The Morning of the Match
This match had a 1pm kick-off. There were no floodlights at Somerset Park – they did come into play until 1970 – and there was the added complication that Kilmarnock were hosting Rangers in a league match at Rugby Park with a 3pm start; a game which would be attended by the Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin. So, in order to avoid a coming together of Celtic and Rangers fans either in Ayrshire or on the roads to and from the county, the authorities decided on an early kick off for our match with Ayr. Continue reading →

8th February
In the papers the day after the loss to Dynamo Zagreb, the concentration was not so much on the plan used the previous evening but the execution of it. Continue reading →

With the good win over Airdrie under the belt, we could look forward to our next match, a friendly against Dinamo Zagreb.

The two teams had met before, in the second round of the Cup Winners’ Cup in season 1963-64. On 4th December, at Celtic Park, in front of a crowd of 42,000, the Hoops had comfortably notched up a 3-goal win and although a week later, in Yugoslavia, Celtic lost 2-1, the goals in that first leg were enough to take them through to the quarter-final.

Jock Stein had been doing his best to stir up attention for the contest and the comments in the press on the Monday reflected that;

‘Tommy Gemmell and John Hughes, two key men in the brand-new Stein plan for football, were injured at Airdrie on Saturday – but both are expected to play on the big show game with Zagreb Dynamo tomorrow night.
Celtic have never approached a match with more preparation. Mr Stein insists that the plan is no gimmick “We have talked and talked about it: we have worked at it for days : and we are convinced it can operate successfully, particularly against Continental opposition”.
As a curtain –raiser tomorrow night, Mr Stein will send out all his players 15 minutes before the kick-off – and the fans are going to get a surprise. The numbers to be worn will bear no relation to the present day means of identification’.

Unfortunately, I would miss out on this occasion. Near the end of the match against Airdrie, I went to block a shot from one of the Diamonds players and took the ball right in the kisser. I went over backwards and blacked out for a few minutes. I recovered fine and went on to play the rest of the match but afterwards I felt terribly sick and later that night, I developed a terrible headache.

By the Sunday morning, the headache had eased but I felt rough and just stayed in all day. Nowadays, of course, those symptoms might lead to me being diagnosed with a mild concussion but we were not into that in 1967. I reported for training as usual on the Monday, felt hellish all the way through and just after reaching my parents house afterwards, I began to suffer from double-vision. I phoned the park to report the condition and was told to stay in and let them know the following morning how things were!

They were not much better the next morning, the day of the match. The double-vision had gone but I felt that someone was battering away inside my head with a hammer and that was accompanied by a slight nausea. So, that was me out of this adventurous system – which I suspect might have suited me – and I did not even see the match, as I had been told to stay at home.

The reason for the match, of course, was that we had been drawn to play against another Yugoslavian side – Vojvodina Novisad – in the quarter-final stages of the European Cup and it was thought that this match against Zagreb might give us an idea of what to expect when we met the Yugoslav champions.
That was the idea but the execution of the expansive plan on the night did not turn out so well.

The team was laid out in the following formation; One goalkeeper, 3 centre backs, 2 central midfielders, 2 wide midfielders, and 3 forwards.

According to the reports, with about 20 minutes or so to the end, the Boss told the players to switch into their more orthodox system and while this brought a little more in the way of chances, it did not make a difference to their shooting capabilities.Effectively, it was a 3-4-3 system and it was true that we had been trying to put it into operation most of the previous week, with me in the right-back slot. Unfortunately, on the night, while the players used the system to great effect, the one thing we did not do was put the ball in the net, with Stevie and Lemon in particular missing really good chances.

Then, with just three minutes left, a long ball through the middle caught the Celtic defence a bit square and the Yugoslav international striker Zambata latched on to it and beat Ronnie from close in to seal the win.

Final Score Celtic 0 Dynamo Zagreb 1

It was a disappointing end but the original plan had been inventive and probably we had not had enough practice in putting it into operation before taking on such talented opponents. And we did learn that we would have equally tough opponents when we met Vojvodina Novisad in the quarter-finals of the European Cup.

A Dip into the Past
Next up for Celtic was a trip to Airdrie where, a few years earlier, had occurred one of the more unusual moments in Celtic’s history. Continue reading →

Berwick Rangers Hero Sammy Reid

30th January
The headlines in the press over the weekend reflected the difference in the results of the country’s big two;

Celtic Open Up in ‘Lucky 13’

This was a reference to Chopper opening the scoring in the 13th minute.

Reid Brings Joy to Berwick

And there could be little doubt what this headline was referring to…..what a weekend Sammy Reid must have had!

In one of the evening dailies, under the headline…….

Angry Rangers Fans Lash Out

A succession of fans poured their hearts out, the vast majority complaining that only the introduction of new forwards would improve the side. Among the names mentioned was Andy Penman of Dundee. Continue reading →

The Opposition
Arbroath Football Club had undergone quite a chequered career. Founded in 1878, they had initially been members of various minor leagues, only joining the Scottish League Division Two in 1921.
Arbroath won promotion to the First Division in season 1934-35, maintaining that status right through to season 1938-39, the last full one before the war.
When the league programme began again in 1945, Arbroath were once again in the Second Division. The club won promotion to the First Division in season 1958-59 but unfortunately were once more relegated the following season and by the time of this contest against Celtic, they had spent all of the decade of the 1960s in Division Two. Continue reading →

23rd January
After the victory against Hibs on the Saturday, we had been told that we would be heading down to Seamill on the Monday for a few days, where the Hydro, as usual, would be our base. The place was a great favourite with the guys, particularly those who had young children, as they were guaranteed the full night’s sleep, something they did not always get at home. Continue reading →

Pre-match
As all the players made their way out to Celtic Park, the heavens opened and the rain, which had been quite light overnight, came down in sheets, soaking everything and anything in sight.

