The Morning of the Match
When I arrived at Celtic Park for the match against Clyde over at Shawfield, there were not only members of the first-team squad there but also guys from the reserves who had a game that afternoon at Barrowfield against Rangers.
The team for that match had been listed in the board in the dressing room and was Bent Martin, Ian Young, Frank McCarron, Davie Cattenach, John Halpin, Jim Brogan, John Taggart, George Connelly, Jim Clarke, Davie Hay and Tony Taylor.
The players of both teams wished each all the best then the first-team squad boarded the bus for the short trip to Clyde’s ground. Nobody had mentioned the team all morning and, naturally, it was something the players did not talk about at that point, as many were rivals for the same position.
Once at Shawfield, it was usual pre-match routine. While Bob and Neilly put out the strips the players went out on to the pitch to check underfoot conditions, weather etc. The management and coaching staff were quite clever at a time like this. They had learned not to put the boots in the appropriate places as at that moment, the team had not been announced. If they had put the boots out in the relevant places, the players would come in a find out the team in advance of the official announcement. So, when the Boss came in to do just that, the strips, shorts and socks were all laid out in order from keeper to number eleven, but the boots were still in the hamper.
The Team
I was out! That much was clear from the first three names the boss read out. The full team was;
Ronnie, Tam, Pumper, Chopper, Cesar, Luggy, Stevie, Bobby L, Joe, Bertie and Yogi.
I didn’t even make the sub’s role, as that was given to Charlie Gallagher. That can be a most disappointing moment for any player and there is immediately a real feeling of disappointment in one’s system. No reasons were given and none were expected. That was just the way football worked at that time. I merely took my complimentary ticket for the stand, wished the guys all the best and – along with wee Jimmy and Peter (John Fallon)– made our way out to try and get a cup of tea before heading upstairs
The Play
The crowd was listed afterwards as 16,500, not a great number but inside the confines of Shawfield Stadium, it made plenty of noise. A light drizzle fell throughout the game and right from the start, our guys took control and never let it go. Clyde spent most of the match in their own half so the two guys that I was watching with particular interest – Tam and Pumper – seldom had much to do defensively, therefore my chances of getting in again were……..well, you’ve heard it all before!
We got two quick goals. In the 10th minute, Joe broke through, tempted the Clyde keeper off his line then squared the ball to Stevie, who slammed it into the empty net. Eight minutes later, Yogi blasted a low and hard cross right along the face of the goal and Joe drove the ball home.
Frankly, that was game over and although we did not take our foot off the pedal, the Clyde players did well to defend desperately, getting lucky on three occasions when shots hit the woodwork and having an inspired keeper in Wright, who saved their bacon on a few occasions.
Celtic’s third goal – in 75 minutes – came from a cross by Stevie which found the head of Yogi and he nodded home.
Clyde 0 Celtic 3
Unusual Strip
There was some controversy during the first half as the Clyde players had came out wearing a red-and-white strip which was numbered with each player’s squad number. This was unusual and for the start of the second half, all the players had changed to a strip with the usual positional numbers in place.
Good Result
When the bus arrived back at Celtic Park after the match, we got the good news that the Combined Reserve League match had finished Celtic 6 Rangers 0, five of the goals coming from George Connelly and the other from Jim Clarke.
Other Results
Airdrie 2 Motherwell 0
Ayr 0 Dunfermline 0
Dundee 2 Aberdeen 1
Hibs 3 Hearts 1
Rangers 6 Partick Thistle 1
St Johnstone 2 Dundee Utd 0
St Mirren 3 Kilmarnock 2
Stirling Albion 1 Falkirk 1
Money….and Lots of It!
Mr Gordon Getty, 32-year-old son of multi-millionaire J Paul Getty, is suing his father in San Francisco for immediate payment of £2.5 million from a trust fund set up by his maternal grandmother.
Mrs Getty, who died in 1941, established the trust fund in that year for her survivors. Originally worth £1.25 million, it is now worth £104.25 million.
Mr Gordon Getty is claiming that the trust fund should pay annual dividends rather than be allowed to accumulate and has asked for payment of £2.5 million.
Brain Damage
Sniper Charles Whitman, who went on a murder rampage in Austin, Texas, last month, had a highly malignant brain tumour which could have affected his actions, say a team of medical and psychiatric experts.
Whitman (25) killed his wife and mother and then shot dead 14 other people from his perch on the Texas University Tower. He was finally killed by police.
Chaos!
The one-way street system which came into use at College Milton, East Kilbride, on September 1st, was discussed at last night’s meeting of East Kilbride Accident Prevention Committee.
Baillie Mrs Gladys McArdle said that initially it was utter chaos. Motorists seem unable to recognize the ‘no entry’ signs; others could not differentiate between the ‘no left turn’ and ‘no right turn’ signs.
Strangers were reading the signs and making the correct decisions, said Mrs McArdle; it was the less observant local motorists who were having the problems.