3rd December
On the Saturday evening, the papers were happy to report a poor day for the Old Firm;-
‘Old Firm’ in Toils’
‘Rangers lose….Celtic draw and fail to score for the first time this season. Those were the highlights of today’s vital league games at Kilmarnock and Dunfermline.
At Dunfermline, a goal by Ferguson, against the run of play in the second half, gave Dunfermline a 3-2 victory over Rangers.
Rangers, who leave tomorrow for Germany for their European Cup Winners’ tie against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, scored first through Forrest in the sixth minute.
Ferguson equalized with a great header in the 19th minute and 10 minutes later Edwards put the Fifers ahead with a penalty after Provan had fouled Ferguson.
Alex Smith equalized in the 52nd minute but 11 minutes from the end Ferguson hooked the ball into the Rangers net for victory.
While Rangers were going down at Dunfermline, Celtic were having a tremendous battle with Kilmarnock – and came away with a point from the 0-0 draw.
Celtic had a few chances to score but they found Bobby Ferguson in inspired form, especially in the first half.
It was a tough game and Celtic skipper Billy McNeill was booked for a foul on McInally in the first half.
Celtic now have a lead of four points over Rangers in the league table and have now played 30 games this season without defeat.’
Cesar – Booked
League Table (top)
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GAv | Pts |
| Celtic | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 14 | 3.21 | 24 |
| Rangers | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 13 | 3.15 | 20 |
Also printed in the papers that night was the table showing the number of penalties awarded to the various teams thus far that season ;-
| Team | Awarded | Scored |
| Aberdeen | 5 | 4 |
| Airdrie | 4 | 2 |
| Ayr United | 1 | 1 |
| Clyde | 4 | 2 |
| Dundee | 2 | 2 |
| Dundee United | 1 | 1 |
| Dunfermline | 1 | 1 |
| Falkirk | 1 | 1 |
| Hearts | 2 | 1 |
| Hibs | 6 | 4 |
| Kilmarnock | 1 | 1 |
| Motherwell | 1 | 1 |
| Partick Thistle | 4 | 1 |
| Rangers | 2 | 2 |
| St. Johnstone | 2 | 2 |
| St. Mirren | 0 | 0 |
| Stirling Albion | 0 | 0 |
Monday 5th December
Bobby Murdoch found himself in front of the SFA Referees committee, where his appeal against a caution in the match against Zurich was upheld but he received a £30 fine and a severe censure for his sending off against St Mirren. Bobby was accompanied to the meeting by the Boss. The decision meant that Chopper would be able to play against Nantes on the Wednesday.
It was reported in the press that Celtic were interested in an Anglo-Scottish player but they did not give out any more information. And, just as a matter of fact, the players at the ground did not have any info on the possible newcomer, either, although someone did mention the name of Ian Gibson of Coventry City.
On the Monday evening, Nantes arrived in Glasgow.
Tuesday 6th December
We ARE joined by a new player but it is not an Anglo, it is Willie Wallace of Hearts , who had been unhappy at Tynecastle for some time. ‘Wispy’ (nothing to do with his rather hoarse voice but a poor pronunciation of his initials – William Semple Brown, thus WSB- Wisby ) was well known to us, having been an opponent in Scotland for some time as well as a teammate for those in the international side.
Nantes train at Barrowfield in the morning….was this the Boss putting the boot in as some retaliation for the French not letting us train on their pitch?
In West Germany, Rangers drew 0-0 with Borussia Dortmund in the Cup Winners’ Cup to go through to the next round 2-1 on aggregate. Dortmind were the current holders of the Trophy , having beaten Liverpool 2-1 in the final in Glasgow the previous year.
The Falkirk manager, Sammy Kean, resigned. The Bairns had lost 0-3 to Dundee United the previous Saturday, the 7th consecutive match they had lost. Kean was quickly replaced by former Scotland manager John Prentice.
Crash
Lone yachtsman Francis Chichester was unhurt when his yacht Gypsy Moth 1V was in collision with a fishing boat off the Victoria coast in Australia. The veteran yachtsman told a newspaper reporter who had come out to meet him by boat, 50 miles off Lakes Entrance, that this was his most serious mishap in 102 days at sea.
Rise
The 15 shillings charge for the compulsory annual test of cars is to be increased. The Ministry of Transport said today it had been agreed in talks with the Motor Agents Association that case had been made for increasing the fee – which has remained the same since the test started in 1959.
At present, the test is compulsory for all cars four years old or more and will apply to cars three years old from next April.
New Stamps
For the first-time ever, Britain’s Post Office has issued special Christmas stamps.