After our training session on the previous Thursday, we had been back in again for another one on Friday, then got Saturday and Sunday off.
Everyone seemed to be in good form on the Monday, when we were in again, although I did hear that Bertie Auld was suffering from a wee dose of ‘flu. Anyway, the Boss announced that he would be taking 15 players to Madrid for the match, the eleven who had played against Inter Milan plus John Fallon, Willie O’Neill, Charlie Gallagher and Davie Cattenach.
The fact that everyone was in a good mood was propitious, as somebody pointed out that this would probably be our last training session in Scotland for the season of 1966-67. It had turned out to be a very good one….but we still wanted to finish on a high for this one final match.
The great di Stefano now in our future
It was also announced in the press that Alfredo di Stefano would be making his final appearance for Real Madrid in the testimonial before taking over as manager of Elche F.C.
Seven years previously, I had been in the schoolboys’ enclosure at Hampden on 18th May 1960, when di Stefano was at centre-forward in the outstanding Real Madrid side which beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in the final of the European Cup, with a superb winger called Francisco Gento at outside-left.
Now, seven years on, I would play against both of them in the Bernabeu Stadium. You just never know just what is around the corner sometimes?