6th October
The Celtic party returned from Switzerland with only Bertie and Chopper carrying injuries, although they seemed to be slight ones. The press were keen to carry on with the story about Jock Stein’s 43rd birthday present, with one paper describing it as –
Stein’s Super Present
While those who had travelled for the second leg of the tie got the day off, the rest of us were training as usual, as there were two matches for the reserve squad coming up over the weekend and everyone – including me – was keen to get a chance to show what they could do
In the press, there was a fairly brief statement from the SFA to announce the sacking of Scottish international team manager John Prentice. He had only been in the job for 6-months or so but unfortunately, he had followed up an approach from Vancouver Whitecaps’ officials to manage their side and had even gone to British Columbia to check things out.
That did not go down well with the national governing body in Scotland and he was duly removed from the post as Scotland manager. He received a month’s salary in lieu of notice.
7th October
Better news for Celtic’s fans with this headline in one of the evening papers ;-
Murdoch, Auld O.K
One of the other talking points about the Celtic eleven would be whether Joe McBride – left on the bench for the Zurich match – would get back in again?
Hibs at that point were just outside the top four, their stats showing a typical trait for the Easter Road club. They were scoring plenty of goals but at the same time losing too many down the other end. That has always been a Hibs weakness. Even in seasons when the Famous Five were banging them in, they did not win too many trophies because their defence could not keep the goals out!
And in this game, their backline strength would not be helped by the fact that their ex-Celt stopper – John MacNamee – was suspended.
Reserve Match
On the Friday evening, Celtic met Hibs in a Reserve League match at Parkhead. The team was Bent Martin, Ian Young, John Halpin, Sonny Henderson, John Cushley, Davie Cattenach, Lou Macari, George Connelly, Jimmy Quinn, Charlie Gallagher, Tony Taylor and rather surprisingly, they lost 1-2, Celtic’s only goal coming from Davie Cattenach. It was a particularly disappointing finish to a special week for Jimmy Quinn. The young striker had been on the trip to Zurich and, it turned out, it was the first time he had ever
flown.
Not One But Two!
Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart, the Scottish racing drivers, may be teamed together in a joint venture by Lotus and BRM for the 1967 Indianapolis 500-mile race.
Retrial
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals quashed the conviction of 1st degree murder against Lee Harvey Oswald – the alleged assassin of President John Kennedy.
The state’s highest court for criminal cases sent this case back for retrial in some other county than Dallas, where it was originally tried.
Keep Out
Spain is to close its permanent Customs’ post at La Linea, imposing a virtual economic siege on Gibralter.
La Linea is the only land link between the Spanish peninsula and The Rock, which Spain claims should be returned to her.
The decision, which will come into effect after 20 days, ‘clearly bans lorries and cars from crossing the frontier’ a British Embassy official said.