How a Celtic legend became Slavia Prague's greatest ever manager - after disguising himself as a Rangers player

Yet, what is less well known is how a Glasgow shipyard riveter from Dumbarton whose nickname was The Rooter came to be appointed by a club in Bohemia in the old Austro-Hungarian empire in the first place.

The way he landed the position was as unusual as the success that he enjoyed during his 25 year reign was remarkable - he disguised himself as Rangers player.

The newly-crowned Scottish champions will take on Slavia in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 double header in the Sinobo Stadium – where Madden has a stand named after him - in Prague tomorrow evening and will be doing extremely well to get a result.

Their opponents reached the quarter-finals of the competition two years ago before losing to Chelsea, made it through to the Champions League group stages last season and have defeated Bayer Leverkusen, Nice and Leicester City this term. They will be formidable adversaries.

However, it is debatable whether the Red and Whites would have become a force in the Czech game never mind in Europe had it not been for the intervention of an Ibrox player 13 years after their formation in 1892.

Keith Baker, the author of Fathers of Football: Great Britons Who Took The Game To The World, discovered that Madden came to take charge of them in the most bizarre circumstances imaginable while he was researching his book.

“Johnny Madden is considered to be one of the pioneers of modern Czech football,” he said. “But how he got there has always been a bit of a mystery.

READ MORE: The sly digs at Rangers contained in Celtic's cryptic 16 word Twitter statement explained

“A lot of former pros who had done well in Scotland and England in the late 19th century went off to preach the game to the rest of the world. The impact they had, in Europe in particular, but also in South America, in Argentina and Brazil, was very considerable indeed. They performed great deeds developing football.

“Madden had played for Dumbarton, Grimsby Town, Celtic, Dundee and Spurs as well as Scotland. But after he retired in 1898 he completely disappeared for a number of years. He was a toughie, there is no doubt about it. He was a riveter in the shipyards. I suspect he was a bit of a rogue.

“But in 1905 he suddenly appeared in Prague as the new Slavia manager. I delved into it a bit when I was writing Fathers of Football and how it happened is interesting. There is a link with Rangers. He was quite friendly with one of their players, John Tait Robertson. They lived in the same street as each other in Dumbarton and were pals.

“Slavia had been set up by medical students and their players were all intellectuals, scholars. They were very keen to do well and wanted to learn about the game. But they didn’t have a coach or a manager. They were a bit of a Sunday afternoon pub side. They just went out and played. 

READ MORE: Lessons must be learned to prevent any repeat of shameful Covidiocy in remainder of Rangers' season

“Somehow, they knew Robertson and they asked him to go over and become their coach. But he wasn’t interested in moving. He joined Chelsea that year. So he urged Madden go over instead of him.

“The story goes that Madden dressed up in Rangers gear, a shirt and a cap, made out he was Robertson, presented himself to Slavia and got the job. He was recruited as a coach.”

Madden had been an outstanding player. He became the first ever Celtic centre forward when he played in their inaugural match in 1888 and then won three Scottish titles and the Scottish Cup during his eight years at Parkhead. He also scored no fewer than five goals in just two appearances for Scotland.

He was renowned for having a powerful shot and that led to him being dubbed The Rooter; it was said at the time that whenever one of his goal attempts hit the post it threatened to uproot it.

READ MORE: Ryan Christie: All the Celtic players are hurting at losing title to Rangers - but we'll bounce back from 'blip'

He proved to be every bit as accomplished as a coach with Slavia despite having no managerial experience.  

“Madden was an intelligent and confident man who immediately brought backbone to the club,” said Baker. “He was a bit of a disciplinarian, a tough taskmaster who didn’t stand for any nonsense. If he felt any of his players weren’t taking the game seriously enough he would come down on them.

“He had always kept himself fit as a player and training had to follow a very strict routine. He was meticulous. He introduced the short passing game that was prevalent in Scotland at the time, encouraged good movement and urged his men to use both their feet.

“He was always looking for different methods of training. He was very modern in his outlook, almost before his time. For example, he was keen on gymnastics, which he thought would strengthen his players’ muscles and make them more flexible. He drew up individual training regimes for each member of his squad.

“Although he smoked a pipe himself, he banned smoking and drinking in the team and could be ruthless is anyone disobeyed his orders. But he was also good-humoured and knew when to be diplomatic.”

Baker continued: “Slavia were very quickly transformed under Madden. They became the preeminent team in the country. He was extraordinarily successful. In the first six seasons after the Czech league was formed in 1925 his team won the title three times and finished runners-up three times. Then he retired aged 65 in 1930.

“It is estimated that in his 25 years as manager he led Slavia to victory in 134 of his 169 domestic league matches and to 304 of the 429 games they played overall. That is a pretty good indication of how well he did.”

Madden’s methods were adopted at clubs across the country – Bohemia became Czechoslovakia at the end of the First World War in 1918 - and he inadvertently helped to drive up standards in the game there. 

“He was an inspiration for other leading clubs,” said Baker. “They followed what he did. His influence was quite considerable.

“He became a coach for the Czech national side. He was in charge when they played in the Olympics in Paris in 1924. He was also closely involved when the World Cup was played in Italy in 1934. Czechoslovakia, who fielded eight Slavia players, lost to the hosts after extra-time in the final.”

Madden married a Czech woman and remained in Prague until his death aged 83 in 1948. His massive contribution to football there is remembered on the anniversary of his passing every year. The “Friends of Slavia” place a wreath with red and white ribbons on his grave in Olsany Cemetery.

“The club were quite generous to him,” said Baker. “They gave him a pension. He was always afraid that if he returned to Scotland he would lose that. He thought it was in his interest to remain in Prague.

“But he was a very respected figure. His nickname was ‘Dedek’ – which means ‘grandfather’ or ‘old man’. That is how was regarded. He used to wear a bowler hat and puff away on his pipe.”

When Johnny Madden’s former club Celtic played a pre-season friendly against Slavia Prague at the Eden Arena back in 2017 a stand was named after him. It was quite an honour for a riveter from Dumbarton who had dressed up as a Rangers player so he could become their manager.

When he was once asked why he had taken the job, he said: “Well, it beats boiler making in the shipyard.”

Fathers of Football: Great Britons Who Took The Game To The World by Keith Baker is published by Pitch Publishing.