David Hamilton (31 January 1882 – 25 January 1950) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an outside left (winger). He played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

for ten years between 1902 and 1912.

Career

Club

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Hamilton played for junior side Cambuslang Hibernian as a teenager. He was selected for the Scotland Junior international team, alongside future

teammate

Alec Bennett Alec Bennett (1897–1973) was an Irish-Canadian motorcycle racer famous for motorcycle Grand Prix wins and five career wins at the Isle of Man TT races. Biography A native of Craigantlet in Ireland's County Down, Bennett emigrated with his ...

. Having attracted the attention of Celtic with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a Junior test against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

played at their ground in March 1902, Hamilton was soon signed by the ''Hoops'' and within a few weeks was selected for the

British League Cup The British League Cup was a football competition that was set up in April 1902 to raise money for the disaster at Ibrox Stadium, in which 25 people were killed and 517 injured at an international match between Scotland and England at the start o ...

final against

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

which Celtic won. He spent part of that season on loan at Clyde then

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

. Hamilton secured his place in the Celtic team for the following season and appeared regularly over the next decade. He established a reputation as a wide man with great pace and dribbling skills, which earned him the nickname 'the Dancer'. He was part of a successful forward line which won six consecutive

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...

titles between

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

and 1909–10 to establish Celtic as a national force – their manager

Willie Maley William Patrick Maley (25 April 1868 – 2 April 1958) was an Irish-born Scottish international football player and manager. He was the first manager of Celtic Football Club, and one of the most successful managers in Scottish football histo ...

commented ''"The Bennett, McMenemy, Quinn, Somers and Hamilton forward line was a treat to watch in their sinuous movement and deadly attacks"''. In 1905, it was Hamilton who scored the winning goal in a unique playoff match against Rangers to determine the champions. The 1907–08 season was particularly eventful for Hamilton. In the October he was suspended for two months for using 'obscene and threatening language' towards the referee during the

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...

Final against Rangers, with the remark believed to be ''"I wish I had a revolver!"''.The Celtic Wiki - David Hamilton
/ref> He missed the replay of that final but returned in time for the

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

derby on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

and scored the opening goal (one of a total of 10 strikes against Rangers). Celtic finished as league champions, secured the Scottish Cup – with Hamilton scoring in the 5–1 win over St Mirren – and finalised a clean sweep of trophies available by winning the

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cup ...

. In total, Hamilton played 259 League and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,wagon A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by Working animal#Draft animals, draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are i ...

) from the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...

area had his portrait displayed on their banner. In 1912 Hamilton left Celtic and joined

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

where he spent one year; he thereafter played for

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

(

Central Football League There have been at least three competitions in Scotland known as the Central Football League. The first was originally formed in 1896 by five clubs – Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline Athletic, Fair City Athletic, Kirkcaldy and St Johnstone. In 1897 thi ...

) but retired in 1914.

International

Despite his success at club level Hamilton never appeared for the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA ...

nor in the regular trials of the period, but was selected for one

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

fixture against

in 1903. He featured twice for the

Glasgow FA Founded in 1883, the Glasgow Football Association, based in the city of Glasgow, Scotland and affiliated to the national Scottish Football Association, is one of the List of Football Associations by date of foundation, oldest such bodies in footb ...

's annual challenge match against

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, in 1906 and 1909.

Later life and legacy

Hamilton suffered a family tragedy just as his sporting career was ending when his wife Mary-Ann died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1915 (aged 33), leaving him to bring up their five children alone. He died in Glasgow in 1950. In 2011 a Celtic delegation including descendants of Hamilton and club representatives Jim Craig and

Bobby Lennox Robert Lennox, MBE (born 30 August 1943) is a Scottish former footballer who played for Celtic and was a member of their 1967 European Cup-winning team, known as the Lisbon Lions. He earned ten international caps for Scotland. In 2002, Celtic ...

attended Dalbeth Cemetery in the East End of Glasgow to mark his grave with a tributary headstone.

Honours

(6):

, 1905–06, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1908–09, 1909–10 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1903–04, 1907–08, 1910–11 **Finalist: 1908–09 *

: 1904–05, 1905–06, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1909–10 *

: 1904–05, 1907–08 *

: 1902

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Davie 1882 births 1950 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Dundee F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Cambuslang Hibernian F.C. players Ayr F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Bathgate F.C. players Men's association football outside forwards Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scotland men's junior international footballers Scottish Junior Football Association players