28^th September

Those who had not played the previous evening did the usual training; those who had played got the day off. However, it was a lovely day and the workout was very enjoyable.

Apart from that, all the guys were in good form, although Joe McBride would have been very disappointed with a comment in one of the dailies;

‘The return of Joe McBride was eagerly anticipated but Joe, so desperately keen to win back his first team place was sadly out of form. Missing were the razor-sharp reflexes that last season made McBride top goal-scorer in the First Division despite the fact that he had been a first-team absentee since late December.

Celtic just could not find the proper understanding in attack and over an hour had passed before they managed to penetrate Ayr’s defensive wall’

Such thoughts were reflected in the headlines

United’s Players Rose to the Occasion        

Uninspiring Win for Celtic

Celtic Through but Stein Has His Problems

A Lack of Punch Up Front

The draw was made for the semi-final stages of the League Cup. It was –

Celtic    v  Morton            Hampden

Dundee v  St Johnstone  Tannadice

A surprise from the night before – not for the players but for all the support – was announced in the evening papers –

Celtic Praise for Morton Well-Trained Team

‘Jock Stein and Sean Fallon of Celtic made a car dash from Ayr to Kilmarnock last night to watch some of Morton’s 2-1 victory over the Ayrshire side – and if they were not worried men when they left Rugby Park they certainly know now that their semi-final opponents are not in the pushover class’.

29^th September

Everyone back in; just some track-work and an early finish to the morning. The big news was that the Boss was ill, apparently with ‘flu and both Sean and Neilly took the training and handled any team news.

As regards the latter, it was announced that the eleven for the first-team encounter at Stirling would be chosen from the Lisbon side plus Pumper, Yogi and Pat McMahon. There was also a reserve team match against Stirling Reserves on the Saturday afternoon at Parkhead and at that match, there would be a sale of tickets for all parts of the ground for Celtic’s World Club Championship game against Racing Club of Argentina at Hampden on Wednesday October 18^th.

In the evening papers, there a little piece to the effect that Dinamo Kiev had drawn 0-0 with Moscow Dynamo at the latter’s ground in front of a crowd of 60,000.

Morning of the Match

When we played at Perth, we always had a pre-match bite in a hotel. However, as Stirling was only 30-odd miles away and you could drive there in just over half-an-hour, we had to provide our own food and arrive at Celtic Park ready to travel.

None of the boys travelled to Stirling with any great enthusiasm as the pitch had a decided slope on it and our record there was not a good one, having drawn 1-1 the previous season on a muddy pitch and in the season before that, we had lost 0-1. It seems to have been touch and go as to whether the Boss would make the trip but he certainly looked OK he boarded the bus.

The trip was uneventful and soon we were getting ready, when I had a moment I have always remembered. I had probably put my playing gear on far too early and was sitting at my place waiting for the others to go out for a pre-match warm-up. Somebody had left a match programme at each place, so I picked up the one nearest me and flicked through it.

Now, I must confess that I never, in my whole life, had given a thought as to why Sirling had the name-tag ‘Albion’ attached to the place name. Well, that afternoon I found out.

It came from a time in 1945, when, after the former Stirling club -called Kings Park – had ceased to operate because  its ground was bombed ( it was the only bomb ever dropped on Stirling) during the 2^nd World War, a group of businessmen bought the Annfield estate and started to lay out a new ground. That took time and because the pitch was ready before any stands had been built, when they were watching matches the club officials sat on chairs placed in the back of newly-scrubbed lorries. These were Albion trucks, from which the club derived its new name. It’s amazing what you learn in a dressing-room.

The Teams

Stirling Albion

Murray
Cunningham, McGuiness
Reid, Rogerson, Thomson
McPhie, Kerray, Grant, Peebles, Hall.
Sub:  McKinnon

Celtic

Simpson
Craig, Gemmell
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Chalmers, Lennox, Wallace, Auld, Hughes.
Sub: O’Neill

The Play

The start had been held up for 10 minutes or so while the crowd tried to get in but eventually we got underway and straight away, as so often in matches like this, took immediate control of the play without getting any definitive end product. For most of the first half, we did make some chances but again as usual, the opposing keeper was in top form and had great saves from Wispy, Chopper with other tries from Bertie, Chopper again and myself going over the bar. Two minutes from half-time, we did get a breakthrough –

43 minutes
a quick break by Yogi and Bertie, the ball went loose and Wispy reacted quickest to prod it home.  1-0 Celtic

Just before the interval, my own part in this match came to an abrupt end. I was in full flood down the wing, evaded a challenge from my immediate opponent by swerving past him but I never saw his colleague coming in behind and he caught me– possibly over the top? – right on the spot where I was just recovering from my previous injury. It was really painful and when I glanced down, I saw, to my disgust, that the cut had re-opened and blood was pouring down my leg.

Bob Rooney and Neilly both came on and I saw them signal to the dugout, although I was in such pain that I did not know what they were signaling. The next thing I knew was that I was limping off the field and Pumper was going on to play at left-back, with Tam switching to the right.

When the whistle went and all the guys came into the dressing-room, they were very solicitous about my problem but life had to go on, there was a game to be won and the Boss was quite clear that we had to do better in the final third. When they had gone out, he waited behind and said to me “have a bath, take your time and make sure you don’t put any weight on it. I need you for Wednesday”. So, although I was in a fair bit of pain at the time, at least it was nice to know that I was in the team for the Kiev return, if fit.

I did not see much of the second half, as I spent nearly all of it having the wound cleaned and dressed and then getting into my normal clothes. But from what I read in the papers, the other goals apparently came as follows –

66 minutes
Bertie sent in a screamer from 25 yards.  2-0 Celtic

And apparently, from them on, we dominated the play in comfortable fashion and picked up two further goals though Lemon (70 minutes) and Bertie again (78 minutes), so it was a happy group of players who trooped back into the dressing-room at the end of the match, where this pretty miserable figure was sitting in a corner, trying to keep out of the way. At least I had found out why Stirling had ‘Albion’ in its name!

Other Results

Table

25^th September

After two defeats and one draw in the previous seven days, I had anticipated a fairly strenuous session on the Monday following but I could not have been more wrong. The Boss spoke to us before leaving for training, quite calmly pointing out that while it had been a bad week as far as results were concerned, he had not been unhappy with either our commitment or our enthusiasm. The problem as he saw it was that – in his words – we had ‘gone off the boil’ something that can happen to any club at any time. So, taking that into account, what we needed to practice at training was teamwork, the passing moves that we could do so well would be worked on during the session and he was keen for us to work hard at those and make sure that they finished with a ‘result’, in other words a ‘goal’.

And that is what we did on that Monday morning, the first team versus the reserves, and there could be little doubt that play improved during the morning.

The Boss had also mentioned in his talk that he would be making changes to the side for the second leg of the Ayr United quarter-final but, as usual, in the evening papers we found out a bit more’

‘Celtic manager Jock Stein may make at least 5 changes to his team for the second leg of Wednesday’s quarter-final tie against Ayr United at Somerset Park.

The changes are not as a result of Celtic’s defeats by Rangers and Dinamo Kiev plus the draw against St Johnstone. Injuries are the problem. Doubtful starters are Craig, Clark, Wallace and Lennox.

Jock Stein said today “Craig, Clark, Wallace and Lennox are being treated for knocks. We will see how they are before we decide on a team for Somerset Park”.

All the players, except Jinky, who was given some time off, travelled by bus to Largs for a stay of a few days.

24^th September

Down at Largs, most of the players spent the day relaxing. Some played golf; others went to the baths. Joe McBride was the only one who did some training. It must have been a tough time for Joe. He was of the build that could put flesh on quite easily, so there was the constant necessity to diet – difficult when you are a professional footballer – and also, as he was recovering from a serious injury, there was also the constant need to build up the muscles round the knee and also work on stamina and sharpness. And to be fair to him, Joe never complained.

The press was pretty adamant that Celtic were through, although with the Hoops 6-2 up from the first leg, they were not exactly going out on a limb. The headlines were clearly in Celtic’s favour;

It Must Be Celtic

although they were a little more circumspect about who would also go through to the semi-finals. Dundee were already there, having beaten beaten East Fife 5-0 on aggregate. Of the others, though, Kilmarnock were 2-3 down to Morton from the first leg; while St Johnstone were 5-0 up on Queen’s Park at a similar stage. The suggestion was that the first named teams in both those ties – with home advantage – would go through.

The Morning of the Match

All the major stories in the morning papers were about Joe McBride;

McBride Wants Midas Touch

‘Joe McBride faces the most important game of his football life tonight.

If he comes through the hard and punishing 90 minutes at Ayr completely fit and right, back to his old form, he will almost certainly play against Stirling Albion on Saturday and then in the ‘all out attack’ match v versus Dinamo in Kiev’.

It would be an important match for another Celtic player, with John Fallon making his first appearance between the posts since the friendly against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu in May for Alfredo Di Stefano’s benefit.

It had been a nice couple of days down at Largs. Golf, baths even a visit to the cinema. Ah! being a pro footballer is such a tough life!

Pre-match

Since we were staying just up the road from the venue for the game, it was easy enough to get there. We had gone for a walk before breakfast, had a lazy morning, then went back to bed for a couple of hours before the pre-match meal and then the drive to the stadium.

