Before The 'D'...Association Football around the world, 1863-1937.

Tottenham Hotspur's Bert Bliss with an overhead kick in the 1921 FA Cup Final. Bliss was an inside forward who made 215 appearances for Tottenham (106 goals). He later played for Clapton Orient and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. His one appearance for England (vs Scotland) came 2 weeks before this FA Cup Final.
Tottenham's opponents in the final at Stamford bridge were Wolverhampton Wanderers. 20 year old winger Jimmy Dimmock scored the winner in the 55th minute.

On 23.02.24 a warmly received Glasgow Celtic played a hastily arranged friendly against an Irish Free State XI in Dublin. Celtic won 3-0. There was a 20,000 crowd that spilled onto the pitch and perched on the roofs of stands.

The match was a fundraiser to help send an Irish Free State team to that summer's Olympics. Takings were £1,200, which , after tax, expenses and paying for the ground left £400 for the fund.

Acknowledging the efforts of the outplayed home team, the Dublin Evening Telegraph stated 'They were opposed by what probably the best football on earth, the highest paid football experts in the world'.

Irish Free State FA		Celtic
W. O’Hagan (Fordsons)	G	C. Shaw
P. Kavanagh (Shelbourne)	FB	A. McNair
J. McCarthy (Bohemians)	FB	H Hilley
E. McKay (St. James’s Gate)	HB	H. P. Wilson
V. Harris (Shelbourne)	HB	J. McStay
M. Foley (Shelbourne)	HB	J. McFarlane
J. Simpson (Shelbourne)	F	A. McAtee
A. Kirkland (Shamrock Rovers)	F	P. Gallacher
Dr. O’Flaherty (University College)	F	J. Cassidy
J. Dowdall (St. James’s Gate)	F	A. Thompson
J. Fagan (Shamrock Rovers)	F	A. McLean

Goals were scored by Thomson, McAtee and Cassidy (all Scotland internationalists).

The Celtic line up featured Irish international Patsy Gallacher, who would later represent the Free State.

There was talk of another Celtic visit to Ireland in May, when Croke Park was proposed as a (much larger) venue, but this never took place.

Andy McAtee

Alec 'EverReady' Thomson

'Trooper' Joe Cassidy