8th November
The headlines in the press on the day after the Glasgow Cup Final were pretty succinct in their interpretation of the play ; –
Cup Cakewalk Now Celtic Aim for Grand Slam
However, another topic was the subject of some attention, that of the non-appearance of Jimmy Johnstone in that particular game. Nothing had been said the previous evening – either before the match or afterwards – about his absence but news came through during the day from Parkhead and it was surprising news too!
Celtic Put Scots in a Spot!
‘Celtic today set the Scottish selectors a problem. A few days before the Scottish team to take on Northern Ireland at Hampden of next week is announced, the selectors learned that Jimmy Johnstone, who played against Wales last month, was DROPPED for last night’s final against Partick Thistle’.
9th November
In one of the evening dailies in Glasgow, under the heading of – Stupid! – a journalist came out with this story about Celtic ;-
‘Life is not one big bed of roses for the Celtic players, winners of the Scottish League Cup, the Glasgow Cup and unbeaten in any match this season.
Today Jock Stein lashes out at players who think they know better than the men who plan Celtic’s field tactics and he promises dramatic action against future offenders.
Writing in the ‘Celtic View’, he says that the main fault of the team which failed to beat St Mirren last week was that they allowed themselves to be upset and did not concentrate on the main objective of putting the ball in the net. “And that” he added “played right into the hands of our opponents!”
Then came the real blast. “There is no sense in getting caught in traps when we know the kind they are. I don’t think that there is any doubt that some of our forward play against St Mirren was stupid.
Some of them have been warned in the past of the trouble that awaits them if they do not do as they are told in pre-match planning. Yet they persist in going their own way. Steps are going to be taken to ensure that Celtic comes first and individual players second”.
10th November
There was a boost to Rangers in one of the daily papers ;-
Look Out Celtic That Big Rangers Push is On
‘One by one the Rangers players are beginning to hit top form.
The 2 Smith boys have made the grade, Willie Henderson is showing more than just the odd flash of his old form and Jim Forrest looks sharper and stronger than he did when he was given his first-team ‘books’ a few weeks back.
The big Ibrox revival started with the League Cup final versus Celtic – and it has been going on ever since’.
Stand tickets for the Celtic – Nantes European Cup 2nd round 2nd leg tie at Celtic Park on 7th December will be on sale before the home league game against Hearts on 26th November. Prices are £1 and 15 shillings.
John Hughes, out since the League Cup final, is now back in light training.
11th November
No Change – Johnstone Still Out!
Manager Jock Stein is fielding the side which beat Partick Thistle in the Glasgow Cup Final on Monday. Steve Chalmers remains at inside-right, Joe McBride at centre-forward, Charlie Gallagher at inside-left, with Bertie Auld and Bobby Lennox on the wings.
Report
Morning of the Match
One of the dailies had an interesting comment on how the players would react to the criticisms leveled against them by Jock Stein earlier in the month ;-
Celts to Answer Stein
‘It will be interesting to see how the Celtic players react to the public lashing administered by manager Jock Stein. If they are as smart as I think they are, they will come out, play precisely to the letter of the pre-match instructions and give their answer in goals’.
That sounds reasonable. To be honest, there was not a great deal of reaction from the players to the rant by the Boss. In those days, there was in operation still a bit of the master/servant relationship between manager and players that had been the case years before. The situation had certainly improved from earlier days but managers still liked to flash their power occasionally and players, as a group just took it in their stride and let it slide over the top. Both sides needed each other and while such occasional flashpoints were beloved by the press and media, in a good-going team like Celtic they were so uncommon that they could be ignored.
Reserve Match
While the first-team was heading over to Brockville (now a Morrison’s Supermarket) for the match, I was arriving at Celtic Park for the Reserve League game against Hearts Reserves. Our team was;
Fallon, Craig, Brogan, Henderson, McCarron, Cattenach, Taggart, Connelly, Quinn, Taylor and Macari.
The Teams at Brockville
Celtic: Simpson, Gemmell, O’Neill, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Chalmers, Gallagher, McBride, Lennox, Auld. Sub: Young
Falkirk: McDonald, Markie, Hunter, Smith, Baillie, Fulton, Vincent, Lambie, Moran, Baxter, McKinney. Sub: Graham
The Play
As I was playing at Parkhead, I obviously have to use the match reports in the press to relate the story of the match.
A crowd of 12,000 packed into the ground made for a great atmosphere and Celtic, in spite of a waterlogged pitch, got off to a great start when Joe McBride scored in 2 minutes and it came from a mistake by the Falkirk keeper. McDonald jumped to deal with a cross from Bertie Auld but dropped the catch right at the feet of Joe, who had the easy task of opening the scoring. 1-0 Celtic
From then on, it was Celtic doing most of the pressing, with the Bairns relying on the occasional breakaway, with neither team having much success, although both keepers worked well.
Two minutes before the break, Celtic got another. Right-back Markie handled a Bertie Auld cross and Joe stepped forward to crack the ball home from the penalty. 2-0 Celtic
HT
Right from the re-start, Celtic put the Falkirk goal under severe pressure but the only goal of the second half came in 62 minutes. A shot by Bobby Lennox was parried by Markie on the goal-line, the ball came out to Joe, he passed to Bertie and his powerful drive blasted into the net.
Final Score Falkirk 0 Celtic 3
Other Results
| Airdrie | 7 | – | 0 | Stirling Albion |
| Ayr United | 1 | – | 1 | Dundee |
| Clyde | 5 | – | 1 | Hibs |
| Dundee United | 1 | – | 1 | Kilmarnock |
| Hearts | 1 | – | 1 | Dunfermline |
| Partick Thistle | 2 | – | 2 | Motherwell |
| St. Johnstone | 1 | – | 1 | Rangers |
| St. Mirren | 1 | – | 3 | Aberdeen |
With Rangers drawing 1-1 with St Johnstone, that left Celtic three points clear at the top of the table.
| Celtic | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 10 | 3.70 | 19 |
| Rangers | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 32 | 8 | 4.00 | 16 |
Reserve Match
While these matches were going on all over Scotland, at Celtic Park, the reserves were beating Hearts by 3 goals to one, with Lou Macari, Tony Taylor and Jimmy Quinn getting on target.
Record
A new world record Treble Chance pay-out of £215,727 for farthing stakes was claimed by Vernons Pools, Liverpool.
Trouble
Singer Eddie Fisher is planning to file a Californian divorce suit against Elizabeth Taylor. His lawyers have told him that Miss Taylor’s Mexican divorce was obtained without his consent and is therefore not valid.
Icy Road
52 people were injured when a double-deck Glasgow Corporation bus skidded on black ice in Dumbreck Road, near Haggs Castle golf club, mounted a grass embankment and toppled over on its side.
New Premier
Mr Jack Lynch was formally elected Prime Minister of Eire in the Dail in Dublin by 71 votes to 64.
It Did Not Take Long
The flashing brown fists and majestic moves of Cassius Clay, a registered conscientious objector, pummelled Cleveland Williams without mercy to sweep aside the challenge of the giant negro Texan in 3 rounds at the Spaceage Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
No Break-Up
Mr Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, today denied reports that the group may be breaking up, saying that some rumours had been blown out of all proportion. “There is nothing happening and no break-up”