The Stadium

We would have to cope with a slightly different size of pitch for this contest. The pitch at Somerset Park was 110 yards by 72 yards, slightly shorter than Celtic Park but, as the width was about the same as ours – and that is the important criterion for both defending and attacking – it should not make much difference.

We knew the team by this time, so it was just a case of going out for a look at the pitch, then getting ready. Everyone was keen to make amends for what had been a hard week, especially the guys who did not usually get a game. They, in particular, were determined to show what they could do. That is the only way to try to force your name into the manager’s thoughts; I was through all that myself fairly recently so I could empathise with their predicament. At the same time, I hoped that they did not ‘star’ too much?

The Teams

The supporters who had travelled down to Ayr would have read the papers and knew that some changes to the usual side were on the cards but when the team was read out over the loudspeaker system, there were a number of expressions of surprise. By this time, I was seated in the Main Stand and could hear these quite clearly. As we were 6-2 up from the first leg, I don’t think that anyone had any fears of losing the tie but there were reservations about the number of changes. Would these affect the team’s performance?

Ayr United

Stewart
Quinn, Murphy
Thomson, Monan, Walker
McMillan, Mitchell, Ingram, Hawkshaw, Black.
Sub: Barrowman

Celtic

Fallon
Shevlane, O’Neill
Cattenach, McNeill, Brogan
Wallace, Gallagher, McBride, Auld, Hughes.
Sub:Macari

The Play

Although it might sound as sour grapes coming from me sitting in the stand, our play was not good. ‘Stuttering’ was a word used in one report and that could describe it very well. There was a lack of fluency in the team play and up front, we did not, at least in the first half, seem to have the firepower necessary to trouble the Ayr defence.

Joe McBride, in particular, looked off the pace. He never really settled against the tall centre-half Monan and his confidence must have taken a further knock when he missed a penalty in the 41^st minute. Yogi was the only forward who looked likely but at half-time, it was still goalless.

I do not know what the Boss said at half-time but it must have been a difficult interval for everyone. The Boss was the one who had decided to make all the changes – few of those named as ‘injured’ could not have played – and so far things had not worked out. Joe was a shadow of the star he had been in the first half of the previous season and whereas in a settled team he might have had more help, in this side he struggled like the rest. On reflection, Ayr’s best bet might have been to come out of their packed defence more often to test this uncertain Celtic rearguard.

The fans were not pleased and let the team know it when they come out after the break but it did not make much difference to the play. Five minutes into the second half, there was another change of personnel, when youngster Lou Macari came on for his debut in place of Bertie. Ayr, however, held out quite efficiently until almost halfway through the half until a defender showed his forwards what to do –

63 minutes

Jim Brogan – Opener

Jim Brogan came forward on to a Charlie Gallagher pass and beat goalkeeper Stewart from 20 yards.  1-0 Celtic

Rather surprisingly, even when one-down, Ayr still decided to sit in, which gave Celtic most of the play but it was uninspiring and the crowds began to head for the exit. Just before the final whistle, it was the fans who had not decided to leave early who were rewarded with a second –

89 minutes
Cesar broke forward and passed to Wispy, whose long-range effort sailed over the keeper.  2-0 Celtic

Final Score Celtic 2 Ayr United 0            Aggregate 8 – 2

Other Matches

In the other quarter-final, second leg matches, Kilmarnock lost 1-2 to Morton at Rugby Park, which put the Greenock side into the semi-finals on a 5-3 aggregate; and St Johnstone beat Queen’s Park 3-1 at Muirton Park, going through on an 8-1 aggregate.

21^st September

In the press on the day following the Kiev match, we got a doing in the coverage. Most of it was quite justified. We had not played well and probably, in spite of all the effort we put in, particularly in the second half, did not deserve to win the match.

However, at a time like that, some of the press guys – and it has happened time and again in the years since – feel obliged to go OTT in their criticisms. ‘We were getting a bit big-headed after our win in Lisbon’ was one comment; as if the Boss would have stood for that for one minute. ‘We under-estimated the opposition’ was another, completely forgetting that we had played the Ukrainians in season 1965-66 in the QF of the European Cup-Winners’ Cup and only went through after two tough matches.

Frankly, there was no clear answer to our lack of form on the night. In spite of all the preparations beforehand, in spite of all the players getting themselves worked up for the occasion and in spite of the tremendous support and enthusiasm of the home crowd, we just failed to deliver.

A resume of the history of sport through the years might show that such occurrences are not all that rare. It is what makes sporting contests so fascinating and un-predictable.

In the press that night, the Boss gave us his reflections on the situation under the heading;

It Will Be Hard

‘It would be wrong to say that we are not concerned about this half-time result but it is not the end of the world and we are not beaten yet. Things cannot run for any team all the time. They did not run for us last night – but now we appreciate that we have a very, very big job ahead of us in Russia’.

The coach of Dinamo Kiev also provided his thoughts –

‘Actions on the football field speak louder than hundreds of words spoken off it. My players obeyed their instructions – and we won last night. Now we are sure we will win the tie in front of our own supporters. If we cannot do that, we do not deserve to be in the tournament’.

22^nd September

It had been a tough couple of days. We had been back in for training on the day after the Kiev match, where there was a noticeable coolness on the part of the coaching staff. It was not as if they were angry with us or anything like that but it was more a feeling of disappointment and that came across as a quietness. Even among the players, while there no recriminations after the match about the result, it seemed as though everyone just wanted to be on their own and concentrate on their own job.

An attitude like that, of course, does nothing for a group of players trying to make up a team and the Boss, quite rightly, set out to change the mood. We did little on the morning after the match but on the Friday, it was quite tough – not the norm for a day before another match – but the whole exercise was designed to get us out of whatever trough he thought we were in. And to a certain extent, it succeeded. We did some running, some sprinting, a bit of shooting practice then finished the session with one of those 15-a-side contests where everyone had only two touches. That made it quick and brought everyone into the play.

By the time we finished, the noise level was noticeably higher and if it was a planned manouevre, then it certainly seemed to have worked.

At the end of training, two sets of players were listed for the morrow. Both the first team and the reserves would be playing St Johnstone – the reserves at Muirton Park – but there was little further info, although I noticed that Pat McMahon was listed among the first team squad.

In the evening papers, we found out a bit more. Both the big Glasgow clubs were playing the following day – Celtic at home to St Johnstone, Rangers away to Falkirk – and the reporters obviously fancied their chances;

Old Firm ‘Double’ – They Look Far Too Strong

In another comment, the position of Pat McMahon was clarified –

McMahon Plays Against Saints

‘Celtic’s Pat McMahon, who celebrated his 21^st birthday on Tuesday, received a belated birthday present today when manager Jock Stein said McMahon would definitely play against St Johnstone tomorrow in a re-cast forward line. Mr Stein is not naming the forward who will drop out but it seems almost certain that his choice will be between two players, centre-forward Steve Chalmers or inside-right Willie Wallace’.

While all this was happening in Scotland, down in South America, the Buenos Aires newspaper ‘Cronica’, in its comments last night, cautiously refused to take Celtic’s defeat by Dinamo Kiev at face value.

The news paper expressed surprise that Celtic should have suffered two defeats in less than a week and went on to say that the losses had turned ‘a fiery lion into a mouse’. However, under the headline;

Are Celtic Hiding Something?

’Cronica’ went on to confirm that the Scottish club would still be tough opponents for Racing Club in the forthcoming World Club Championship.

Morning of the Match

It was not one of those occasions when lunch was provided, so we reported to Parkhead about an hour-and-a-half before the kick-off, the reserve side having already left by bus for Muirton Park. It seemed a normal match day, with everyone getting themselves mentally ready to get the League campaign under way again after the loss to Rangers – and of course, the set-back against Dinamo Kiev.

The Opposition

In the previous season, St Johnstone had finished 4^th bottom of the league table, an area which they seemed to habitually inhabit, as they finished 5^th bottom in 65-66 and 6^th from last in both 63-64 and 64-65.

This season, they had started well, drawing with Aberdeen in their previous league match and certainties to reach the League Cup semi-finals, after thrashing Queen’s Park 5-0 in the League Cup QF first-leg tie.

The Teams

Celtic

Simpson
Craig, Gemmell
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Johnstone, McMahon, Wallace, Auld, Lennox.
Sub:  Cattenach

St Johnstone

Donaldson
McGillivray, Coburn
Miller, Rooney, McPhee
Aird, Whitelaw, McCarry, McDonald, Wilson.
Sub: Michie

The Play

After a couple of quick attacks by Saints, we raised our game and took control, putting together some nice moves, although possibly without our usual fluency. And when we did make chances, we found the Saints keeper, like so many others we played against, in wonderful form. The big moment of the match came just before half-time –

36 minutes
Jinky was tackled heavily by St Johnstone outside-right Aird, who in the next moment was lying flat on his back on the ground apparently out for the count.

Now, I did not see what happened but I wondered afterwards if there was some ‘previous’ between these players. Kenny Aird had been at Parkhead for a few seasons, being released just after Jock Stein came in during March 1965. The two players were of similar heights, played in the same position and could be keen to make up for their lack of height with a determined or even aggressive attitude towards their play. So, there could have been a bit of verbals from the start of the game.

Anyway, no matter what had happened in the moments leading up to the incident, it would appear that the Saints player tackled, the Celt retaliated perhaps too vigorously and possibly with his fist – and Kenny Aird hit the deck. The referee, Mr Padden, of Ardrossan, seemed to be in no doubt as to what he had to do and Jinky was ordered to the pavilion.

