23rd August
Those who had played the previous evening against the Jags got a day off, those not involved took part in quite a strenuous training session. Sometimes, it seemed that we were being punished for something we had done…or even hadn’t done, as the case may be.
Although I had not taken part in the match against Thistle, it did mark a specific moment in the progress of the season, at least for me. Players come in for pre-season training and even if they had done a little to keep their fitness up during the summer break, it does take a little while to reach the proper level and then a   .   further period before you get to what I always called ‘true match fitness’. This is when you know that you are truly ready for any match in any arena. You could play several times in a week and a short rest would myýake you feel 100% again.
I had reached that stage that week and just knew that for the rest of the season, my fitness would not let me down, although there costill be setbacks as regards injury.

Anyway the evening press was pretty complimentary about the performance the previous evening against the Jags. Under the rather complicated heading;

​Stein Machine’s Quality ‘Spares’

……….the journalist gave full marks to all the new boys, being particularly effusive in his praise of Pat McMahon, who had only recently joined us from Kilsyth Rangers.

 24th AUGUST    
The whole squad back at training. In the press that evening, one man gathered all the headlines –

​Hughes Back on Road to Fitness

Yogi had picked up an ankle knock while playing in the Reserve League Cup tie against Rangers the previous week and the wound had re quired eight stitches. Today, the stitches were taken out and the report said that he would again be available for selection. Frankly, I would have doubted that. The sutures might have come out but the wound would still be there and at quite a delicate stage. Another kick on the same site and you could have further problems, so I, for one, was not expecting to see John back for a week or two.

25th August
Five Rangers players were listed in the Scottish League team to face the Irish League at Windsor Park, Belfast on 6th September.
No players from Celtic were included as Celtic had an important friendly against Penarol of Uruguay booked for 5th September; and there were also none included from Aberdeen, as the Dons were due to play Reykjavik in a first round tie in the European Cup Winners’ Cup on 6th September.
The team chosen was McCloy ( Motherwell), Wilson (Dundee), Provan (Rangers), Stanton (Hibs), McKinnon (Rangers), Greig (Rangers), McLean ( Kilmarnock), Penman (Rangers), Ferguson (Rangers), Cormack (Hibs), and Duncan (Partick Thistle).

We were facing Dundee United at Tannadice on the morrow but the Boss had said little about the match or the team to take part. He did mention the fact, as had done before the first League Cup clash of the campaign between the sides on 12th August, that the Terrors had been difficult opponents the previous season. As if we were not aware of that, with everyone constantly reminding us of it!
Anyway, it was only a brief mention, for which we were all grateful and then we set off home, to pass the Friday evening in our own ways.

And just as I was making my way from the dressing-room to the front door, who did I see but Stevie Chalmers sitting on the couch in the treatment room, with Bob, Neilly, Sean and the Boss all in attendance. Did that not make it look serious?

However, if you bought a copy of one of Glasgow’s evening papers that night, every Celtic fan would again be reminded of what dangers would be a-waiting us at Tannadice. Under the heading –

Vital One for Celtic

‘Dundee United have the habit of reserving something for Celtic – don’t forget they beat them twice last season in the league. They can also score goals galore on their own ground, as witness the five that flew into the Dons net nine days ago’.

They were certainly pushing United’s chances but we were really up for it ourselves.

At the bottom of the back page, there was a mention of a future starring Celt. It said;

‘Kenny Dalglish, the Cumbernauld United inside-right who is destined for Celtic, will be in action for United tomorrow in a Central League game versus Benburb’.

Dalglish – New Town duty

Morning of the Match
We all reported mid-morning at Celtic Park and boarded one of the Cotter’s buses for the trip to Dundee, the city known as the home of jute, jam and journalism.

The Cotter’s buses were all decked out in a easily-recognisable colour scheme of orange and black, a choice which Bernard Cotter, the firm’s founder, had noticed somewhere on the Continent. It seemed to him that these colours were easily noticed, so he decided to deck out his buses back in Glasgow with the same. Round the top on each side of the bus were the names of places on the Continent that the firm had travelled to – Paris, Rome, Geneva, Madrid, Amsterdam etc. and these names once provided me with an amusing interlude.

In one week when we did not have a mid-week match, a ‘bounce’ game had been organised against Tranent Juniors, near Edinburgh. The Celtic team was made up of first team guys who perhaps needed a bit of action rather than training plus boys from the reserve squad. Promising players from the junior ranks – playing under the name of ‘Newman’, ‘Trialist’ or ‘A.N.Other’ – were also often given a chance to show what they could do.

On that night, the centre-forward was in the latter category and after the match, when I was making my way out to the bus, I found him standing there, gazing up at the names on the side. “Are you OK?”, I asked. “I’m fine, Jim” he replied, “I was just thinking about something. Just look at the names up there – Stockholm, Copenhagen, Vienna, Milan and so on. And now – Tranent!”

And with that he burst out laughing and boarded the bus.

On the way to Dundee, we normally stopped at the Station Hotel in Perth for lunch and that day was no different. At that time, the whole squad was very conventional and nearly everyone chose between steak, chicken or scrambled eggs. In a later generation, I can recall a peaches with cornflakes and a Weetabix with something or other on top but they were in the future. Anyway, everyone seemed to enjoy the food provided and the bus soon got underway again and headed for Tannadice.

We had met some supporters in the Station Hotel and they were slightly pessimistic about our chances, much of the talk about how much of a ‘bogey’ team United were to us. And we found that when we came off the bus outside the stadium, that same word was being mentioned – and even shouted – by quite a number of fans. The Boss must have heard it too and he was quick to tell us to ‘forget that nonsense’.

Morning of the Match
We all reported mid-morning at Celtic Park and boarded one of the Cotter’s buses for the trip to Dundee, the city known as the home of jute, jam and journalism.
The Cotter’s buses were all decked out in a easily-recognisable colour scheme of orange and black, a choice which Bernard Cotter, the firm’s founder, had noticed somewhere on the Continent. It seemed to him that these colours were easily noticed, so he decided to deck out his buses back in Glasgow with the same. Round the top on each side of the bus were the names of places on the Continent that the firm had travelled to – Paris, Rome, Geneva, Madrid, Amsterdam etc. and these names once provided me with an amusing interlude.
In one week when we did not have a mid-week match, a ‘bounce’ game had been organised against Tranent Juniors, near Edinburgh. The Celtic team was made up of first team guys who perhaps needed a bit of action rather than training plus boys from the reserve squad. Promising players from the junior ranks – playing under the name of ‘Newman’, ‘Trialist’ or ‘A.N.Other’ – were also often given a chance to show what they could do.
On that night, the centre-forward was in the latter category and after the match, when I was making my way out to the bus, I found him standing there, gazing up at the names on the side. “Are you OK?”, I asked. “I’m fine, Jim” he replied, “I was just thinking about something. Just look at the names up there – Stockholm, Copenhagen, Vienna, Milan and so on. And now – Tranent!” And with that he burst out laughing and boarded the bus.