As we all knew that there is nothing quite like a waterlogged pitch to even up the chances of both sides in any game, we were all keen to see how our own surface was looking….and it was not looking good! There were puddles of water all over the place, quite deep in some areas, and the ground staff were frantically pushing their forks into these areas to help the water drain away. It looked like a fruitless task and the Boss and his coaches were looking worried. Continue reading →

16th January

First outing for Lions

The performance by the team in the 4-0 win at Muirton Park was much lauded in the press on that Monday morning and again in the evening papers.
The players and management were also very pleased. Muirton Park was never an easy ground to come away from with two points and the fact that we had scored four goals in doing so only made matters even more enjoyable.

It had been a memorable match in Celtic’s history too – but only in retrospect. Yes, it had been the first time that the eleven players who would win the European Cup in Lisbon had run on to the field for any match but no one at that time had any inkling of what lay ahead for Celtic Football Club and the match was regarded merely as another league game in the quest for the league title. However, when we all look back at that occasion now, you must say that it was not a bad start!

Continue reading →

On the day of the game, news came through that Dinamo Zagreb WOULD be coming to Celtic Park to face us BUT the date had been brought forward from Wednesday 8^th February to Tuesday 7^th February.

The first-team squad reported to Parkhead around 11.00am and almost immediately boarded the usual Cotter’s bus for the trip up to Perth. We usually had a light lunch at the Station Hotel, which was situated, funnily enough, just to the north of Perth Station. In those far-off days, there was not the information on nutrition that is readily available today, so what the players had for their pre-match meal covered a variety of foods.

During my years at Celtic, the favourites were chicken or steak, although there was the occasional request for cheese on toast, an omelette, scrambled eggs or my most memorable one, cornflakes and peaches. Who was it? Well, apart from his choice of pre-match meal, he was quite a sensible fellow for a goalkeeper!

Was I in or was I out? And was I worried? ‘Yes’ was the answer to the first question; ‘no’ to the second. After the way the team had performed against Dundee and then Clyde, I was pretty sure that the Boss would not make many changes, at least to the defence. So, I felt good all morning and was fully expecting my name to read out in the number two shirt.

Muirton Park

I had played at Muirton before but not for the first team. Back then, it was right up there among the biggest playing surfaces in Scotland. On that day, which was to turn out to be a memorable one for a specific reason – more about that later – the pitch was in fairly good condition, considering that the whole country had been in the grip of some icy weather all week.

The rubber boots were with us but we did need them that day, as the leather studs could get a grip and that suited most of us. After we had been out for a look at the surface, the Boss called us into the dressing room and read out the team.

St Johnstone
Donaldson, McCarry, Smith, Townsend, Rooney, McPhee,
Coburn, Whitelaw, Kilgannon, McDonald., Johnstone.
Sub: Clark

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

If you take another look at those names in the Celtic line-up, they may seem familiar. Yes, it was the first time that the team which would become known as the ‘Lisbon Lions’ had taken to the field of play.

The Play

The start was delayed for about 8 minutes, always a very unsettling situation for any player, as you have to do the same warm-up at least a couple of times before getting the nod from the referee.

This was an awkward day for physio Bob Rooney. The club he was employed by was the visiting team to the club where his son Benny was at the heart of the defence. Bob’s  loyalties must have been stretched.

And right from the opening whistle, Benny played a great part in holding together the Saints defence as they got a going over from us. We had most of the play, made a number of chances which were either saved or missed and Ronnie was only called in to show his worth a couple of times.

It all made for a rather tense dressing-room at the interval. When the score is 0-0 and the your side is well on top in all other aspects of the game, then the atmosphere at the half-time break for those in that team can be contentious to say the least. The Boss was not exactly angry but he was frustrated by our inability to hit the target and his ‘encouragement’ was definitely on the grumpy side. Thankfully, he left the dressing room after having said his piece and the players got a chance for a chat among themselves.

And we put the talk into action straightaway, with good chances for Jinky, Cesar and Tam but ironically, the Saints almost got the first goal when in a rare breakaway,  McDonald was tackled when about to shoot. St Johnstone, naturally, claimed for a penalty while we all tried to look innocent. In the end, referee Mr Anderson of East Kilbride, waved their claims away.

Just when the Celtic fans in the crowd were beginning to be on the edge of despair, we struck, Jinky getting the first in 63 minutes and the second in 69. Suddenly, everything seemed easier and the Saints players looked shocked but it took us a little more time before more goals came, Stevie getting number three four minutes from the end and Lemon scoring number four just on the final whistle.

 Final Score  St Johnstone 0  Celtic  4

Lucky Man

A motorist who drove his car for half a mile along a snow-covered main railway line in Norway while an express train was on its way towards him was sentenced to 40 days’ jail for drunken driving.

The train was stopped in time.

Papal Visit

Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Foreign Secretary George Brown will have an audience with the Pope during their visit to Rome for Common Market talks

Watch Your Language!

The Rolling Stones have bowed to an ultimatum from U.S star Ed Sullivan – change the lyrics of one of their songs or not appear on his TV show.

The song, ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’, has been banned by many U.S. radio stations. The group was to sing it on Sullivan’s show tomorrow.

Sullivan found the song objectionable. “Either the song goes or the Stones Go” he said.