You might have though that Saints would have been boosted by being a man up but the opposite was the case. We flew at them and made more chances but either from poor finishing or good goalkeeping, it was still goalless at the interval.

It was not a happy dressing-room at the break. Sympathy for Jimmy – who was apologetic – was split; we were more concerned that we had to go through the next 45 minutes with only 10 players. And that against a side  which could play some good football and had been given a real boost to their morale.

From the re-start, the Saints players went for it and quickly took the lead –

46 minutes
nice cross from the left by Aird and McDonald flicked the ball past Ronnie.  1-0 St Johnstone

From that point on, play was about equally split in terms of pressure. In the 57^th minute, the Boss pulled off Pat McMahon, brought in Davie Cattenach at midfield and pushed Chopper up front.

There were chances at both ends but none taken and we had to wait until halfway through the half before parity was restored;

76 minutes
a simple cross into the middle was not cleared by the Saints defence and after it had bobbled about a bit, Chopper slammed it into the net. 1-1

From then to the end, with the fans pushing us on, we moved the ball about well but ten men against eleven is always tough and we just could not get another goal. However, it would be fair to say that the defence had done well in keeping out the Saints attacks.

At the whistle, though, you could hear from the reaction of the crowd that, ten men or not, they were not particularly happy with what they had seen.

Final Score  Celtic  1  St Johnstone  1

Other Results

Reserve Match

Just as were leaving the ground, news came through that the reserves had beaten St Johnstone Reserves 2-1 at Muirton, the goals coming from Lou Macari,

17^th September

I had been in on the Sunday for a work-out and some treatment and was able to give the Boss some good news; at least I hope it was good news. The info was to the effect that my leg felt much better, the cut was now healing over and I could run – and twist – with only the minimum of pain and even that would not stop me from performing at my usual level.

When I told him all that, he replied merely with a “good” but I also got a pat on the back for all my hard work on the training ground. He then raced away, saying that he had to meet the Kiev team when they arrived at the airport. After my work-out, I travelled home and just rested for the remainder of the day.

Meanwhile, at the airport, the Boss met the Ukrainians and escorted them to their hotel in the centre of Glasgow and then had a chat with the officials. He was informed that the manager, Viktor Maslov, would like to have his players at a pre-breakfast training session on the Monday morning. The Boss apparently agreed to this and the respective parties then went their separate ways, to enjoy Sunday evening in their own fashion.

18^th September

When I arrived for training on the Monday morning, the atmosphere at Celtic Park could have been described as chaotic. From the details gathered later, the sequence of events early that morning was as follows –

8.45am…..Mr Maslov and his players, all dressed in royal blue track suits, leave the hotel and disappear into the damp morning air of Glasgow. Meanwhile, at Celtic Park, Jock Stein has been in the building for the best part of an hour, waiting for the Ukrainians to arrive. When they still had not turned up by 9am, he jumped into his car and drove along London Road to Barrowfield, assuming that the Kiev party had gone straight to the training ground. However, when Mr Stein got there, the place was empty.

9.30am…….This was the chaos into which I arrived on the Monday morning. Everyone was asking where the ‘Russians’ were, with a few unusual replies being put forward, the daftest being that they had all applied for asylum and wanted to play for British clubs. I’ll leave you to guess who came up with that beauty.

Anyway, just as the scenario was becoming ridiculous, ex-manager and by now PRO Jimmy McGrory solved the problem, thanks to a few phone calls. Apparently, the Kiev party had stopped at Glasgow Green and put in a 20-minute loosening-up session before returning to their hotel for breakfast.

10am…..after a shower, the Kiev players come down for breakfast in their hotel. They apparently started with rashers of thinly-cut salami sausages and slices of Edam-like cheese; this was then followed by a large omelette, with tea the drink of choice.

It was all a bit of a shambles and when the Boss was asked about the mix-up, he merely said “they are not talking so I am not talking”. However, when the papers heard about the shambles, some clever editor could not resist putting up this headline –

Kiev Team on the ‘Green’

While this was all happening, Rangers were leaving the city by plane for their Fairs Cup tie against Dinamo Dresden, which would involve a change of plane at Copenhagen.

19^th September

The Kiev players return to Glasgow Green while we put in a normal training session at Barrowfield. At the end of the session, Jock Stein holds a press conference back at Celtic Park, at which he announces that the ‘Lisbon side’ would represent Celtic on the morrow.

Over in East Germany, manager Scott Symon announces that his side will be the eleven who beat Celtic at the weekend.

Thanks to some hard work – not only on my own behalf but also utilizing the experience, wisdom and expertise of Doc Fitzsimmons, Bob Rooney and Neil Mochan – I was by then feeling pretty good after my injury and well capable of putting in a good shift for 90 minutes. And I can recall with some clarity the really good atmosphere in the dressing-room at that time. Since the start of the season, the team had not fired on all cylinders all of the time but we were proving hard to beat and could have spells in matches when we were quite exceptional in our team-play, passing etc. The problems were, as far as I was concerned and I’m sure that the Boss would have noticed them as well, that we did not play to the height of our powers all of the time and could be caught out sometimes by our attitude to attacking play, which, just occasionally, left the defence a bit isolated.

Still, a record like ours in that season to date (League, League Cup, Glasgow Cup and Friendlies) – P12 W9 D2 L1 F33 A10 – would have delighted more than a few managers.

20^th September

The main headlines in the evening papers were mainly concerned with Rangers efforts in the Fairs Cup that afternoon, when they drew 1-1 with Dinamo Dresden in East Germany. A draw away from home in European competition is always a respectable performance, although the report of the match made it quite clear that the reason for the draw was a quite exceptional showing by goalkeeper Eric Sorensen.

A comment by Jock Stein also caught the eye. He apparently told the reporters at the press conference the previous day that he was hoping for – or did he say he was ‘expecting’? – a 3-goal lead to take over to the Ukraine. He certainly never said that to us and when discussing the match was his usual cautious self.

The evening papers also dealt with Celtic but they merely re-printed a piece from that Wednesday’s Celtic View on the subject of referees ;

‘In recent games, some of the opposing sides have gone out to stop Celtic playing attractive football by any means. They have been getting away with it due to weak refereeing. Celtic have tried to instill into their players that they must play fair at all times but in the game against Rangers on Saturday they were eventually provoked into indiscretions that are foreign to their play.

Everyone agrees that football is a tough game with the physical challenge being a important part of it but surely a line must be drawn somewhere. Rangers in the first half had 14 fouls while Celtic had only 5. Several Rangers players kept fouling repeatedly and did not get even a word of warning from the referee.

The first essential in a referee’s make-up is control. It is a problem that must be solved if ‘BRAWN’ is not finally to overwhelm and reduce Scottish football to a state when instead of looking for footballers, scouts will be asked to keep an eye open for experts in un-armed combat.

Quite a piece……I wonder of anyone from the Dinamo Kiev party read it?

However, a big story of the front pages tended to get more coverage than the European ties of the Old Firm. That afternoon, at John Brown’s shipyard in Clydebank, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth launched the QE2.

At Easter Road that evening, Hibs beat Porto 3-0 in a Fairs Cup, First Round, First Leg tie.

Pre-Match

I could never quite work out why we went down to Seamill (or other sites like the Marine Hotel) before some big games and did not do so for others. This particular occasion – the first match we would take part in with the title of European Champions – was, I would have thought, certainly a big one. Yet, we merely reported to the park in the late afternoon and were driven to a hotel for the pre-match meal.

By the time we came back to Celtic Park, the crowds were gathering and we suddenly realised that the expectations of the support were high. That certainly helped to concentrate our minds and the atmosphere in the dressing-room – usually quite jocular – suddenly became very quiet and tense

Teams

Celtic

Simpson
Craig, Gemmell
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld, Lennox..

Dinamo Kiev

Rudakov
Schegolkov, Sosnichin
Levchenko, Sabo, Krulikovsky
Turvanchik, Bychevetz, Medved, Serebrianikov, Pusach.

The Play

We ran out in the all-green strip that had proved lucky for us in the past but I was not at all impressed by another feature of the match that night. The referee was Kurt Tschenscher; yes, the guy who had awarded a penalty in Lisbon, when Renato Cappellini dropped like a sack of potatoes as I ran across his path. I had been mentally abusing him all summer but suddenly had a terrible sense of déjà vu!

It can be difficult sometimes to give an assessment of a match when the writer was one of the participants but I can make an exception in this case. To put it bluntly, right from the start, we were poor; in fact, for a lot of the game, we were worse than that! And matters were not helped by the loss of a quick first goal –

4 minutes:

Jinky mis-placed a pass in midfield and the visitors showed a piece of great skill, the ball going from Levchenko to Byshevetz to Sabo and finally to Pusach, who fairly lashed it home.  1-0 Kiev

That put us on the back foot and it took us some time to get going. The problem, as I mentioned earlier in the preview, was that the passing was off and we kept giving the ball away in both midfield and up-front. That keeps the defence under pressure and we never got the chance to come forward to help out in attack. And just as we were improving very slightly, we lost another –

30 minutes:

this time Cesar lost the ball, it landed at the feet of Byshevetz, who sent a screamer past Ronnie.
2-0 Kiev

By now, the fans were stunned and then started – quite rightly – to give us a going over. And that was continued by the Boss in the dressing-room, who was furious and more or less told us to ‘get the finger’ out in the second half. I did not think that the comment was very constructive but decided it was not the time to mention that so just held my peace, had a wash and got ready for the second half.

