14^th November

 

The harsh comments by Jock Stein about Celtic’s performance – and subsequent draw – against St Mirren on 5^th November had obviously not been forgotten by at least one of the daily papers, which led with this headline and report on the play against Falkirk the previous Saturday ;-

Celts Got Message

‘Celtic played this one so fast and so devastatingly well that no team in Scotland could have fought and survived on the same field’.

 

There was also some disappointing news for those going to see the Scotland/ Northern Ireland international on the forthcoming Wednesday at Hampden ;-

Law, Best Both Out!

 

15^th November

The main news in the press was about the Scotland/ Northern Ireland clash;

‘When manager Malcolm MacDonald and the Scotland selectors started searching for a replacement for Denis Law, they called at the right football shop. They went to Celtic and Co., the store where the goods are guaranteed these days.

Now, instead of Law, Stevie Chalmers will play in the forward line against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park tomorrow night’.

And there was some news from Ayrshire, when Kilmarnock Football Club issued a statement to the effect that ‘Press Reports that Mr Walter MacRae may be leaving Kilmarnock FC for Rangers are unfounded. Mr MacRae is on a five-year contract at Rugby Park’.

 

16^th November

Scots Train in a Gale

A gale force wind howling through Largs today did not stop the Scotland and Northern Ireland players from putting in a last training session before the important international at Hampden tonight’.

The teams chosen were;

Scotland:    Ferguson ( Kilmarnock); Greig, McKinnon (all Rangers), Clark, Gemmell;  Murdoch (all Celtic), Bremner (Leeds); Henderson (Rangers), Chalmers, McBride, Lennox (all Celtic)          

Northern Ireland:   Jennings ( Tottenham Hotspur), Parke (Sunderland), Harvey (Sunderland), Neill (Arsenal), Elder (Burnley),  Crossan(Manchester City), Nicholson (Huddersfield), Clements (Coventry), Wilson (Dundee), Dougan (Leicester), Irvine (Burnley)

17^th November

The match at Hampden might have finished 2-1 in Scotland’s favour but the performance did not please every journalist in the press box ;-

Oh! For the Old Days

‘No one called for a lap of honour and no fans danced in the streets of Glasgow last night after Scotland had beaten Northern Ireland 2-1 and won our first international since Wales were crushed on the same Hampden ground 12 months ago.

Instead, the Scots left the field to booing from the remnants of the 45,000 crowd. Not surprising, for football in 1966 appears to be more of a numbers racket than a demonstration of individual and combined skill’.

 

And the report finished with a look ahead to another big occasion ;-

Wembley Warning

 

Down in the Principality, Wales were hammered 5-1 by England.

There was good news for the Scottish game, though, at Tannadice, where Dundee United – holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg – beat Barcelona 2-0 for a 4-1 aggregate victory in the Fairs Cup.

 

18^th November

Over at Ibrox, manager Scott Symon was waiting for news on the fitness of inside-forwards Denis Setterington and Bobby Watson; while at Parkhead, Jock Stein announced that he would wait till the last minute before announcing the team to play Dunfermline at East End Park.

It was also announced at Ibrox that Bobby Seith, currently the trainer/coach at Dundee, will move this week to take up the same post with Rangers.

The 3^rd draw of the Fairs Cup was made in Switzerland. Kilmarnock, who had beaten Royal Antwerp in the previous round, were now drawn against Belgian side La Gantoise.; Dundee United would meet Juventus.

 

It was quite a difficult time at Celtic Park. At that time, I was not a patient man. I felt that my place was in the first team and it was quite annoying to be in the reserves.

Still, I was also realistic and could work out that the two fullbacks were doing quite well, the team was winning most of their matches, so why should the Boss consider a change.

If I was to get back in soon, the team would have to hit some sticky patches and so far, that had not been the case. That meant a match for the reserves on the Saturday at Celtic Park while the first team was in Fife. C’est la vie!

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New Town

The Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr William Ross, has made an order designating as a new town an area of about 12,440 acres to the east of, and including, the burghs of Irvine and Kilwinning in Ayrshire. The new town will be known as Irvine.

 

Well-Known Winners

The United States, represented by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, won the team title at the 14^th annual Canada Cup golf championship in Tokyo but a Canadian and a Japanese player were involved in a sudden death play-off for the individual title.

Tied after 72 holes were George Knudson (Canada) and Hideyo Sugimoto ( Japan); Knudson won the title with a birdie at the second extra hole.

 

Sudden Death

Comedian Arthur Haynes collapsed and died after a heart attack at his home in Ealing, London. He was 53.

Haynes, described as the most famous clown since Charlie Chaplin, was a veteran of vaudeville.