25th October 1966
There were contrasting reports about the form of the League Cup Final combatants
after their Monday night matches.
The Rangers one was in the big headlines;-
Light Blues Face Tough Final
Whereas the comments about Celtic were in the smaller print;
‘This was so easy for Celtic. Celtic really won this game at a canter. Ayr United were honest triers but were simply no match for their confident opponents’.
At the Nou Camp on the same evening, Dundee United beat Barcelona 2-1 in a second round first leg tie in the Fairs Cup. On the same night and in the same competition, at Turf Moor, Burnley beat Lausanne of Switzerland 5-1 in a second round second leg tie, going through to the next round on an 8-1 aggregate.
26th October 1966
Today, Jock Stein gave this surprise last sensible order to everyone at Parkhead : “We will train as usual today, tomorrow and Friday. The normal practice games will be played. The normal hard but fair tackling will be allowed – and no player will shirk a tackle in order to avoid injury. The team will be announced lunchtime Friday”
At Elland Road that night, Leeds United beat DWS Amsterdam in a second round second leg tie in the Fairs Cup, going through 8-1 on aggregate; while at East End Park, Dunfermline beat Dynamo Zagreb 4-2 in a second round first leg tie in the Fairs Cup.
27th October 1966
The problems of Rangers made the headlines again ;-
Rangers Wait
‘The Ibrox club have injury worries with Willie Henderson, Jimmy Miller and Alex Willoughby struggling’
28th October 1966
There was better news for the Light Blues faithful ;-
Wee Willie Plays
However, there were still doubts over the fitness of the other two Rangers players on the treatment table. In the meantime, in one of the evening dailies, one of the journalists was in no doubt as to the outcome of the match:
‘Almost everyone, bar Rangers players and their kith and kin, say that Celtic will run off the Hampden pitch tomorrow as League Cup winners for the second year running.
All those who face facts just cannot see John Greig making a victory speech and that will no doubt please manager Scott Symon and his staff at Ibrox for it is an undisputed fact that Rangers are always most dangerous when they are a write-off before a kick-off. Just look back to April….and a Scottish Cup Final in which Celtic were certs!’
While the first-team squad was being put through the motions, the rest of us got on with our own training, feeling very much out of things. I was still part of the squad but was also very realistic and had no doubt that the substitute for the final would be a forward rather than a defender. So, I just got on with my work and ran out for the reserve team at Annfield against Stirling Albion on the Friday night before the Final.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned the difficulty of playing at Broomfield – the home of Airdrie – with its slope in two directions. Annfield was pretty much the same type of ground, even to the extent of the dressing-rooms being in a house to the side of one of the goals.
It did not make for silky football but we just took it in our stride and played well, beating the Binos 3-0. The team was Bent Martin, Ian Young, Jim Brogan, Sonny Henderson, myself, Davie Cattenach, John Taggart, George Connelly, Jimmy Quinn, Tony Taylor, Lou Macari; and the goals came from Taylor, Quinn and Taggart.
Under La Manche
A Channel tunnel joining England and France could be completed by the end of 1975, Mrs Barbara Castle, Minister of Transport, said today,
Latest estimates put the cost of the tunnel- which would be for rail traffic only – at between £155 million and £170 million.
Was This Car Involved?
Scotland Yard released two pictures of a Humber Hawk saloon, a 1955 model with the registration number 117 GMK, which was seen in the vicinity of Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London at about 6.30pm last Saturday, the day double spy George Blake (44) escaped.
High Living
What are believed to be the highest skyscraper flats in Europe were opened this week in Glasgow by the Scottish Secretary, Mr Willie Ross. The 31-story, 300-feet high blocks are part of the £6,250,000 development at Red Road, Balornock.