We were better after the interval. Suddenly, the passes were being strung together, possession was being maintained and chances were made. From one of these, we got the goal which brought us back into the game –

62 minutes:

a pass from Bertie which Lemon hammered low into the corner of the net. 2-1 Kie

That certainly gave us – and the support – a boost and we started to make more chances. Unfortunately, the Kiev players showed that they could defend as well as attack and they covered their goal well. The other thing you need on a night like that is some luck and we just did not get it near goal. Bertie clipped the bar with a rising shot; Jinky, with the whole goal to aim for, sent a header straight into the keeper’s arms; Schegolkov cleared a Cesar header from just underneath the cross bar; and Rudakov made the save of the game from another Cesar header.

At the final whistle, the Kiev players celebrated frantically, we slumped in disappointment and the fans left quietly. We would have a lot to do in Kiev in the return.

The night was summed up fairly accurately in one of the following morning’s dailies;

Hesitant  Celtic  Let European Cup Almost Slip Away

‘A depression settled over Parkhead last night which could almost be touched. What was probably Celtic’s worst display for many a long day led to their being unexpectedly beaten by Kiev Dinamo in their European Cup first- round tie and they now face possible elimination from the competition when the teams meet again in the return in Russia on October 4’.

14^th September

Like the manager, or so I was led to believe since I was not in the dressing room after the match, the press on the day following the League Cup quarter-final against Clyde was only reasonably enthusiastic about Celtic’s performance. This headline perhaps summed up the evening –

Comfortable Celtic  Win Despite Ayr’s Spirited Challenge

However, the wording alongside the headline was more praiseworthy of the manager –

‘They don’t come any smarter in football than Celtic’s Jock Stein. His orders to blitz Ayr in last night’s League Cup quarter-final first leg at Celtic Park served a double purpose.

The instructions, followed to the letter by Celtic in their 6-2 win, snuffed out any glimmer of hope Ayr had of providing a League Cup shock.

And it also means that the astute Stein will be able to rest some of his pool of first team players in the second leg at Somerset Park on Wednesday 27^th September, precisely one week before the European Cup match against Dinamo Kiev’.

The other guys got the day off, whereas I was in again – twice! Both in the morning and again in the afternoon, I received some heat treatment in Bob’s room, then did some running on the track at Celtic Park, then showered before dressing again. It was hard going, especially when Bob’s broad fingers were massaging the area round the cut but most of all, it was lonely out there. And you also get the feeling in those circumstances that the injury is not improving, indeed you sometimes feel that the treatment is doing more harm than good.

I was hoping that was not the case!

15^th September

More headlines –

Old Firm Are Ready 

• Persson in Rangers 12

•  Craig Fit for Celtic

Good for Orjan but I was amazed when I saw that headline about me. I was even more astonished when I read the paragraph underneath, which was a direct quote from the Boss –

‘Craig could have played last night but we decided to take no risks. He is definitely available for the Ibrox game’.

Frankly, I could not, at that point, have been any use to the side over 90 minutes. The leg was certainly getting better and I could nearly run flat out but I needed a few more days to be ready for a major game. So, on that Friday afternoon, while the guys set off in their different ways, I was back on the treatment table and on the track.

One man who had been in a similar position for some time and was now experiencing a change for the better was Joe McBride; he got a heading and story all to himself in one of the evening papers.

McBride in Reserve Team

‘Joe McBride will be in the Celtic team against Rangers in the Reserve League Championship game at Parkhead tonight.

Although McBride played in the 9-1 win in a friendly against Queen’s Park at Hampden last Friday, he has not played a competitive match since his cartilage operation in March.

The fact that he is considered fit enough to play against Rangers must mean that McBride is on the way back to full fitness – great news for every Celtic supporter’.  

Morning of the Match

If I remember correctly, the players did go for lunch although, as I was once again on the treatment table and then the track, I am not really sure. However, if you were going by the morning press, then you might have got a truly different picture –

Celtic’s  ‘Europe Men’ Stand By

Late Test for Craig

Celtic to Nose Home!

An unusual expression, that last one and I suppose it means that Celtic would come through by a narrow margin. I could not disagree with that. The first clash of the season had resulted in a 1-1 draw and although we won the second 3-1, with 14 minutes to go, Rangers were still one-up. So, as has been the case in all the years that this particular encounter has taken place, it would be unwise to be too confident about the outcome, There is a considerable difference between confidence and arrogance. The latter leads to trouble!

On the previous evening, the reserve team match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park had finished in a 2-2 draw. Joe McBride got his name on the score sheet – his effort coming from the penalty spot – while Lou Macari got the other.

I finished the treatment and workout just in time to catch the bus with the rest of the team over to Ibrox. As usual, there were crowds everywhere and it was just as well that we had a police motorcycle escort to get us through.

On a day like that, the football divide of Glasgow really comes to the fore. As we went from one major ground to the other, you would be cheered by your own support and castigated (to be polite) by the opposing one. From the safety of the enclosed bus, it was almost enjoyable but it might not have been quite so pleasant if you had been walking along.

However, from Parkhead to Ibrox, even on a day like that – especially with police outriders – does not take long and soon we were pulling up outside the ground and making our way into the foyer and thence to the dressing rooms. It always feels funny when you are not playing. You automatically take part in all the usual pre-match activities, get an idea of the banter in the dressing-room, even, if asked, listen to the managers’s words pre match yet deep down, you also know that, at one point, you will have to take your leave, wish the guys all the best and go and take your place in the stand like any other punter.

The Teams

Rangers

Sorensen
Johansen, Provan
Jardine, McKinnon, Greig
Henderson, Penman, Ferguson, D Smith, Persson.
Sub: Johnston

Celtic

Simpson
Cattenach, Gemmell
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld, Lennox.
Sub: O’Neill

The Play

So, another try-out in the number 2 shirt in my absence. First it was Chris Shevlane and now Davie Cattenach. And for the Gers, Willie Johnston on the bench and Orjan Persson on the left wing. Approximately 90,000 were in the ground by the time referee Mr Syme blew the whistle and the mayhem started.

The dictionary definition of ‘ mayhem’ is ‘chaos’ or ‘disorder’ or even ‘pandemonium’ but whatever word that you pick, the end product is much the same. Both sets of players went at each other right from the start and there were some really hefty challenges going in, one of which was to result in a serious injury for one of Rangers’ defenders –

   Davie Provan: Injured

4 minutes:
a clash between Davie Provan and Bertie Auld caused the former to be carried off on a stretcher, with Rangers having to re-arrange, John Greig moving to full-back, Willie Johnston coming on to cover the left side and Orjan Persson getting almost a roving commission. Provan was taken to hospital.

Some words from a report in one of the papers may give some idea of the action;

‘Only a passing nod was given to the most elementary skills of the game; for the most part, power, stamina and scarcely containable vigour rode roughshod over any consideration of disciplined and thoughtful football.

Some of the tackling was intimidating, to say the least, and in this respect several players could feel extremely fortunate not to have their names taken. As it was, a fairly lenient Mr Syme saw fit to book only Chalmers, for the relatively minor offence of booting the ball away in anger after a free kick had been awarded against him and to utter a few words of wisdom to Jardine, Smith, Chalmers and Auld’.

I thought that we did not play too well but Rangers rose to the occasion, making a number of chances, none of which were taken. That it was a tough match was evident by a number of injuries, mainly for Rangers, with Henderson ( shin and scalp), Johnston (twisted ankle) and of course, Provan, all needing treatment.

In another part of the newspaper report, the occasion – and the crucial moment – was summed up fairly precisely

‘In a game like this, victory is the over-riding factor and how it is achieved matters little.

The goal which gave Rangers their narrow but deserved victory just had to bear the stamp of genius……McKinnon began the move in 47 minutes with a deft lob to Persson….in a devastating run of some 30 yards, he beat Gemmell on the inside, swerved past Murdoch and Clark and then again side-stepped Gemmell, who had chased back to cover the route to goal.

Even then a goal seemed improbable, as the angle was acute and the range about 18 yards but Persson, showing admirable control and coolness, suddenly wheeled round a cracked an unsaveable shot past Simpson’.

It was a wonderful goal and if I am being strictly honest ( difficult when an Old Firm contest is the subject) I thought that Rangers did deserve their win. However, when the initial excitement had died down and you picked up one of the papers that evening, the main headline gave us all – players and fan alike – something to think about –

Rangers Pay High Price for Victory Over Celtic

Davie Provan was taken to the Southern General Hospital, just to the west of Ibrox, where after examination, his injury was diagnosed as a broken tibia.

Other Results

11^th September

On the Monday morning after the 3-0 league victory over Clyde, the papers were fairly unanimous in their headlines and comments –

Who Can Stop This Stein Machine?

‘The 3-0 scoreline in Celtic’s favour bore no resemblance to the difference between the sides’.

To be honest, as I watched at the action from the Stand, it was something of a romp. The guys were three-up by half-time and rather coasted for the next 45 minutes. The fans don’t particularly like it when their side does that but it is sensible. Any side which is three goals down, especially by the interval, tends to come out in the second half determined not to lose any more, an attitude which invariably means that some rough play can be expected. So, while the team on top must not let their standards drop, it is safer to play the ball around rather than go in for any crunching tackles.