On the way to Dundee, we normally stopped at the Station Hotel in Perth for lunch and that day was no different. At that time, the whole squad was very conventional and nearly everyone chose between steak, chicken or scrambled eggs. In a later generation, I can recall a peaches with cornflakes and a Weetabix with something or other on top but they were in the future. Anyway, everyone seemed to enjoy the food provided and the bus soon got underway again and headed for Tannadice.

We had met some supporters in the Station Hotel and they were slightly pessimistic about our chances, much of the talk about how much of a ‘bogey’ team United were to us. And we found that when we came off the bus outside the stadium, that same word was being mentioned – and even shouted – by quite a number of fans. The Boss must have heard it too and he was quick to tell us to ‘forget that nonsense’.

The Teams

Dundee United
McKay
T Millar, Briggs
J Millar, Smith, Wood
Berg, Gillespie,Hainey, Mitchell, Wilson
Sub: Graham

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

No Stevie, out with injury. Natural substitute Yogi was also injured, so Charlie Gallagher got a spot for the first time for a while and after his good performance against the Jags, Pat McMahon made the bench.

The Play
Right from the start, we put pressure on the United defence and within minutes had two great chances.
Cesar came up for a free-kick, out-jumped the United defence and headed the ball down for Lemon to flick it into the back of the net. It looked over the line before Briggs smashed it clear but in spite of our protests, the referee, Mr McKenzie of Coatbridge, just waved play on.
Only a minute later, Lemon was pulled down by goalkeeper McKay. Mr McKenzie pointed to the penalty spot. TG rushed up to take the kick but his pile-driver was too near the United keeper and he managed to punch it clear.
Definitely two nasty moments for Celtic and two good breaks for the Terrors.
From that point on, it was all Celtic, with Donald McKay showing what a good keeper he was when saving from Charlie and Lemon; then, just on the half-time whistle, a cross by Wispy was headed in by Lemon but much to our disgust, the linesman’s flag shot up for offside. And, at the interval, the match was still goalless.

There was nothing much the Boss could say at half-time. His side was well on top and had made chances, so he said little publicly but did give the occasional words to some players in private.

The second half, though, turned out to be a different game. United raised their game and suddenly our defence had some work to do. It wasn’t all one-way, though, and we did get the ball in the net but again Lemon was adjudged offside. Then, just when we needed it, the elusive goal arrived;

61 minutes
Bertie sent a long pass right across the field and Lemon was there to hammer the ball into the net. 1-0 Celtic

From that point, United came at us with a vengeance but I felt that we were dealing with their attacks quite comfortably and final half-hour passed fairly easily. It was, though, still a relief to hear Mr McKenzie’s whistle blow for time up.

​Final Score Dundee United 0 Celtic 1

Result
In the other sectional match at Ibrox, Rangers beat Aberdeen 3-0

Reserve League Cup Tie
Back at Celtic Park, the Hoops won 4-2 in a Reserve League Cup tie, the goals coming from McKellar (2), Quinn and O’Neill.

The Papers
The headline in the evening papers told the story of the game –

​Celtic Stay One Ahead

And because it did not happen very often, TG’s bad moment also got a headline –

​Gemmell’s Spot Miss

There was another headline which referred to a different team but the player in question would be in a Celtic strip in the not-too-distant future.

The final score in the match was Clyde 2 Motherwell 1 but the headline read –

​Hood Slips in the First

Monday 21^st August

In the evening papers, there were one story and one headline which caught the eye. The first was a story about the Boss –

‘New English First Division club Coventry City are said to be ready to offer Jock Stein a salary of £10,000 a year to manage their club in succession to Jimmy Hill, who resigned the Coventry job last week.

Will he? Won’t he?

I have the feeling that there is no need for panic in the streets of the east end of Glasgow.

Mr Stein is a happy man these days. He has made Celtic. He has taken them to victory in every tournament in Scottish and European football in a year. He does not consider that his job is finished – and that it is time that he took up a new challenge. Mr Stein has taken Celtic to the top – and his aim is to keep them there and win further honours for Scottish and British football’.

And there was just a hint that there would be some new faces making an appearance against Thistle in the Glasgow Cup tie –

Celtic New Boys in Line for Cup Debut

The names mentioned were Chris Shevlane, Pat McMahon, Lou Macari and Hugh McKellar.

On that Monday evening, the players had all met at the new Celtic Supporters’ Club in London Road for the official opening. The supporters put on a house-warming for the Celtic players, the management, the directors and some guests. The new club was opened by the club chairman Bob Kelly.

22^nd August

There was no pre-match meal before this one. We all merely reported at the appropriate time and a bus took us across the city to Firhill, where after a quick look at the pitch, we were ushered back into the dressing-room to hear the team. As has been suggested in the press, it turned out that there were debuts for some new boys;

Teams

Partick Thistle

Taylor
Gibb, Muir
Cunningham, McParland, Walters
McLindon,Rae, Coulson, Flanagan, Duncan.
Sub: O’Neill

Celtic

Simpson
Shevlane, Gemmell
Clark, McNeill, O’Neill
Johnstone, McMahon, Wallace, Gallagher, Lennox.
Sub: McKellar

The Play

This was rather brutally summed up in a comment in one of the following day’s papers –

‘Without four of their European Cup-winning team for the entire game and a fifth, Johnstone, for the second half, Celtic, just as they had done in last year’s final, completely demoralized a Partick Thistle team uncertain in defence and pathetically inept in attack. Indeed the second half last night came perilously close to being shooting practice for the Celtic forwards’.

Brutal, indeed! Watching from the stand, I would have described the occasion as a ‘rout’, with the goals coming as follows –

10 minutes:
Wispy side-stepped the on-rushing Thistle keeper and swept the ball high into the roof of the net. 1-0 Celtic

25 minutes:
Pat McMahon rammed home a lob from Jinky. 2-0 Celtic

46 minutes:
Charlie Gallagher’s free-kick was slipped to Wispy, who drove home from 25 yards. 3-0 Celtic

53 minutes:
Pat McMahon raced forward and coolly rounded the keeper before slipping the ball into the empty net. 4-0 Celtic

77 minutes:
nice cross from Charlie Gallagher, an even better header from Wispy.

