?

Your problem is in putting a definitive amount on the ticket in question - a lovely thing - is determined by what two Celtic fans are likely to pay for it. Collectable Celtic stuff does suffer because Celtic collectors don't indulge in all out bidding wars for items other clubs might have four or five very healthy bidders for. Check out all the pre WW2 Celtic home programmes that failed to make their reserves in the sportingold auctions not that long ago.

[Baltimore]

Thank you for that sound advice.

It would be interesting to see if this match is classed as a postponed fixture?

Only the keen Celtic boys and girls will know that.

[bluejames]

Auchinleckian wrote:

Please excuse my ignorance, but rare means rare, putting anything else in front of it does not make it any rarer? Your problem is in putting a definitive amount on the ticket in question - a lovely thing - is determined by what two Celtic fans are likely to pay for it. Collectable Celtic stuff does suffer because Celtic collectors don't indulge in all out bidding wars for items other clubs might have four or five very healthy bidders for. Check out all the pre WW2 Celtic home programmes that failed to make their reserves in the sportingold auctions not that long ago.

But at the end of the day there is a third player in the the question what's it worth scenario.And that is you.As has been said if it was another club who had more hostile bidders it might go extremely well, as was shown at recent auctions but if you i believed it would make 4 figures if it was a different club i would put a very serious figure on it,possibly £750 and offer it at a major auction house.If it doesn't sell then put it away until the Celtic market picks up.It is almost certainly the only one in existence so if they want it they will have to pay.It might even interest the club.
As an aside you can go on the Celtic wiki site and you will find that a programme from the tour sold for well over £1000 at a fairly recent auction and it was not in good condition,but did have autographs.If it was mine and i was happy to sell it would not go cheap

[Texas Rangers]

Here’s a couple of links to the tour and results. Neither of these even reference this game although there are conflicts in opponents and dates even within these two sites.

According to one of the links, they played on the 27th, 28th and 30th which in and of itself was a very busy schedule. It could have been a proposed game which never materialized with other games arranged later that took it’s spot. It seems that wasn’t an unusual occurrence. I’ve seen other examples of it.

http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/celtic-usatour31.html

http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1931.html

[1980Cossie]

http://celticprogrammes.co.uk/celtic_usa_tours/intheusa.html

This was Celtic's first ever tour of the USA and it was taken during the Great Depression. The Celtic party left Yorkhill quay in Glasgow on a Caledonia steamship and arrived in New York in late May. Times were hard as was shown in the game against Montreal Carsteel when Peter Scarff scored five goals while wearing a green dress shirt because there weren't enough hooped strips to go around. Celtic players on the tour: William Cook, Charles Geatons, William Hughes, Joe McGhee, Denis Currie, Alex Thompson, Peter McGonigle, James McStay, John Morrison, Charles Napier, Hugh Smith, John Thompson, Robert Thompson, Robert Whitelaw, Peter Wilson, Peter Scarff, James McGrory. Manager: William Maley.

The return journey was made aboard the Anchor Line steamship (joint Cunard-Anchor Line service) Transylvania. The Transylvania was converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser at the start of WWII, and was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat U-56 off Inishtrahull in August 1940.

Against Hakoah All-Stars, Jimmy McGrory broke his jaw and Charlie Napier and Peter Scarff were sent off along with two Hakoah players. Football was rough in the 30's, it was a game for men, not the ladyboys that play today. In the match against Pawtucket Rangers the Celtic players needed help in order to leave the ground safely. Our favourite Celtic historians, Tom Campbell and Pat Woods, mention this in their book "Images of Scotland: Celtic Football Club 1887 - 1967" -

A Celtic vs Rangers match, but in Providence, Rhode Island. The 'friendly' turned into a roughhouse affair and Celtic required a police escort at time-up

Willie Maley was far from complimentary about the arrangements.

"The ground was like a furnace, the dressing-room conditions disgraceful and the referee had no control whatever."