In another column, there was news of possible team selection –

‘Steve Chalmers, who was replaced by John Hughes in the Celtic forward line in the closing moments of the game against Clyde, will almost certainly sit out Wednesday’s League Cup quarter-final first-leg tie against Ayr United at Celtic Park.

This, no doubt, is part of Jock Stein’s plan to field a 100% Chalmers at centre-forward against Rangers in Saturday’s all-ticket league game at Ibrox’.

That latter sentence suggests that the writer thought all that out for himself but in reality, there would have been a little – if not substantial – verbal ‘nudge’ from the Boss beforehand.

There was also a piece about my own situation –

‘Right back Jim Craig, who sat out the Clyde game with a shin injury, seems likely to be available for Wednesday’s game. Craig was at Celtic Park yesterday for a training session during which he kicked the ball without any trouble’.

Aye, right! I certainly did the session and kicked the ball but ‘without any trouble’ is a variation of the truth. As regards running, I was not putting the damaged leg down with any confidence as a shooting pain ran up it when I did so; and when the report in the papers talked about ‘kicking’, you could describe my attempts as just better than a strong pass. There was no way that I could play the following day and in the meantime, I came in morning and afternoon for treatment and light running.

12^th September

The morning papers were unanimous in their predictions……..

Should Be Too Easy For Celtic

……but were a little less certain of the actual team –

Johnstone Back for Celtic – But Stein Delays Team to Play Ayr

While I did my stuff round the outside of Barrowfield, I could look across to check on what the rest of the guys were doing. Everyone seemed to be moving well, even Wee Jimmy – just getting over a bout of ‘flu – and Joe McBride, looking much better now.

As regards my own case, I was definitely a bit better than yesterday but the whole leg was still painful and the actual site of the cut was inflamed and very tender. Unfortunately, Bob Rooney had to change the dressing on a regular basis and when he was rubbing the area, I certainly had to grit my teeth. When I told my Mum, she, like a true caring person, was full of sympathy; my Dad said it was ‘good for my soul’.

The other quarter final, first leg ties lined up as follows –

Dundee v East Fife
Kilmarnock v Morton
St Johnstone v Queen’s Park

 Morning of the Match

There was still no official word of the team in the morning press – and we did not know either – but as probably a little sop to the journalists, the Boss had obviously provided one piece of information which they pounced on and put in the headlines –

 It’s 90 Minute Hughes

Yogi had been working hard since his injury some weeks previously and had looked OK when he came on as a sub against Clyde. Suddenly, though, the player pool was bigger, as apart from the guys of the previous season, it also included Davie Cattenach, Chris Shevlane and Pat McMahon plus Joe McBride who seemed to be coming back into contention. So, becoming injured, as in my case, wasn’t the brightest thing to do.

The Opposition

Ayr had been champions of the Second Division in season 1965-66, thus gaining promotion to the First Division, for the first time in 5 years. Unfortunately, in the following campaign of 1966-67, they had finished bottom of the 18-team league – with a record of P34 W1 D7 L26 F20 A86 – and went back to the lower division, where they seemed to holding their own at that point.

Pre Match

There was no pre-match meal provided before this one, a sure indication that a win was expected. To be fair, though, almost as soon as the players – including me – had gathered at the park, the Boss took us all into the dressing-room and gave a little talk, reminding us of his words before the start of the season about the dangers of these matches against lesser-ranked teams and how they would be spurred on to raise their game. The words were undoubtedly appropriate and I could see and sense that they hit home, as the jocularity which had been in evidence dropped in volume and all those involved looked a bit more thoughtful as they started to get ready. For those not taking part, like myself, we wished the guys all the best and then departed for our positions in the stand.

On the way up the stairs, not moving as freely as usual, the words of a hit in the Top Ten at that time by the Tremeloes suddenly flashed into my mind – ‘Even the Bad Times Are Good’. What a load of cobblers those words were!

The Teams

Celtic
Simpson, Gemmell. O’Neill
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Johnstone, McMahon, Wallace, Lennox, Hughes.
Sub: Cattenach

Ayr Utd
Stewart
Malone, Murphy
Quinn, Moran, Walker
McMillan, Mitchell, Ingram, Hawkshaw, Black.
Sub: McAnespie

The Play

For the second time in three days, I had to watch a romp. Our guys were in a different league. Oh! I realize that Ayr scored two but that was because the defence was not concentrating on a couple of occasions, too concerned with getting forward at all times.

From my point of view, losing those two goals was not such a bad thing but frankly, we dominated the play and probably should have scored more. The goals came as follows –

11 minutes
.pass from Wispy into the path of Lemon, who caught it cleanly.      1-0 Celtic

22 minutes
long ball through the middle, Ayr goalkeeper Stewart hesitated in coming out and Lemon got there first.  2-0 Celtic

29 minutes
pass from Pat McMahon to Jinky, who slammed the ball over the keeper. 3-0 Celtic

3-up and coasting but we took it too far and moved our foot off the pedal. And back came Ayr –

30 minutes
a real mix-up in our defence, with everyone leaving the clearance to each other and outside- left Black took advantage.   3-1 Celtic

As I was not in the dressing-room at the interval, I do not know what the Boss said but I could not imagine that he was all that happy. And midway through the second half, he would have been even less happy –

67 minutes
good interplay between McMillan and Hawkshaw gave Black another chance, which he took happily.  3-2 Celtic

The crowd of 26,000 had come along expecting to see goals but for Celtic and not by Ayr. They responded angrily, giving the guys a fair bit of stick for what was by now a diffident performance. However, almost immediately, the guys raised their level again and took advantage of the visitors trying to come forward –

68 minutes
pass from McMahon, fine shot by Jinky.  4-2 Celtic

77 minutes
.cut-back by Pumper, hammered in by Chopper.  5-2 Celtic

84 minutes
this time a cross by Wispy was knocked in by Pat.

Final Score  Celtic  6  Ayr United  2

As I kept out of the dressing-room, I do not know the Boss’s exact words but from what I heard later, he had been less than impressed with the performance. However, managers are always like that and to look at the situation realistically, we had won the first leg of a two-legged quarter-final by 6 goals to 2, which meant that, unless we had a catastrophic drop in form in the second leg, we were though to the semi-final.

Much more important were two other factors. The first was to find out if anyone had received any injury that might put them out of the next match; and secondly, as far as I was concerned, would my injury allow me to play in that match. Who was it against?

Oh! yes, Rangers.

Other Results

Three other quarter-final first leg matches were played that night. The scores were-

Queen’s Park 0 St Johnstone 5
Morton 3  Kilmarnock  2
Dundee Utd 1  East Fife  0

6^th September 1967

The papers were in full flood, raving about our performance against Penarol the previous evening. The headline writer was especially effusive –

On Top of the World

‘Roque Maspoli, manager of 1966 World Club Champions Penarol of Uruguay, eased his 6 feet plus frame into a comfortable position on a chair and then in one word – ‘Magnificent’ – gave his opinion on the Celtic team who beat Penarol at Parkhead last night’.

It had been a good performance. When that happens, the players are well aware of it on the park, realising that it is one of those occasions when everything goes to plan, the difficult passes come off and the chances are taken. And on Tuesday evening, that is exactly what was happening…..until that South American so-and-so caught me at the junction of shin and calf.

I had kept the packing on all night and made my way up to Parkhead the following morning, frankly feeling very sorry for myself. When I got on the table and Bob Rooney took the dressings off the wound, it looked awful, swollen, inflamed and still bleeding slightly. He washed it with warm water and some form of disinfectant – none too gently I thought, although I might have been feeling a bit precious at the time – before closing the area again with plasters, the medical staff having come to the decision that stitching the area might cause even more problems.

I was then ‘advised’ that rather than sitting down, a gentle walk round the track might be more beneficial. I was tempted to ask “beneficial to whom?” but I thought that might sound a bit cheeky and just bit my tongue and got on with the walk.

And while all this was going on with me in the treatment room, a bus had arrived to take the players down to the Inverclyde National Recreational Centre at Largs for an overnight stay. Apparently, that afternoon, while I was still doing these intermittent walks round the track, a few were golfing, others just relaxing.

The Boss, meantime, had shot off to Leeds to see the local side take on Dinamo Zagreb in the second leg of the 1966-67 Fairs Cup final, having lost the first leg 0-2 in Yugoslavia. It would not have been a happy night in Yorkshire for the supporters of ‘The Whites’, as the match ended in a 0-0 draw, making the Slavs winners on aggregate.

7^th September

The guys all arrived back again after their short break and I continued my lonely trek round the Parkhead track. The groundsmen on duty were very solicitous, continually asking me how I was feeling. As the shin was – to use a technical expression – still ‘louping’ I was in two minds how to reply but decided to thank them for their courtesy and lie through my teeth that I was feeling better!