Final Score Partick Thistle 0  Celtic  5

And that scoreline put Celtic into the semi-final of the Glasgow Cup, where they would face Rangers.

In the papers the next morning, just under a report of the match with this headline;

Celtic Demoralise Partick Thistle’s Uncertain Defence

There was one comment that would have pleased any Jags fans.-

‘Thistle’s one moment of glory came when Rae hit the post in the first half’.

Well, if you get beaten 5-0 then you have to be grateful for small mercies!

It was also mentioned that ex-Celt Pat Crerand, by then at Manchester United, who was reported for spitting at a Stoke City player at Old Trafford in May, was ordered to give a written undertaking within seven days not to repeat the offence in the future, the Football Association disciplinary committee announced yesterday.

17^th August

The press was still going on about the Old Firm match of the previous evening, most of it in rapturous tones. This paragraph is representative of the overall message;

‘The skills on display, the enthusiasm shown by the two sets of players and maybe most of all the splendid behaviour of the crowd made this a night to remember – something that restored faith in Scottish football and the men who follow it through good times and bad. They can all take a bow today’.

There were also occasional comments and headlines about the part Andy Penman played in the match, initially a villain in missing the penalty then getting the equaliser from a free-kick. One headline summed it all up;

Andy’s Great Escape Act!

Under the heading – Gold Firm – came this comment ;

‘Golden days for the Old Firm. Through the Ibrox turnstiles last night streamed 94,148 fans and the total take from the gate was approximately £30,000 – a record for a club match played between two Scottish teams’.

The article went on to state that in their first three matches of the season, Celtic had pulled in 239,876 fans. There was an attendance of 91,708 for the match against Spurs at Hampden, then 54,000 turned up at Celtic Park for the clash with Dundee United and on the previous evening, that amazing crowd of 91,168 at Ibrox was the icing on the cake.

While all the comments in the press seemed to be very positive about the whole match, the Boss brought us together before training to say that he thought that we had been a bit sloppy in attack (

he never mentioned the defence, which meant that he thought it had done all right) and that we must take more care with our final pass. So, just to put his message across in a way we would easily understand, we had one of those training sessions where the attack came in droves against the defence, which meant that both parts of the team got a work-out and we all put in a good stint. It was not what we usually did two days before a match but he was obviously keen to see us improve in that area. Time would tell if we had over-done the hard stuff.

18^th August

The big news was that after the enormous crowd at Ibrox in midweek, the two Glasgow clubs had decided that the second league cup match at Parkhead should be all-ticket, with the figure set at 75,000.

Joe – Still Off the pace
© Daily Record

The training on the Friday was quite relaxed and most people took part. There were a few injuries; Yogi with the ankle problem, Bertie also suffering from an ankle knock and Jinky complaining of a facial blow, so the Boss said little about the make-up of the side and merely told everyone in the first team squad to turn up at the appropriate time. A team sheet was put up on the board in the dressing room for the reserve side, which had a meeting with Aberdeen in the Reserve League Cup on the Saturday afternoon at Pittodrie. It listed the team as John Fallon, Ian Young, Willie O‘Neill, Davie Cattenach, George Connelly, Jim Brogan, Sammy Henderson, Hugh McKellar, Jimmy Quinn, Pat McMahon and Lou Macari.

One name was missing from both squads and it was that of Joe McBride. Joe was still taking part in all the training sessions but, to be honest, still looked off the pace and not quite ready to play a full part in either side.

I always found that the Boss was at his most, perhaps ‘determined’ might be the word, in his attitude towards Aberdeen, more than any other club including Rangers. I don’t know what it was about the Dons and I never asked. He could have had a bad experience against them when he was a player or he could have had a run-in with one of their managers or board members but I always thought that he wanted us to do well against the Dons more than any other Scottish club. And from the few comments he made about the match that morning, I got the impression that he wanted us to put one over them again.

There was little doubt in the minds of the journalists previewing the match in both the morning and evening dailies that Friday that Celtic would prove to be strong for Aberdeen. This comment was typical of the coverage;

Celts to Race On!

‘My reading of the game is that the Celtic defence will be more than good enough to stop and hold the Aberdeen forwards, who have not yet hit things off. And the Celtic forwards should be able to make and take the vital goals – especially if Johnstone and Auld live up to their recent reputation’.

It was nice to have the confidence of the press but we all knew that the Aberdeen players would have still been smarting from their defeat in the Scottish Cup final in late April and would be keen to make amends, so we could take nothing for granted.

19^th August: Pre-match

No pre-match meal for this one just a command to report at the appropriate time. And we did so, making our way slowly from the car park to the front door, signing all kinds of things on the way. Unlike today, when nearly everyone has a mobile phone and hence a camera, there were few with that particular apparatus and it was almost a novelty to have a photograph taken.

When we went out to check the pitch, we could see that it was in superb condition. Even better, the sun was in the sky and as we got ready for the match, the atmosphere in the dressing room was all fired up.

The Teams

Celtic

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

Aberdeen

Clark
Whyte, Shewan
Munro, Mcmillan, Petersen
P Wilson, Storrie,Robb, Buchan, Johnston.
Sub: Watt

The Play

My usual opponent when we played the Dons was Jimmy Wilson but he had been dropped and I had to face a new boy in Johnston, who was normally an inside-forward.

Like the rest of the guys, I had assumed that Aberdeen – who had lost 5-0 to Dundee United in their previous match  and would not have wanted another loss like that – would sit back in defence to start the game, at least, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

They came at us and we had a bit of defending to do. It was end-to-end stuff but gradually I felt that we were beginning to have the upper hand although the efforts were not quite on target. When the half-time whistle went, however, it was still goalless.

The Boss had one of his calm half-times, saying that he was quite happy with the effort we were putting in and just to continue the way we had been going.

When the second half started, we went at them hell-for-leather and soon got a reward –

49 minutes: Lemon was pulled to the ground via a combined effort between Whyte and Shewan, a penalty was awarded by Mr Kelly of Motherwell and TG blasted the kick into the roof of the net.  1-0 Celtic

Being a goal behind meant that the Dons had to chase the game and that left them a little bit open. But it still took some time before we got a second;

71 minutes: great run by Jinky, his fine pass found Bertie, who put an even better one into the path of Lemon, who neatly tucked it past the keeper.
2-0 Celtic

At this point, the crowd – and to be honest, we might have been guilty of thinking it ourselves – thought that the game was won. Unfortunately, though, some uncertainty in defence let the Dons back into it again –

77 minutes:  Peterson hit the cross-bar from a good free-kick and Storrie reacted quickest to prod the ball home.  2-1 Celtic.

