On the morning of the League Cup Final in 1965, the headline writers had gone to some lengths to catch the attention of their readers ;-
100,000 Old Firm Fans Go on Trial
If the attendance reached over the six-figure mark, it would be only the second time this had occurred since the inception of the competition in season 1946/57.
In season 1963/64, a crowd of 105,907 was at Hampden for that campaign’s final between Rangers and Morton, the first time a League Cup final attendance had gone over six figures.
The largest crowd when Celtic were involved was in 1957/58, when 82,293 watched the Hoops beat the Light Blues 7-1.
Simpson Aims To End 20-Year Wait
As I mentioned yesterday, a rather nebulous story about Ronnie Simpson still waiting to pick up a major winner’s medal of some sort in Scotland, although the fact that he had won the FA Cup twice with Newcastle United does tend to diminish the emphasis of the story.
Its The Flying Final
Ibrox Wingers Can Win Battle Of Speed
Many of the journalists seemed to think that the outcome of the match would depend on the jousts between the wingers – Jimmy Johnstone and John Hughes for Celtic; Willie Henderson and Willie Johnston for Rangers – and the fullbacks – Ian Young and Tommy Gemmell in the Hoops; and Kai Johansen and Davie Provan in blue. Two of the wingers were asked how they though the match would go; one was fairly positive, the other more circumspect;
John Hughes – I think we will win this game. The match can do without troublemakers.
Willie Henderson – I am not going to say how the match will go – I’ve learned my lesson about that.
As more than one paper pointed out, this would be only the 3rd League Cup final between the old rivals, with one win a-piece. In terms of winning the trophy since its inception in season 1946/47, Rangers well ahead with 6 wins to Celtic’s 2; and in the 19 years of the competition, there had been only been 3 occasions when a replay was required, two of which involved these sides, Celtic needing an extra game against Partick Thistle in 1956/57 and Rangers similarly placed in 1961/62 against Hearts.