During this tour Celtic spotted two future Celts. The first was Montreal born goalkeeper Joe Kennaway who was playing for Fall River F.C. when Celtic spotted him. He later signed for Celtic - to replace John Thompson who was tragically killed that September - and was an immediate success. Kennaway played for Celtic from 1931 to 1939 winning three Scottish F.A. cup medals and two Scottish championship medals. He played four times for the Scottish League team (Ireland twice and England twice) and also for Scotland against Austria at Hampden Park in 1933 - he also played for Canada against the USA in 1926 making him a rare double international. He returned to Canada at the outbreak of the second World War but later moved to Providence where he played and then coached at Brown University from 1946 to 1959. Joe Kennaway became an American citizen in 1948. He was posthumously inducted into the New England Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997.

JOE KENNAWAY
Born: Point St. Charles, Montreal, Quebec, Jan 25, 1905. Died Johnston, Rhode Island, March 7, 1969.

The second, James McGuire was Scottish by birth and had gone to the United States in the mid-1920s after winning two Scottish schoolboy international caps. His first major club was the Brooklyn Wanderers, a team he joined in 1929 and quickly established himself in a lineup of experienced players. McGuire returned to Scotland with Celtic immediately after the tour. However, he failed to get into the the first team and was soon on his way to England where he played 70 games for Northhampton Town between 1932 and 1936. When he left Northhampton he returned to the States and played for Brooklyn St. Mary's Celtic. St Mary's reached the U.S. Open Cup final in 1938 only to lose to Chicago Sparta. One year later, with McGuire at centre half, his team won the trophy by defeating Chicago Manhattan Beer. When he retired as a player he turned to administration and served two separate terms as president of the United States Soccer Football Association and was a member of the FIFA Organizing Committee for the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.

JAMES McGUIRE
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1911 and died in Hyde Park, NY on November 26, 1974

Celtic achieved 9 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses in thirteen matches. Celtic scored 48 goals with 18 against. Details below.



Opponents Date Issued Comments
Eastern Pennsylvania & District XI May 23 no Celtic 6, East Penn & District 1 (att: 12,000 at Yellow Jacket Field, Philadelphia, PA)
New York Giants 24 no Celtic 3, New York Giants 2 (att: 30,000 at Polo Grounds, New York City)
New York Yankees (formerly Fall River) 30 no New York Yankees 4, Celtic 3 (att: 8,000 at Fenway Park, Boston, MA) Formerly known as Fall River Marksmen. Played at the home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. Billy Gonsalves scored a hat-trick for NYY.
Fall River F.C. 31 no Fall River F. C. 1, Celtic 0 (att: 7,000 at Mark's Stadium, North Tiverton, Rhode Island). Joe Kennaway played for Fall River in this match. Billy Wilson scored with a free kick.
Pawtucket Rangers June 6 yes Pawtucket Rangers 3, Celtic 1 (att: 4,000 at the Cyclodrome, Providence, Rhode Island)
Brooklyn Wanderers 7 no Celtic 5, Brooklyn Wanderers 0 (att: 10,000, at Ebbetts Field, Brooklyn, NY). Ex-Celtic forward Willie Crilly played for Brooklyn.
Montreal Carsteels 13 no Glasgow Celtic 7, Carsteels 0 (at Montreal, Quebec, CANADA). Scarff scored 5 goals in this match.
Hakoah All-Stars 14 no Celtic 1, Hakoah All-Stars 1 (att: 20,000, at Polo grounds, New York City). Later that year, Spanish club Racing Club of Madrid played here to a crowd of only 2,000. A very rough match - Napier off for fighting and Scarff sent off for fouling. Napier scored the Celtic goal.
Bricklayers 21 no Glasgow Celtic 6, Bricklayers 3 (at Chicago, IL). Att: 11,000 at of Chicago Cubs.
Michigan All-Stars 25 yes Celtic 5, Michigan XI 0 . Att: 5,000 at the University of Detroit Stadium. First time Celtic played at night under floodlights. Referee: D. Evans.
Ulster United 27 no Celtic 3, Ulster United 1 (at Toronto, ON, CANADA)
New York Yankees 28 no Celtic 4, New York Yankees 1 (att: 10,000, at Yankee Stadium, New York City)
Newark Americans 29 no Bears' Stadium, Newark. Match cancelled.
Canton S. C. 29 no Celtic 4, Canton S. C. 1 (at Baltimore, MD)

[1980Cossie]

[Baltimore]

Many thanks for your contribution Cossie 1980, excellent information.

Interestingly your ticket looks a different colour, is it a images, or are there more original examples out there?

Intriguing...