And that made for a fairly hectic last ten minutes, with pressure at both ends, before a touch of class made all the difference;

89 minutes:  a lovely cross by Jinky was met with an equally good header by Bertie.

Final Score Celtic 3 Aberdeen 1

There was no doubt the crowd enjoyed the match and the since the vast majority of those present were supporting Celtic, they would have been quite happy too. And the dressing-room was both noisy and delirious. The Dons were never easy and that 3-1 score line was just what we all wanted.

The press coverage later showed that they had also enjoyed the occasion but a comment on one of the evening papers gave us all food for though –

‘Maybe one expects too much from Celtic after their sterling performances at home and abroad last season but even on the basis of only three games in the Scottish League Cup competition, it is obvious that for them, as mortals in other spheres have found, it is tough at the top’.

Other Result

Over at Ibrox, Rangers beat Dundee United 1-0

Table

Reserve League Cup

At Pittodrie on the same afternoon, Celtic defeated Aberdeen 2-1 in a Reserve League Cup tie. The goals came from Hugh McKellar and Pat McMahon.

No doubt that would have given rise to a very happy journey back down from Aberdeen to Glasgow for the players, with the meal being devoured voraciously and the ‘soft’ drinks going down well. Sean Fallon would have had his hands full trying to keep them quiet.

Of all the teams in the Scottish leagues at that time, Aberdeen was the only one to which we travelled by train for a match.

 Monday 14^th August

The players were quite delighted in the immediate aftermath of the opening match against Dundee United. As has been mentioned before, we had rather struggled against them the previous season and to start the new season’s League Cup campaign with a victory against the Terrors was a great boost.

Funnily enough, after giving us much praise in the after-match coverage, by Monday morning the tide had turned and there was just the suspicion in the press that we had been a trifle fortunate –

 Celts Scrape Home in Injury Time

United Standing Up Well to the Celts

 Celts Find It Tough at the Top

In the evening papers, though, one of their reporters obviously had time to think and his comments were probably a more accurate reflection of the match –

‘Let’s say straightaway that Celtic’s victory was deserved. They showed more drive and more spirit than United and on that score deserved their winning bonus’.

For the players, this was just another training day but even in the early morning and two days before the match, the fans gathered outside Celtic Park were keen to remind us that they all expected a similar result against Rangers on Wednesday – or even better.

I should imagine that all of us were carrying some bumps and bruises from what had been a tough encounter against United but the only one on the treatment table was Bertie, who had played on from half-time with an ankle knock. Players can be very kind to each other, I don’t think. As Bertie had been injured in the first half then was still on the pitch almost on the 90 minute mark, just in time to lay on that great cross for Jinky to score the winner, more than a few of us suggested that he should get injured more often. That comment was greeted with silence.

Happiest player at training was Tam G, who had re-signed the previous day after a chat with the Boss and the Chairman. Like everyone else, I did wonder how much he got?….but we didn’t ask!

There was news in the papers that Racing Club of Buenos Aires and Nacional of Montevideo would clash on Wednesday in Buenos Aires in the first leg of the ‘Libertadores of America Cup’ with the second leg in Montevideo on 25^th August.

The winner will play Celtic in a two-legged tie for the ‘World Club Championship’, the first leg of which will be in Scotland.

Surprisingly, the match against Rangers at Ibrox would not be all-ticket. It will be first come, first served. And Rangers have organised two track events for the crowd’s entertainment – races at 3-miles and one-mile – just before the match and at half-time.

Tuesday 15^th August

I have mentioned before how much the players could rely on the press for information but on that particular day, there was nothing to enlighten us as to the managers’ thinking or indeed, that of his counterpart at Ibrox;

Stein, Symon Stay Silent      

No Teams Yet for Big One

Ibrox Teams Still on Secret List

In fact, the big news was about a match in the future-

‘Celtic seemed to have won an off-the-field tussle with Dynamo Kiev, their first round opponents in the European Cup. The Russians have now agreed to play the game on Celtic’s suggested dates – September 20^th (at Celtic Park) and Wednesday 4^th October (in Kiev)’

And there was also news that a former protégé of Jock Stein’s, Alex Edwards, Dunfermline’s outside-right, was on the transfer list. It was expected that he would move south.

At Celtic Park that night, Celtic beat Rangers 3-1 in a Reserve League Cup tie. Celtic’s scorers were John Hughes and Pat McMahon (2).

One in…….Celtic signed Billy Murdoch, younger brother of Bobby and he immediately went on to the ground staff.

One out……left-winger Tony Taylor was released to join Morton

Wednesday 16^th August  

Morning of the Match

These could be long days for players. With the match kicking off at 7.30pm, it meant that quite a few hours of waiting needed to be endured and while the old adage about keeping oneself busy is quite appropriate in most cases, when you have an Old Firm tie coming up in the evening, it does make it difficult to concentrate on anything else in the morning and early afternoon.

After breakfast, I took a walk up to the shops and came home with the papers. The Boss had spoken to them so at least we found out something, even though it was short and succinct –

‘We have no injury worries in defence but the attack will be chosen from 6 forwards’

The six turned out to be the five from Saturday plus Charlie Gallagher. John Hughes had been pulled out as he had damaged an ankle in the Reserve League cup tie against Rangers the previous evening.

And the papers also had a quote from the Celtic View , where a comment dealt with, as they put it – ‘the derision directed at certain Dundee United players the previous Saturday’.

It stated – ‘People who think they are supporting Celtic by behaving in this manner can think again. We are displeased at the way a few supporters have followed the senseless, useless chants indulged in at other grounds. We intend to stamp this out’.

Even with a long lie in the morning and a nap after an early lunch, it proved a long day and I was really pleased to get on my way to Celtic Park in the afternoon. We had a talk from the Boss when we arrived, merely going over points about our own performance against Dundee United and some thoughts on the way Scott Symon would be laying out the Rangers team. It was thoughtful stuff and concentrated our minds on the task at hand before we headed over to the hotel for the pre-match meal.

At Ibrox

Even the older, more experienced pros were surprised by the size of the crowds milling round the entrance at Ibrox and once inside and out on to the pitch, that revelation increased. This was going to an amazing atmosphere.

Back in the dressing-room, the tenseness was almost palpable and Jim Steele, recognising the nervousness, went into action, as only Steeley could do, singing, joshing, laughing, cajoling, anything to get the players’ minds active as they got changed, Then, after a few final words from the Boss, we headed for the tunnel.

