Frank Haffey

Francis Haffey (born 28 November 1938) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Celtic and the Scottish national team.

Frank Haffey
Personal information
Full name Francis Haffey[1]
Date of birth (1938-11-28) 28 November 1938
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1955–1956 Campsie Black Watch
1956–1957 Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1957–1964 Celtic 140 (0)
1964–1965 Swindon Town 4 (0)
1965–1969 St. George-Budapest
1970 Hakoah
National team
1960[2] SFA trial v SFL 1 (0)
1960–1961 Scotland 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Remembered as one of Celtic's great and more eccentric keepers, Haffey made 201 appearances for the club in major competitions.[3] He had 61 clean-sheets and was first-choice goalkeeper for five seasons but did not win any trophies apart from one minor Glasgow Cup in 1961–62, finishing on the losing side in the Scottish Cup finals of 1961 and 1963, both of which went to a replay.

After breaking an ankle in the Glasgow Cup against Partick Thistle in November 1963, effectively ending his Celtic career, he left the following October to play for Swindon Town. Soon thereafter, Haffey moved to Australia, where after a five-year spell as a footballer there he found his way into the entertainment business as a cabaret singer, and later operated a goalkeeping centre on the Gold Coast, Queensland.[4]

International

On his full international debut Haffey saved a Bobby Charlton penalty in a 1–1 home draw versus England in 1960.[4] In 1961, his second and final cap was also versus England. At Wembley, the inexperienced Scotland team with 4 debutants averaged less than 6 full caps per player pre-kick off. The game was 5-3 with 12 minutes to go. Scotland lost 9–3. Neither Haffey nor Bert McCann (5 caps) played for Scotland again even though McCann scored. Only one of the 4 debutants that day collected a career total of more than 4 caps meaning 5 of the team ended their international careers with 5 caps or less.[5]

References
  1. "Frank Haffey". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  2. Ronnie McDevitt (2016). Scotland in the 60s: The Definitive Account of the Scottish National Football Side During the 1960s. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 9781785312458.
  3. Celtic player Haffey, Frank, FitbaStats
  4. Haffey's upside-down world, The Sunday Times, 12 January 2003
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