As the first league match of the season was coming up on the Saturday, against Clyde at Celtic Park, the press was full of stories about how Celtic would perform in the new campaign and which other side would be most likely to mount a challenge to us. But the headline accompanying the story suggested that we were ready too;           

Flag Happy Celtic All Set

8^th September

As I continued my lonely walks round the pitch, I got a surprise. When I came round the bend at the Celtic End and headed east in front of the South Stand, who should I see standing at the bottom of the tunnel but the Boss. And he was smiling. As I approached he even laughed “I’ll bet you are bored out your skull” he asked. When I admitted that his assessment was perfectly true, he just laughed again and told me that there was no point in risking further damage to the leg by playing too soon. There were bigger matches that Clyde coming up on the horizon and he wanted me fit for them. So, I was to just do what I had been told and put as little pressure on the cut as possible.

He then headed back up the tunnel and I continued my walking, suddenly feeling ten feet tall!

There was a match that night at Hampden which I was told not to attend. It was between the Queen’s Park first team and the Celtic Reserves, with us winning 9-1. John Hughes and Joe McBride were playing and did well, Joe scoring 2 and Yogi one. The others came from Jimmy Quinn (4), Sammy Henderson and Lou Macari.

Morning of the Match

The rest of the guys had been told to report one hour before the kick-off. I was in two hours before that for a check on the shin, some treatment and guess what?….yes, some walks round the track. I was pleased to say that the walking was getting very much easier, although if you touched the site of the damage with any thing heavier than a feather, I just about hit the ceiling. And I was still remembering the guy from Penarol in my prayers!

We were another man down, apparently. Wee Jimmy had phoned in with ‘flu, so the Boss was having to do a bit of juggling with the squad before announcing the side.

The Teams

Celtic
Simpson, Shevlane, Gemmell
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Chalmer

s, McMahon, Wallace, Auld, Lennox.
Sub: Hughes

Clyde
Wright
Glasgow, Soutar
Anderson, Fraser, McHugh
McFarlane, Hood, Gilroy, Staite, Hastings.
Sub: Steele

When you are a regular member of the team and you do pick up an injury, the period when you are out is dreadful. You are part of the squad yet you do not feel part of it. When all the chat is going on in the foyer and the players are heading out and back from having a look at the pitch, you do not feel as though it is anything to do with you. When the Boss is giving the side a pep-talk before the match – and even if, as happened in this case, he specifically motioned for me to come into the dressing-room – you feel that you are an outsider. And eventually, since you begin to feel that you are just getting in the road, you move back out to the foyer, to speak to the other guys not needed.

The Play

The afternoon started well for Celtic, when Mrs Kelly, the wife of Chairman Robert Kelly, unfurled the League flag, a moment much appreciated by the Celtic support in the crowd, estimated at around 37,000.

I never enjoyed watching the first team in action, as firstly I always thought that I should have been out there ( you even think that when you are injured) and secondly, you tend to kick every ball right through the 90 minutes. But in terms of possession and chances, we were in a different league to Clyde and soon put some goals on the board –

12 minutes
Bertie to Stevie and then a cross into the middle, where Pat McMahon steered it home. 1-0 Celtic

37 minutes
another cross, this time by Stevie and Lemon’s diving header gave the Clyde keeper no chance. 2-0 Celtic

44 minutes
this time Lemon set up Bertie and he lashed it home. 3-0 Celtic

And that was the score at half-time, which would have made the dressing-room a very happy place. I felt out of things so I did not go into the dressing room at the interval but sat in the tea room, where the girls serving the guests of the Board were nicely sympathetic. The talk, naturally, was about football but there was also sympathy for the families of the 11 miners who had been killed at a pit in East Wemyss, Fife the previous evening.

It had been a bit one-sided in the first half, to be perfectly honest, and I was expecting it to be the same after the interval. And, to be blunt, it was. The reason there were no more goals, though, was down to Clyde’s goalkeeper, who had a wonderful afternoon, saving them from all angles. Without him it could have been a cricket score.

There was one controversial moment in the second half which was nothing to do with the actual play but more a question of the rules. After 10 minutes, the Boss replaced Steve Chalmers with John Hughes, although Yogi was not a happy man coming off. He did not seem to be injured in any way and that brought about some controversy. Apparently, the rules up to that point had been interpreted that the 12^th man was there as a sub for an injured player. Jock Stein made his own interpretation of that saying that he was allowed to use 12 players and that there was no point in having 12 if you did not use them. He also was adamant that it was within the rules.

It was later suggested that Stevie had been brought off to keep him fit for the Rangers match the following weekend.

It was probably just as well that the substitution had provided a topic of discussion in the second half as the play was completely one-sided and Clyde were lucky to get away with only a 0-3 loss.

Other Results

Dates

Celtic have fixed their World Club Championship dates – by kind cooperation of both the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish League.

The two most important games ever to be played by a British club will take place against Racing Club of Argentina on 18^th October at Hampden and 1^st November in Buenos Aires.

Good Boys

In the section of the evening paper covering junior football, there was a comment about two recent Celtic signings;

‘Celtic made a shrewd move when they signed teenage starlets Billy Murdoch (brother of Bobby) the Kilsyth Rangers inside-left and Kenny Dalglish the Cumbernauld United inside-right.

I was impressed with the senior potential of Billy and Kenny when Kilsyth and Cumbernauld clashed in a Dunbartonshire Cup tie at Duncansfield Park

4^th September

A good morning at training. With both the first team and the reserve side having won their weekend fixtures, the atmosphere was great and the training consisted mainly of the short stuff which everyone loved, followed by everybody’s favourite – shooting practice!

It was a very happy bunch of players who made their way – on foot – back to Parkhead from Barrowfield but en route, as I chatted with some of the guys, I realised that we did not know much about our opponents of the morrow. It then dawned on me that everyone else would be in the same boat.

So, what did we know about Penarol?

Very little, to be honest. Most Scottish fans of the time had very little knowledge of South American football. Certainly, we were all aware of Pele and the quality of not only Brazil but Uruguay and Argentina as well. However, when it came to the club sides, they received much less attention than the international teams and TV coverage in those days hardly covered the European scene far less any matches from South America.

Penarol, in fact, came from Uruguay and played in the capital Montevideo, where their ground – the Centenario Stadium – had a capacity of just over 73,000. From its early days, the club has always provided players to the international side, especially the World Cup-winning teams of 1930 and 1950.

Penarol won the South American Libertadores Club Cup {the equivalent of the European Cup } in 1960, 1961 and 1966 and also picked up the World Club Cup in 1961 (beating Benfica in the final) and 1966 (Real Madrid).

So, as used to hear fans say about opposing teams when I was wee boy –“well, they’ll be nae mugs”.

And with a record like that, never were truer words spoken. We would have to be at our best against this team and although it was only classed as a ‘friendly’, the Boss kept reminding us that European Champions didn’t play friendlies.

From what I read in the morning press that day, Jock Stein was keen to play his full European Cup-winning side against the South Americans – “I think out full line-up will give us a big psychological advantage. We want to play as we did against Inter Milan and we want to win the match”.

We also got news of our visitors;  ‘Penarol – who had been playing in a tournament in Spain where they lost 0-2 to Valencia – arrive in Glasgow this evening, too late to train. However, it is expected that they will come to Celtic Park in the morning to check the pitch and also have a run-out on it’.

Penarol, in fact, had been taking part in the Ramon de Caranza tournament in Cadiz. After losing that match to Valencia – who went on to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the final – the Uruguayan side beat Vasco Da Gama of Brazil 3-1 in the 3^rd place match.

There was an unusual piece in one of the evening papers. Three players – Bertie Auld, Peter Cormack (Hibs) and Jimmy Smith (Aberdeen) had all been called up by the SFA Disciplinary Committee to answer charges of misconduct. That seemed to be quite normal but the offences were for incidents occurring nearly two months previously.

Bertie’s offence was in the testimonial match against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu on 7^th June and the other two players were ordered off in a close-season tournament in the USA.

That does seem a long time to keep the players waiting but when challenged on the decision, the Committee said that they had only received the paperwork this week.

In the Glasgow Cup semi-final at Hampden later that evening, Clyde beat Queen’s Park 2-1. The Bully Wee will now face Celtic or Rangers in the final.

5^th September  – Morning of match

Whenever we had a night match, I always found that the morning and afternoon dragged and I had too much time on my hands. I was quite keen to take on some dental work but also wondered how the Boss would feel about that. Anyway, that day my Mum solved my problem as she asked if I would run her up to the City Centre where she wanted to visit Lewis’s, the large department store on Argyle Street. I was delighted to do so but while she was doing her shopping, I stayed in the car, happy to read the papers. Meeting our fans was great but not everyone supported Celtic.

By late afternoon, I was on my way up to Parkhead, the excitement growing. It might have been only a friendly but they were a ‘big team’ in the football world and a victory over Penarol would do our image no harm at all.

When I arrived and started chatting to the guys, I could feel from their manner that they were getting worked up too, so it looked as though we were in for a good night, as we always played better when a little apprehension was showing. After all, this was the World Club Champions we were facing; we needed to be at our best.

The Teams

The Boss had certainly hinted beforehand that the Lisbon eleven would take to the field and that is exactly what happened –

Celtic
Simpson
Craig, Gemmell
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Lennox, Auld.

Penarol
Mazurkiewicz
Lezeano, Figueroa
Forlan, Goncalves, Gonzalez
Abbedie, Rocha, Spencer, Cortes, Joys

The Play

The words in this first report are from a Scottish reporter, whom we might expect to be a little biased –

‘On their display against Penarol at Parkhead in the first half Celtic had all the appearance of world beaters. Before a crowd of 56,000, Celtic for speed, variety of moves and directness of approach had the Uruguayans outclassed and the two goals scored by Wallace in 8 and 37 minutes inadequately reflected their general superiority’.