The Teams

Rangers

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

Celtic

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

The Play

We all knew each other very well. Indeed, as we lined up I caught the eye of Orjan Persson and smiled. I knew how he must be feeling in his first Celtic/Rangers clash. He smiled back…..and that was the end of the pleasantries.

One of the morning dailies the following day summed up the play very succinctly –

‘The first Old Firm match of the season is over, and at the risk of being presumptious, I would say that the unanimous opinion of the crowd of some 90,000 who thronged out of Ibrox last night was – roll on the next’.

It might have been the fact that they were the home side but Rangers set out to put us through the wringer and nearly got a goal in only three minutes when a great run by Sandy Jardine was only stopped when yours truly got in a great tackle just as he was about to shoot.

Play went from end to end, chances were missed or scorned and both keepers had their moments but the match result probably hinged on three incidents –

38 minutes:  Dave Smith pulled down Lemon in the box and TG sent Eric Sorensenthe wrong way from the penalty spot.  1-0 Celtic

60 minutes: Bertie barged Sandy Jardine off the ball and a penalty was awarded. New boy Andy Penman took it but Ronnie threw himself across goal and grabbed the ball at head height.

88 minutes: Andy Penman redeemed himself with the Rangers support when he blasted home a free-kick from 25 yards. 1-1

And that was it. A great game to watch, I imagine, and certainly a very competitive one to play in. And might we have got out of jail? A comment in that same paper listed above probably put the match into perspective –

‘Although Rangers had most of the pressure and enough scoring chances to win the game, Celtic performed so magnificently in defence, particularly in the second half, that it seemed for all the world that their goal via the penalty spot in 38 minutes would be sufficient to carry them through’.

It didn’t, though, and we were disappointed but the Boss, never too happy if we did not beat Rangers, seemed quite philosophical about the outcome. Anyway, we showered and got changed as quickly as we could and boarded the bus for the trip back to Parkhead. And on the way, we were told the shock news that Aberdeen had lost 5-0 to Dundee United at Tannadice.

7^th August

Quite surprisingly, for a match between a team from Scotland and one from England which ended in a 3-3 draw, the press over the weekend was fairly complimentary about Celtic’s performance at Hampden –

Celtic – You Were Great!

‘Altogether, the match was a great advertisement for the new season and the new 5 shillings ( 25p) admission charge certainly will not frighten the fans away from the gates of Parkhead’.

8^th August

From one of the morning dailies –

‘By order of a Continental committee, Clyde have been knocked out of the Fairs Cities Cup.

The crime committed in 1966/67 – one of the best years in their history – was to be members of the Glasgow Association.

The Fairs Cities Cup committee flatly refused to allow two teams from the same city to compete in the tournament and that put Clyde out and Dundee in, even though the part-time men of Shawfield finished the season FIVE POINTS in front of the full-time players of Dens Park’.

9^th August

At Ibrox, Rangers met Eintracht Frankfurt in a friendly and new signing Orjan Person makes an appearance, not in the match itself but in one of those pre-match presentations of a new player. While with Dundee United, he had been a tricky opponent and I, for one, thought that he would do well at Ibrox.

Fortunately, though, in a straight race, I was the quicker, so I never really had any worries about playing against him.

In the Celtic View, Celtic chairman Bob Kelly was quoted as saying;

“I appeal to all our very loyal and well-behaved real supporters to do everything in their power to make sure that nothing occurs at any of our matches that could re-bound with discredit on the club”.

There had been a friendly arranged against Cowdenbeath – from the composition of the side it would appear that it had been set-up for guys who either needed some match practice or who had been injured and were recovering. Anyway, the match finished 1-1 and the team was Fallon, Shevlane, O’Neill, Murdoch, Connelly, Cattenach, Gallagher, Chalmers, Wallace, McMahon and Hughes. In the course of the game, Joe McBride got a chance to show his fitness level, replacing Wispy; and Jimmy Quinn came on for Stevie.

10^th August

 The evening papers went to town with their headline;

Gemmell Still Unsigned

‘After watching a training session today, Celtic manager Jock Stain said that there was no change in the position regarding the re-signing of left-back Tommy Gemmell.

The defender is the only Celtic first-team player still to sign for the new season.

Actually, after training, when we were getting changed, I did ask Tam how things were going but he was obviously wanting to play his cards very close to his chest. All I got was an elaborate wink!

11^th August

The week had passed quite uneventfully at training. Everyone seemed to be fit – apart from Joe McBride, still struggling a bit after the operation – and it was a bit unusual for us to have a full week at training, especially when we had proved the previous Saturday that everyone was looking in good shape. However, the staff had tried to make the training as interesting as possible and we had all applied ourselves but there is nothing like regular matches to keep a footballer happy. So thank the Lord that tomorrow is a match day!

The supporters would have been looking forward to the first proper match of the new season but one of the evening papers on the eve of the game sounded a warning;

‘On paper, this looks like a pushover for the League Cup holders and European Cup winners – but there are at least two very good reasons  why it may not be all that easy.

One is that Dundee United are something of a jinx team for Celtic. Last season, the wee United had the effrontery to beat the men in green- and-white not once but twice.

The second reason is that Celtic will be up against three men who were Rangers players until a few weeks ago and men who have worn light blue dearly love to be on the winner’s end at Parkhead’.

People are always surprised when I say this but we were slightly apprehensive about this match. Not that we ever thought that United were better than us, there was never a worry about that. It was just the fact that the previous season, we had struggled to get a good result against the Terrors and often it was difficult to understand why.

We could never be accused of under- estimating the men from Dundee; we certainly put in a shift against them; we probably even dominated possession; it was just the fact that when it came down to goals, we did not score as many against them as our dominance would suggest; and in our desire to get on the score sheet, we probably left ourselves a bit open defensively.

They were also managed by an older, shrewd manager in Jerry Kerr, who knew all the tricks of the trade and he used these to full effect when setting out his team to face Celtic.

Morning of the Match

And yet, when we reported to Celtic Park about 1.30pm for the 3pm kick-off, everyone seemed to be in good spirits and the chat and gossip were as noisy as usual. There would a big crowd for this one and even an hour-and-a half before kick-off, they were flooding in. The new admission fee of 5 shillings (25p) was not seemingly making much of a difference.

