Football: Harry's delight at Clyde honour

Nov 21 2012 by Douglas Dickie, Rutherglen Reformer

Clyde legend Harry Hood has spoken of his delight at being inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.

Harry (68) made 150 appearances for the Bully Wee over two spells in the 60’s, scoring 70 goals along the way.

He started his career at Shawfield in 1962 where his goalscoring exploits attracted the attentions of Sunderland, whom he signed for in 1964.

The move didn’t work out, so he returned to Rutherglen in 1966 before signing for Glasgow giants Celtic in 1969. He went on to play for San Antonio Thunder in the USA, Motherwell and Queen of the South.

While his exploits in a Celtic shirt will be what most people remember of him, Harry was a hero to the Clyde faithful in an era that was one of the club’s best.

He was inducted in the Hall of Fame at the start of this month, alongside the late Harry Haddock and former Scotland gaffer Craig Brown.

Harry told the Reformer this week: “It was really quite interesting because you forget so much about your own career.

“The historian at the dinner had all the facts and figures and it was quite a shock to see what I had done.

“I was surprised at the stats, I’d never really thought about them before. They mentioned so many games, it was actually quite touching.”

Looking back on his Clyde career, Harry has fond memories. A versatile forward, he was part of the Clyde team that finished third in the old first division in season 1966/67.

While that was the highlight of his time at Shawfield a admits a tinge of regret that the club were denied a European place due to the old rule banning more than one club from each city appearing in the Fairs Cup.

Looking back he says: “We finished third and we were part-time. That was the season Celtic won everything including the European Cup, Rangers got to the cup-winners cup final and Kilmarnock got to the semi’s of the Fairs Cup.

“That was a real high point. We got to both domestic cup semi’s as well and I think we only lost two games in the second half of the season, to Celtic and Dundee.

“We thought we were going to play in Europe but only one team from each city was allowed in. It would have been interesting if Rangers had finished third and us second to see who got the place.”

Even before his football career ended, Harry - who now stays in Bothwell - had forged out a successful life in the pub industry. His family now own and run four pubs, including The Croft in Rutherglen.

From Glasgow’s south side, Harry has still has a soft spot for the club who gave him his big break: “I always remember going back to Shawfield with Celtic and noticing how narrow the pitch was. I never noticed it when I played for Clyde

“I check the scores of all the teams I played for.

“It’s been a tough time for Clyde, I don’t think moving to Cumbernauld was the right thing, a move to East Kilbride would have been much better.”

Despite that, Harry isn’t convinced a mooted move back to the Burgh would automatically improve the club’s fortunes: “I just don’t know .

“There would be initial interest but there is a chance crowds would dwindle again.”