However, this second report comes from an English writer, who from his comments in the past had shown little sympathy or respect for the Scots –

‘Glasgow belonged to Celtic last night and even the most ardent, dyed-in-the-blue Rangers fan would not deny this after the manner in which they hammered world club champions Penarol.

The glory of Celtic was not only in their victory but the manner in which they triumphed – and the impeccable behaviour of the players and spectators, which could give points to the hooligans of England.

When the exciting action of the night was through the 56,000 crowd roared their appreciation as Celtic lined up to applaud the Uruguayans off the field.

Proud Celtic, the first Britons to win the European cup, went straight for the world champions. They stormed forward, urged on by a crowd who endlessly roared, sang and chanted.

And finally they walked off, their faces glowing with pride, to light up a typical Glasgow autumn night heavily burdened with black rain clouds.

It was the wee Scots terrier spirit that finally made the giant men from Uruguay look flat-footed and ponderous.

These great men of Celtic in the green-and-while shirts played with confidence – but most of all with pride.

And they inevitably, joyously triumphed, unflattered by the score, to emphasise that British football, played the British way, can beat the world – like England and so very much like Celtic.

Match star? Only one here – the magnificent Celtic’.

Quite an accolade. And the headline in another paper also was very complimentary –

Celtic Outclass World Champions In First Half

Final Score  Celtic  2  Penarol  1

It was a great night for Celtic. For yours truly, the first half was much better than the second. Halfway through the latter, one of their midfield players launched himself at me from the side, catching me just where the muscle meets the shin bone at that point. It was agonizing. I was taken off to the side where Neilly Mochan, after a look at it, called for the assistance of first Bob Rooney and then our club doctor John Fitzsimmons. They ruled that I had to come off and to be honest, it was so painful that I lost all interest in the match. I was more worried about my leg.

I went into the dressing room, washed as best I could and then just sat there until the end of the match. Everyone was quite delighted when they came in from the pitch and it had been a great victory over a team who were world champions. I’m afraid, though, that all the celebrations went right over my head. The leg was throbbing away and I was taken into the treatment room, where the wound was washed and cleaned and the gash closed with plaster sutures meantime. Apparently, we would see the cut in the morning and make a decision on it then. So, once nearly all the crowd had dispersed, I walked – slowly – to the car park to get myself home. Probably I should not have driven in that state but in those days that was never thought of. I just got on with it!

31^st August

The football press was a little divided in its opinions the day following our 3-1 win over Rangers. Granted, the reporters gave us great praise for the manner in which we came back from a one-goal deficit to take full points but there was more than one comment to suggest that they also thought that Rangers should have got something out of the match.

This headline probably summed it up-

Rangers So Close to Glory

However, no matter how much of the play a team enjoys during any football match, goals are what matters and over the 90 minutes at Celtic Park we got three to their one and that was what counted.

I had certainly enjoyed the feeling after the match, the celebrations inside the ground and dressing-room, the walk through the cheering crowds to the car park, the pleasant journey home, then the joyous welcome in my parents’ house where some of my uncles had also turned up. However, as I mentioned previously, we had been warned by the Boss that we would be training the following morning so I did celebrate but kept the alcoholic intake to a minimum.

And that was probably just as well, as we did go through a fairly energetic session the following morning. However, after a result like that, the atmosphere was superb and the training was done with enthusiasm.

In one of the evening papers, there was an unusual headline –

 Celts See Celtic – on Film

And the story was eye-catching too –

‘It has the simple title ‘Celtic’ but it tells in vivid, brilliant colour the story of the greatest season in the history of any football club in Britain.

‘Celtic’ gets its first public view at the Odeon Cinema in Glasgow on Sunday.

There are three showings – at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm – and all tickets have already been booked except for the first performance.

1^st September

An easy morning at Barrowfield, some light runs and a lot of fun. We all thought that, as the section was now won, the Boss might do some tinkering with the team for the trip to Aberdeen but I don’t think any of us imagined that the tinkering would go as far as this –

Murdoch at Centre and McMahon Plays in Celtic’s Shock Attack

That was a surprise to us all….in fact, I wondered if Chopper had been advised of his new position beforehand. Further back in the side, his right-half role was taken up by Luggy, with Pumper coming in at left-half.

In the press that afternoon, there was also news that ex-Celt Bertie Peacock, at that time manager of Coleraine, has turned down the post of Northern Ireland’s team boss for ‘business and personal reasons’.

Some good news for everyone with Celtic’s interests at heart was that the SFL will help Celtic in their bid to win the World Club Championship against Racing Club.

Celtic intend to ask the league for a 10-day break from competitive games in Scotland to enable them to play the 2^nd leg of their ‘World’ tie in Buenos Aires and today League Secretary Fred Donovan said “we will co-operate to the fullest with Celtic in any request they make for a change of league fixtures”.

When the reserve side was put up on the board, there was a surprise, with John Hughes listed at outside-left. The ankle must have healed quicker than I thought.

Morning of the Match

As I have mentioned before, a match against Aberdeen was the only fixture in Scotland that we travelled to by train and on that morning, everyone was there on time at Celtic Park to get the bus to the station. Then, on the early train, we had a light breakfast. Once we arrived in Aberdeen, we had a light lunch at the Station Hotel and then – and can you imagine our modern stars doing it? – we were made to walk to Pittodrie Stadium to, the Boss put it, “get the stiffness out of our legs”.

The pitch at the stadium was in good condition but there was a strong wind gusting across the pitch which looked as though it could cause havoc with the play.

Teams

Aberdeen

Clark
Whyte, Shewan
Petersen, McMillan, Buchan
J Wilson, Munro, Storrie, Smith, Taylor.
Sub: Robb

Celtic

Simpson
Craig, Gemmell
Clark, McNeill, O’Neill
Johnstone, Wallace, Murdoch, McMahon, Lennox.
Sub: Auld

The Play

Apart from pride, there was nothing at stake in this match, as we had already qualified from the section and to be honest, I thought we were a little relaxed in our opening play and suffered as a result –

8 minutes
cross by Storrie and Jimmy Smith beat the heart of our defence to open the scoring with a header. 1-0 Aberdeen

That set-back should have fired us up but the Dons continued to apply the pressure and we were finding it difficult to get out of our own half. Chopper was nominally at centre-forward but was playing a deeper role than that and we just seemed a bit dis-jointed in some of the moves we were putting together. Then came a very contentious moment –

16 minutes
Bobby Clark dived at Lemon’s feet to grab the ball and, to the astonishment of nearly every person in the ground (including me I must say) referee John Gordon gave a penalty to us.

Every Aberdeen player converged on the referee in protest but he would not be moved and Tam Gemmell came forward to take it. He certainly took a welly at it but it was too near the keeper and Bobby Clark dived and grabbed the ball. Then came another shock for the Dons players when the referee decided that Clark had moved and he motioned for Tam to take the penalty again. This time Tam made no mistake.  1-1

Four minutes after the penalty equaliser, a spectator dashed on to the pitch and threw himself at the referee who fell to the ground. On came about six policeman, dragged the guy away from the referee and pushed him off the pitch and out of the ground. It was a real stramash! and it did wonders for the atmosphere inside the ground.

When play resumed, we seemed to be in better from and soon got another –

32 minutes
a wonderful run by Jinky, who beat four men before laying on a fine pass for Pat McMahon to slip the ball past the Dons keeper. 2-1 Celtic

At half-time, the Boss and his staff spent most of the period trying to calm us down, as the incident had fired us up. He was happy with the play, though, and just told us to continue to apply pressure. When we came out, I noticed that a number of policemen were waiting at trackside to escort the referee back on to the pitch.

Right from the whistle, we kept on top of Aberdeen and forced them back, most of the play taking place in their half of the pitch. In time, we started to make some chances and took some of them.

63 minutes
Jinky went on another fantastic run, by common consent beating five men this time before scoring. This was described in the press as a ‘wonder’ goal. 3-1 Celtic.

87 minutes
Bertie Auld, who had come on after Tam Gemmell had left the field with a leg knock, got another from close in. 4-1 Celtic

89 minutes
and just to go nap, it was yours truly who got the final goal, a shot through a crowded penalty area after a corner.

Final Score  Aberdeen 1  Celtic  5

Result

In the other match in the section, Dundee United lost 0-3 to Rangers at Tannadice.

Table

It had been a fine League Cup campaign by Celtic and frankly, a horrendous start to the season by Aberdeen, who had been Scottish Cup finalists the previous season. Their fans were less than happy and by the time we were going for our 4^th and 5^th goals that afternoon, they were leaving the ground in droves.

As for us, there was little time to celebrate in the dressing room. There wasn’t much time to do anything else but have a quick shower, get dressed, then jump into taxis to get us to the station for the late afternoon train back to Glasgow. At least, we did not have to make the journey on foot this time.

28^th August

The main headline concerning the forthcoming Old Firm clash was about Rangers new left winger from Dundee United –

 Persson Doubtful

‘Two days before the vital Celtic-Rangers League Cup tie at Celtic Park on Wednesday, Rangers Swedish outside-left  Orjan Persson spent today at home nursing a sore throat.