The Boss had not said much about the match midweek but it was just assumed for such a big clash, the side which took to the field in Lisbon would do the same on that afternoon. And before the match, he was quite calm, going over how he thought United would, as he put it, ‘set out their stall’ and reminding Ronnie about the new rule whereby keepers had to get rid of the ball within four steps.

For my own part, I had spent a few moments towards the end of the week trying to figure out who the United manager would play at outside-left, as Orjan Persson had moved to Rangers. They did have some other Scandinavians who could play there but I was of the mind that I would end up playing against an old rival from Glasgow.

The Teams

Celtic

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

Dundee United

Mackay
T Millar, Briggs
J Millar, Smith, Wood
Berg, Gillespie,Hainey, Graham, Wilson.
Sub: Mitchell

The Play

And my prognostication turned out to be correct, as at outside-left for United was ex-Ranger Davie Wilson, an excellent player who by that time was in the twilight of his career. However, that did not make him any less dangerous. And, of course, he was joined in the United side by two other ex-Rangers stars, Jimmy Millar and Wilson Wood.

Right from the first whistle, we took the game to United, who shuffled back into a very defensive formation and this, of course, gave us plenty of possession. But for the whole of the first half – and most of the second – while we made chances, they were either not taken, saved by keeper Mackay or blocked by the tightly-knit Arabs defence. In contrast, United had only one chance before half-time, when a Hainey shot just slipped past the post.

Having all that possession without anything to show for it must have difficult for a manager to watch, so I was rather expecting a rocket at half-time but the Boss could be amazingly phlegmatic at times and he merely reminded us that we had been through all this the previous season against United and that we must just keep plugging away.

And we went out and did that, maintaining possession and creating further chances, everything we had been asked to do, except that the crucial goal just refused to come. Towards the end, we were getting worried, the crowd was going spare, the Boss was beginning to show some flashes of exasperation, the referee was checking his watch, the crowd was leaving in droves, sure that the match would end in a draw, when suddenly the breakthrough came;

Wee Jimmy – at last!!

90 minutes:  Bertie, who seemed to be out of sorts during the game, got the ball just a yard or two from the touchline halfway in the United half. He sent a lovely cross right on to the head of Jinky at the far post, his header was blocked by the United keeper but the ball came back to him and he prodded it home. 1-0 Celtic

United only had time to re-start the match before referee Mr Webster of Falkirk blew for time up. The crowd roared their delight, the guys went bananas, the manager did too before composing himself to commiserate with the Dundee Utd management and we all trooped back to one of the happiest dressing-rooms of the year. Now, we could say, bring on the others!

Celtic  1  Dundee United  0

The others (the other two sides in the four-team League Cup sectional group), in fact, were playing at Pittodrie, where the final score was Aberdeen 1 Rangers 1. So that put Celtic at the top of the group after the opening matches.

In the Reserve League Cup, on the same day at Tannadice, Celtic lost 2-4 to Dundee United, the goals coming from Lou Macari and Pat McMahon.

And in the FA Charity Shield clash at Wembley, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur shared the trophy after a 3-3 draw.

After the ‘closed-doors’ match against Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill in midweek, training for the next couple of days was quite relaxed. All the hard work had been done and now we could look forward to some competitive action in front of a big crowd, even if the first match had been designated as a ‘friendly’. Even so, the younger lads in the training pool always kept the first-team guys on their toes and we had been joined by some newcomers keen to show what they could do as well, like Jim Harkins, Tony McBride, Vic Davidson, Kenny Dalglish, Freddie Pethard, Danny McGrain and Tony O’Brien

The first match may have been proclaimed as a ‘friendly’ but as every football fan in both countries would testify, clashes between sides from Scotland and England are seldom regarded as ‘friendlies’ and we were well aware that our opponents – Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs as they were usually known – would be keen to show that they were right up there alongside a side which had just won the European Cup.

Spurs themselves had played out a decent season in 1966-67. They had won the FA Cup, beating Chelsea 2-1 in the final and finished 3^rd in the league table, only four points behind top-placed Manchester United.

That same Chelsea, on the Wednesday evening, had lost 1-2 to Aberdeen at Pittodrie, also in a friendly and manager Tommy Docherty was fairly positive in his praise of the home side :”Aberdeen will be one of the toughest teams in Britain to beat, particularly at Pittodrie. We were beaten by a better team on the night’s showing. Aberdeen played with tremendous zest and terrific skill. They are quite a side”.

The papers had a field day in their coverage of the prospective contest between Celtic and Spurs, reminding all and sundry that the match was being played at Hampden to commemorate the centenary of Queen’s Park Football Club. Both managers – Jock Stein and Bill Nicholson – had agreed beforehand to allow three substitutions but on the Saturday, that number was increased to four.

I can honestly say that the players were all up for the match and arrived at Celtic Park on the morning of the game full of enthusiasm. The first major match of any season – whether a friendly or not – is a big occasion, a day when after the summer break, the playing staff get back to what they do for a living. The game is always an indication of just how well the pre-season preparations have been going and both managers would have wanted to start out with a win, as it would be a great boost for morale and equally importantly, keeps the fans happy as well!

We boarded a bus to take us over to the Cathkin Braes Hotel for some lunch, which we all thoroughly enjoyed and while we were there, the Boss announced that the Lisbon side would start the match, with four substitutes – Fallon (Peter), O’Neill (Pumper), Hughes (Yogi) and Charlie Gallagher – on the bench. Then, it was over to Hampden, a drive down the avenue with the crowds all making way for us and then an entrance into the main foyer with the cheers of the fans ringing in our ears. What more could a player want?

The draw for the Fairs Cup First Round had been made the previous day and three Scottish clubs were involved:

Rangers v Dynamo Dresden
Hibs v Porto
Dundee v DWS Amsterdam

Gillie – outjumped Celtic defence to score

Right from the first minute that we walked out to the Hampden pitch – and don’t forget this was perhaps 90 minutes before kick-off – we could feel that this was going to be a special occasion. The crowds were pouring into the ground, the sun was shining, the pitch looked in pristine condition and the dressing-rooms had been given an impressive touch up since we had played there in the Scottish Cup final in late April.

Just before kick-off, the Boss merely said that he wanted us to remember what he had said earlier in the week. Every team this season would be trying to knock Celtic off their perch and this would be a first test. It was said quietly but the message got across and the players took it in.

As we came out on the pitch at Hampden that afternoon, both sets of players – and I know this from talking to many of them afterwards – were impressed by the size of the crowd, particularly for a friendly. The figure given later was 91,708.

In a curious twist before the match, the two captains – Billy McNeill and Dave Mackay – exchanged rugs instead of pennants. Both players then paraded the rugs before the spectators.

The Teams

Celtic
Simpson
Craig, Gemmell
Murdoch, McNeill, Clark
Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Lennox, Auld.
Subs:  Fallon, O’Neill, Hughes, Gallagher.

Spurs:
Jennings
Kinnear, Knowles
Mullery, England, Mackay
Robertson, Greaves, Gilzean, Venables, Saul.
Subs:  Brown, Beal, Clayton, Jones.

The Play

On a warm, sunny afternoon, both teams set out to play football in an adventurous fashion, although we went one-down in the first minute-

I minute: Outside left Saul hammered a cross into the box and it arrived at the feet of Jimmy Greaves – looking suspiciously offside – standing beside the near post.  He did not miss from that distance. Celtic 0 Spurs 1

We took control of the player after that and in fact, received some criticism in the press the following day for being a little too open. However, play was swinging from end to end and the crowd certainly got their money’s worth in terms of goals –

7 minutes: Jinky beat three men in a run into the box, squared a pass back into the path of Bertie and he made no mistake. 1-1

25 minutes: A great series of ‘one-twos’ between Wispy and Bertie gave the latter another chance and he fairly lashed it home. Celtic 2 Spurs 1

36 minutes: Back came Spurs. This time a run down the right by Robertson and his cross into the middle was met by Alan Gilzean, who out-jumped the Celtic defence. 2-2

At half-time, I thought the Boss would have been disappointed with our defending but he was quite calm, pointing out that this was a very good side we were up against and merely  prompting us to take more care in our final pass. From the re-start, we tried to emulate his words but the opposition got an early breakthrough.

49 minutes:: Perhaps the defence was too high up the park pushing for a goal because when the ball fell to Greaves there seemed to be no one near him. That gave him time to kill the ball and then send Ronnie the wrong way with his shot.   Celtic 2  Spurs 3

We might have been 2-3 down but we were in control of the play by then and soon got an equaliser –

60 minutes: Lemon made a good run the left, cut the ball back to Steve, whose shot was too powerful for Pat Jennings, although he did get both hands to the ball.. 3-3.

And from there to the end, we dominated play, hit the post through Stevie and the bar through Jinky but the winner just refused to come. However, when we spoke to the fans afterwards, they seemed pleased with what they had seen rather than disappointed at not winning.

Full Time Score   Celtic  3   Spurs  3

Ironically, while there had been discussions in the days leading up to the match about allowing three substitutes, a figure which was changed to four on the morning of the game, neither manager made any changes during the course of the contest.

While this was going on at Hampden, in front of that crowd of 91,708, down at Highbury, before a smaller attendance of 34,586, Rangers, with their new signings in place – Eric Sorensen, Andy Penman and Alex Ferguson – were losing 0-3 to Arsenal.

Throughout Britain that afternoon, other friendlies were taking place, most of them Scotland/England encounters  –

Arbroath  2   Ipswich  1                      Blackpool 1  Partick Thistle  1

Dundee Utd 0  Sheffield Utd 1           Falkirk  2  Motherwell  5

Hearts  2  Preston North End 0           Queen of the South  4  Grimsby  3

Raith Rovers  1  Notts Forest 5          Southend  1  Clyde  3

Tranmere Rovers 2 Motherwell  2      Walsall  3  Morton  0

I did mention in a previous piece that all the guys were getting a bit annoyed that no actual matches seem to have been arranged before the friendly with Spurs on the 5^th August and possibly those noises got though to the top brass as it was announced that two games had been arranged for midweek. However, after telling us that, no further news was put out so we were no further forward as to the opposition.

However, someone in authority had been talking to the press, as most of them in the first part of the week ran with the same story, which was some reflections on our proposed game against Spurs.

Firstly, they were all adamant that it would be the most important ‘friendly’ in Scottish football since Rangers had played Eintracht Frankfurt for the switch on of the Hampden lights in October 1961, which had attracted a crowd of 104,679.

Secondly, all the papers had seemed to have been given the nod that the eleven which had won the European Cup in Lisbon would take to the field for the friendly. And thirdly, they had also been obviously promised that the crowd could expect to see Celtic play in an attacking manner.

Isn’t it amazing sometimes what a player can learn from the papers?

The bigger news in the early part of the week came from Ibrox, where the press officer announced that Rangers had signed Dunfermline’s goal-scoring centre-forward Alex Ferguson. The fee of £60,000 was a club record for Rangers and makes Ferguson the most costly player to wear the light blue strip.

Ferguson arrived at 10.30am and dashed through the front door. One hour later, Pars manager George Farm, who yesterday paid £20,000 to his former club Raith Rovers to sign inside-forward Pat Gardner, arrived at Ibrox. Just before 1pm, Rangers manager Scot Symon, Ferguson and Farm emerged to meet the press corps and Symon announced “Ferguson has signed!”

Tam – ‘slight dispute’

Then when the Celtic View came out there was a big surprise for the Celtic fans – apparently Tam Gemmell had not signed a new contract. The Boss, though, was quick to put the minds of the fans at ease – “it is true that Gemmell has still to sign on. There is a slight dispute about his contract – but he is still under contract and he will be playing on Saturday”.

Now at this point, I am going to give you all a little tip. When a manager of that generation made a comment like that – “there is a slight dispute about his contract” – especially to a player of Tam’s ability, then it was certainly not about the type of boots he was wearing or the quality of the shampoo in the showers. It was definitely about money. To be honest, like the rest of us, Tam did not think he was being paid enough and was just making a point. Good on him…I, for one, was right behind him!

On the Tuesday evening, we – all the signed players – reported to Celtic Park for a so-called ‘closed doors’ match. These were very popular with the guys who were not in the first team whereas, as you might imagine, the experienced pros could see them far enough. They were more concerned about coming through such a match – where the guys were just mixed up into two teams with fairly constant substitutions – without an injury before the real stuff started on the following Saturday. The young guys, by contrast, knew that this was a rare opportunity to show what they could do in front of the Boss and his staff, so they treated it like a cup final. And it did turn out a bit like that, plenty of effort put in before an empty and painfully quiet stadium, although the regulars who always turned up at Parkhead on the chance of seeing the players or picking up an autograph or two would have heard plenty of noise from the players as they waited outside.

Afterwards, just when the first team pool was counting the cost in physical terms of the first competitive match of the season, checking for cuts, bruises and so on, the Boss came into the dressing-room and announced that on the next day – Wednesday – we would do a light loosener in the morning then report again at 5pm to travel to Coatbridge where we would meet Albion Rovers in another ‘closed doors’ match. As food was not mentioned, we just assumed that the pre-match meal would be provided by us.