If he is still suffering from the condition on Wednesday, look for the return of Willie Johnston, who has been doing well in the reserves’.

Persson:
Fit?

I, for one, was willing Mr Persson to recover from his sore throat in time for the match. I would much rather have played against Orjan than Willie. I was quicker in every way than the Swede whereas at the start of a match, Willie was quicker than me and I had to work at reducing that pace. So, I felt like taking some medicines round to chez Persson to see if it would help.

As regards our own side, Stevie Chalmers, who missed the Dundee United match with a leg injury, was fit and seemed certain to come back; while still on the treatment table was Charlie Gallagher, suffering from an ankle knock.

In other news, former Rangers and Scotland full-back Eric Caldow has decided to give up the game. Eric joined Rangers in July 1952.

And a proposal has been put forward to ‘seed’ the League Cup qualifying section draw. This would keep the top teams apart and give them all a sporting chance of reaching the knock-out stages of the tournament. Probably the inclusion of Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and Dundee United in the same section that season influenced the thinking round that proposal.

29^th August

Training had been straightforward that week, with the Boss and his staff in good form. There was plenty of hard work but there was also a great deal of humour and camaraderie.

Just before we left the building at Parkhead, the Boss came into the dressing room and announced that what had become known as the ‘Lisbon team’ would start against Rangers on the morrow, with Willie O’Neill handed the substitute role. He also read out the reserve side which would face Rangers at Ibrox in a Reserve League Cup tie.

That was all included in the papers on that Tuesday evening but it was a Rangers player who dominated the headlines –

Johnston Set for Rangers Wing

‘With Orjan Persson still under the weather, Willie Johnston looks set to take his place on the left wing for the clash with Celtic. Johnston has not been in the first team since the friendly with Eintracht Frankfurt in a pre-season game’.

So, Willie it would be and I had better get my spikes on for some quick runs. No! it was never as bad as that. Between us, Ronnie, Chopper and I had developed a system whereby we made sure that Willie did a lot of extra running in the first half chasing me up-field. And every time that happened, Willie, as an out-and-out sprinter, was getting his stamina tested and slowing slightly whereas I, as a sprinter/middle distance runner, was still maintaining my pace. Ah! the things you have to do.

There was an unusual story in one of the papers that day. Referee Tom Wharton, who would be in charge of the Celtic/Rangers game on Wednesday, would be leaving for Canada on Thursday to take charge of the Inter Milan v Olympiakos friendly in Toronto that night.

Tom would leave Prestwick at 12.30pm Thursday and arrive in Toronto at 3.30pm local time just hours before the game starting at 8.30pm.

He had been asked to travel because the referee in the Inter Milan v Santos match the previous Sunday had given a terrible performance. 3 players were sent off, play was held up for 15 minutes and neither the crowd nor the teams were happy with the officials, so, in a tribute to our game, those in charge decided to send for one of our top refs to take control.

30^th August

Apart from an appraisal of the team sheets, there was not much in the morning papers. The feeling was that while Rangers would give their all, Celtic were the more competent side and if everyone played to their normal level, then they would do it.

Unfortunately, that thinking was a trifle too casual. This was one of the biggest games in world football with the pressure level quite enormous. While players can get themselves ready physically for such a contest, what is much more difficult to deal with is the mental stress. Not only are you expected to win by your Boss and his staff, the supporters, the directors etc, you are out there being exposed to the abuse – and occasional venom – directed at you by the opposing faction. That can be very difficult to cope with, some players never quite cope with it and that is one of the reasons why there have been some surprising results in this particular fixture.

In the press, there was one heading and accompanying story about Celtic and it might have come as a surprise to many people –

Extra Keen Celtic

‘8 of Celtic’s European Cup-winning players decided to train today – just 3 and a half hours before the all-important League Cup tie with Rangers. They were not under orders to train. They were there because they like to loosen up before every big game.

Jock Stein said “some of the bigger and heavier players feel that light exercise helps them a lot when the match starts. Others, such as Jimmy Johnstone, Stevie Chalmers and Bobby Lennox, prefer to rest – and they will report to the ground one before the 8pm kick-off time”.

I notice that I did not get a mention there but as I was certainly not in the ‘bigger and heavier players’ category, I would not be reporting until ‘one hour before the 8pm kick-off time’.

Afternoon of Match

After that piece in the press the previous day about some of the guys wanting to loosen-up about an hour or two before the match, the whole scenario became a bit of a topsy-turvy situation. Somewhere along the line we all had to fit in a meal as well, so suddenly the usual smooth pre-match routine became quite complicated. Anyway, we ( although I was not involved in the shenanigans at all) eventually found a solution, we all got a pre-match meal and the guys also managed to fit in some loosening-up work beforehand. I much preferred to go out before the match and do a fairly extensive work-out at that point, just before the teams went out for the match itself. However, as my Mum always reminded me, everyone has their own way of doing things!

When we eventually arrived at Celtic Park for the match itself, we realised that it had been a good decision to make the match all-ticket. There was a huge crowd round the entrance and the stewards had to make a corridor for us just to get inside the main door.

There is nothing quite like an Old Firm contest to concentrate the mind and even when we were getting changed, the noisy mob in the dressing room were fairly subdued. Even Steeley was a bit less vociferous than usual, although he worked hard with the massaging.

The Teams

Celtic

Simpson
Craig, Gemmell
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld, Lennox.
Sub: .O’Neill

Rangers

Sorensen
Johansen, Provan
Jardine, McKinnon, Greig
Henderson, Penman,Ferguson, D Smith, Johnston.
Sub: Watson

The Play

With the exception of the 1969 Scottish Cup Final (where the attendance was 132,870 as opposed to the 75,000 there on that evening) this was my most memorable Old Firm match, mainly because it looked for a long time as though the game was going to slip away from us.

From the off, it was usual Old Firm frenetic stuff, no quarter asked for, none given, with both sides having a fair share of the play. Then the Light Blues made a breakthrough –

9 minutes:
pass by Penman, shot by Henderson.  1-0 Rangers

More than one of us at the back thought that Willie was offside but the referee, Tom Wharton, saw nothing wrong and let it stand.

It was a blow to us but we buckled down and tried to get back into the match. Then, suddenly someone – either in a light blue jersey on the pitch or on the management staff in the dugout – made the decision that the Rangers players should go in for a holding operation to protect their one-goal lead.

For us, it was like Manna from heaven and we took the opportunity to control the play and put the Rangers defence under enormous pressure. It would also be true to say that a fair amount of fairly tough challenges were going in. However, while we made chances, we could not get the crucial breakthrough and at the interval, it was still Rangers one-up.

The Boss must have been all a-flutter inside but externally, he was quite calm, telling Tam and I to stretch their defence with some forward runs and wanting Wispy and Stevie to make life more difficult for the Rangers central defensive duo.

In the second half, we continued to exert great pressure but somehow Rangers hung on and even looked dangerous in the occasional breakaway. Occasionally some players went a bit over the mark with their tackling and the names of T Gemmell and A Ferguson went into Mr Wharton’s black book.

There are no clocks inside Scottish football grounds ( there are a few on the Continent) so I did not know how much of the 90 minutes was left but it would be true to say that by that time I was getting really worried. We had most of the play and the chances but they had the goal which mattered. Then it seemed like disaster struck against us!

76 minutes:
Luggy made a late challenge on Willie Henderson ( it was late) while in full flight and Mr Wharton pointed to the penalty spot. Up came Kai Johansen to take it. The Dane struck it well enough but the ball crashed against the underside of the bar and bounced down. As it reached him, Kai, probably caught out and not thinking, headed the ball towards goal.

Now, that is a foul; the ball has to be touched by an opponent before any player in the side receiving the penalty award can do so. So, while MrWharton blew for a foul and motioned for Ronnie to take the free kick,the rest of us celebrated mentally and got ready to up our game.

And it only took us two minutes to get a reward –

78 minutes:
a corner from the left was not cleared by the Rangers defence and Wispy guided the ball over the line..1-1

Rangers were stunned and now we were in complete control. And it did not us long to go in front-

83 minutes:
Lemon teed up a ball for Chopper at the edge of the bus and Bobby sent a vicious one past Sorensen into the roof of the net. 2-1 Celtic.

It must not have happened too often in the history of the Ibrox club but I thought that at that moment, the heads of more than a few players dropped and within minutes, we got another –

89 minutes
indecision in the Rangers rearguard allowed Lemon to intercept a pass and race clear to score another.

Final Score  Celtic  3  Rangers  1

As you can probably imagine, the atmosphere in the dressing-room afterwards was quite wonderful and the Directors also piled in to share in the moment. It continued all through the showering and dressing routine then the Boss cleared the dressing-room and brought us all back down to earth with a bump.

“Now, I know you will probably want to celebrate tonight but could I just point out that we have Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday and we will be training tomorrow morning. So, enjoy your night”.

And with that, a more subdued group of players made their way home.

Table

The Qualifiers

From the morning press the day after the Old Firm match –

‘With one match left to be played in the qualifying round of the Scottish League Cup, the winners of all but three of the sections have been decided. Celtic, Morton, Kilmarnock, Dundee and St Johnstone have gone though to the quarter-finals and Ayr United have qualified for the supplementary round tie against Clydebank or Brechin City, the winner of which will play Celtic.

Saturday’s games will decide whether Queen’s Park or Hamilton Academical and East Fife or Arbroath join the others’