29^th July 1967

While training at Barrowfield continued in the usual tough fashion, news came in from Ibrox that the deal with Orjan Persson – currently with Dundee United – was off and that the winger had returned to his home in the town of Smogen in west Sweden.

Frankly, there had been so much discussion and false news in this particular transfer that I was really unwilling to believe any story about the then current situation. I was happy to wait for a final definitive resolution to all the rather complicated negotiations.

One piece of news that I was willing to believe was also about Rangers, who had apparently scrapped the pre-season trial, a staple of Scottish football for many years. Now that made sense, as most players of any club never liked them and I presume the Ibrox guys would have felt the same.

News from Celtic Park. First that the balance sheet for the year ended 30^th April 1967 showed a profit of £25, 068. It is difficult after all these years to put that amount of money into some kind of perspective but if I mention that Ayr United FC, which announced their figures on the same day, proclaimed a profit of £2153, then it easy to see the difference between the two clubs. Celtic, winners of five trophies the previous season and Ayr, who were relegated from the First Division.

As the first match – against Spurs at Hampden – was by now only a week away, the intensity of the training was increasing, with the emphasis by now on the short, sharp stuff. Everyone was looking good, including one player who had rather fallen out of the scene in the previous season, yet still finished the top goal-scorer in Scotland. I am referring, of course, to Joe McBride, who, to the delight of all the guys in the dressing-room, seemed to be looking fine during all the exercises. However, a piece in one of the evening papers advised some caution –

‘Joe McBride, rated by Celtic as ‘still the greatest potential goalscorer in Scotland’ has been ordered to ‘go slow’ in his fight to regain full fitness.

For months McBride has been making slow but steady progress from a cartilage operation and today manager Jock Stein insisted that Joe had not had another major setback. He said “we are trying to save the player from himself. We feel that in his great effort to come back as quickly as possible he may have been doing a little too much and he has been told to tone the training down. This is a deliberate policy…and we think it will pay off”.

And for those who, since they did not have any football to watch, fancied a night out at the cinema ( or the pictures, or the flicks, or the movies, whatever you wanted to call it), these films were showing in Glasgow –

Curzon Classic: Michael Caine – The Ipcress File

Odeon: James Coburn – In Like Flint

ABC Regal: Robert Redford/Jane Fonda – Barefoot in the Park

26^th July 1967

Training was going on as usual. Tough would be the word to describe it but then why wouldn’t it be. We were all part of a team that had won every competition the previous season and we knew that the management – and fans – would expect a repeat performance in the forthcoming season. And the Boss was obviously happy with the effort we were putting in, judging by his comment in one of the evening dailies –

“One of the most pleasing things so far about our preparation is the willingness shown by the players. It is to their great credit that they all reported for the start of training in good shape. They have obviously kept themselves fit during the close season”.

And by that time, 10 days or so before the first friendly match of the season – v Spurs at Hampden – we had raised that fitness level quite considerably. We all felt good and the runs, passing and shooting exercises were being performed at an even higher temp than before.

However, that also meant that there was a queue at Bob Rooney’s door, all of whom were complaining of the little things, like blisters, muscles aches, sore feet etc. These are quite natural for any athlete in any sport and what you are looking for is a few words of sympathy and perhaps some form of rub to make the complaint feel better. In the Parkhead of that time, the latter was supplied in great number but as for the former, that depended on the injury ….and whether they thought you had brought the injury on yourself!

We heard little within the club about any new players coming in, unlike our rivals over at Ibrox who had been pursuing Orjan Persson of Dundee United for some time. From the coverage in the press, ever time the deal was about to be concluded, some minor details arose to scupper it. But on that particular day, Rangers did enter the transfer market and buy a foreign player, although it was not Persson. The newcomer was a Dane, Eric Sorenson, who had been Morton’s keeper for the previous three years and would now be number one at Ibrox

One topic of discussion among the boys        was that we were not playing any matches, apart from the one of 5^th August. We usually got in a couple of game against smaller sides but that did appear to on the agenda this time round, as least as far as we knew. A list appeared in the press of the matches already lined up for the teams in Scotland –

2^nd       August            Aberdeen v Chelsea

3^rd        August            Motherwell v Ipswich

4^th        August            Queen’s Park v British Amateur Select

Clydebank v Chelsea

5^th        August           Celtic v Spurs

Arsenal v Rangers

Blackpool v Partick Thistle

Southend v Clyde

Tranmere v Motherwell

Dundee Utd v Sheffield Utd

Arbroath v Ipswich

Raith Rovers v Notts Forest

Hearts v Preston North End

Falkirk v Millwall

Walsall v Morton

Top of the Pops in the USA was the Doors, with Light My Fire. In the UK, A Whiter Shade of Pale, by Procul Harum led the list.

The first week was nearly at an end and judging by the voluble chat in the dressing room, we were all surviving pretty well.

Oh! there were the usual complaints. The sprinters complained that there was too much long stuff; the middle distance runners objected to the amount of short runs; and those who did not like running at all moaned at just about everything. And there was usually a queue at Bob Rooney’s door complaining of blisters/muscle strains/cuts/grazes/etc. He did not deal with dandruff ; and if you were suffering from diarrhea or constipation, you normally phoned in sick! And yes, sometimes his room it could be like the TV series of the period ‘Emergency Ward Ten’.

The fans were always keen to know about what was going on at Celtic Park and on that particular day they got the chance to find out some club thoughts as the latest edition of

The Celtic Football Guide, covering the previous season, became available. I will deal with the ‘Manager’s Report’ after the weekend but the section which caught the eye of most fans was the ‘List of Players’ for the new season of 1967-68 –

John Cushley : left for WHU
© Daily Record

So, 30 players in total to cope with what everyone expected to be a tough season, with one player in particular having a lot depending on him, as one of the Glasgow evening papers pointed out that night –

‘Billy McNeill, who joined Celtic from Blantyre Victoria 10 years ago, is now the only recognised centre half on the Parkhead playing staff.

Since the end of the season, three pivots have left Celtic – John Cushley at a fee of £20,000 to West Ham plus John Halpin and Frank McCarron, on free transfers’.

There was some debate among the guys as to whether we would get the weekend off but right up to the end of training on that Friday, not a word had been said. Then, just as were changing  after our baths and showers, Sean stuck his head round the door and with a twinkle in his eye and a lilt in his voice, uttered the definitive words ‘”See you in the morning, lads”. That put a Friday night out into perspective!