19^th September

Even two days after the Celtic v Rangers encounter, the papers were still going on about how well Celtic had played;-

 Will-O’-The-Wisps in Green

Continue reading →

The Morning of the Match
In the football world, it must be hard to come up with a fixture that can surpass a Celtic/Rangers encounter for tension, anticipation or excitement. Granted, the atmosphere can ‘occasionally’ be spoiled by a little sectarianism but, to be blunt, old habits die hard and even in this so-called ‘enlightened’ age, we have still have our dinosaurs who refuse to leave the past behind. Continue reading →

15th September 1966

Two days prior to the match, there were the usual warnings in the press about fan behaviour etc. Both clubs, the Scottish Football League, the police and politicians all had their say. As a result of previous meetings between the various parties, it had been agreed that the contest would be an all-ticket affair with the ground limit set at 70,000. Continue reading →

The Afternoon of the Match

We – and I include myself in this, as I was one of the squad – all reported to Celtic Park in the afternoon for a loosening-up session. We then headed for the Cathkin Hotel for the pre-match meal. It must have been a big match (QF of League Cup); we did not normally get fed before a home match?

All through my years in football, the range of choices by players for that particular meal was frankly amazing. At that time, the advice on nutrition that is the norm today was never provided, so the players ate what they liked rather than food which would have proved helpful or advantageous in the match which followed.

The most common choices were steak or chicken. A few wanted eggs of some sort, scrambled, poached or in an omelette. Then there were the more unusual ones, like cornflakes and milk (sometimes with peaches on top) bananas on toast or porridge.

I was a traditional man, devouring a couple of slices of toast with scrambled eggs on top, accompanied by a cup of tea. Continue reading →

12^th September

The headlines in the press on the Monday after the match against Clyde more or less told the story of the game –

 Celts Make Great Start       Super-Sharp Celts

Everyone was back training on the Monday, although the major injury concern was Wee Jimmy, of whom the Boss told the reporters later; “We have checked on Johnstone. His back injury is giving him no trouble and he should be fit. As far as I’m concerned it is a question of putting the right men on the field to do the right job”. Continue reading →

The Morning of the Match

When I arrived at Celtic Park for the match against Clyde over at Shawfield, there were not only members of the first-team squad there but also guys from the reserves who had a game that afternoon at Barrowfield against Rangers. Continue reading →

5^th September 1966

Jock Stein had flown to Switzerland after the match against St Mirren to see our European Cup opponents Zurich play a league match against Biel FC. He returned on the Monday and told reporters at the airport that he had a slight worry. Continue reading →

The Morning of the Match

I always thought it a bit odd that when we travelled to the more distant away matches, like Aberdeen or the Edinburgh or Dundee sides (don’t forget that there were no Inverness or Ross County matches in those days) we stopped for a bit of lunch en route, while for the ‘closer’ away games, Motherwell, Hamilton, Kilmarnock or St Mirren, we didn’t.

For this match in Paisley, for instance, we just made our way up to the ground for the appointed time, the bus then took off across the city and about 30 minutes later, we were at Love Street.

All during Friday, on Saturday at Celtic Park, then on the bus trip, nobody had mentioned the game –or the team. Once at Love Street, we went out as usual to have a look at the playing conditions, then were recalled to the dressing room for the team announcement.

The best I was hoping for was a place on the bench but much to my surprise, I soon heard my name read out in the right-back slot and suddenly all the hard work I had put in seemed worthwhile.

It is not the done thing to show much emotion at a time like that among players but I got a number of smiles and handshakes plus a punch on the shoulder from Tam, who looked really pleased he was going back to his more customary left-back role.

The Teams

Celtic:  Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Mc Bride, Chalmers, Lennox, Gallagher.   Sub: O’Neill

St Mirren: Thorburn, Murray, Brown, Bell, Kiernen, Clark, Hutton, Pinkerton, Hamilton, Treacy, Adamson.   Sub: Aird

The Play

When I recalled the pre-match atmosphere in the dressing-room a few years later with the benefit of experience, I realised that it had been too easy-going, too chatty and noisy. In the players’ defence, only a few days previously, most of these same guys had been in the side which beat St Mirren 8-2 and I suppose a victory like that does tend to make you feel very confident and comfortable about playing them again.

Unfortunately, once we were out on the pitch, it was quite obvious, even to me, that we were some way off our best while the Buddies were determined not to have another disaster. Even so, in the first half, we were the more polished side but Saints were defending in depth and although we created some chances, the goals did not come.

And frankly, on their occasional breakaway, against a defence which was mainly involved in coming forward to aid the forwards, St Mirren also made several chances, Ronnie showing his worth by making several good saves.

It was still goalless at the interval and to say the Boss was not pleased was putting it mildly. We were left in no doubt that he expected more in the second half and, although scoring was the problem, we did dictate the play and make the better chances. We only took the one, though, and that came in 53 minutes, when wee Jimmy went on a run to the bye-line and cut the ball back for Bobby Murdoch to score with a low shot.

The 1-0 scoreline was not what the fans wanted or expected but this particular game still went into Celtic’s history books as a very special one.

And that was because when wee Jimmy was taken off in the 65^th minute with what looked like a head injury, Willie O’Neill came on to replace him, thus becoming Celtic’s first-ever substitute to come on in a match.

The headline in one paper that night told the story quite neatly –

 Murdoch Beats Paisley  Curtain

  and

Another Win

When we got back to the park, we found out that our second team had beaten Glasgow University 3-0 in a Combined Reserve League match at Barrowfield. The team had been;
Kennedy, Cattenach,  Halpin, Henderson,  McCarron,  Brogan,  Goodwin, ‘Junior’,  Clarke, Macari, ‘Trialist’

Sudden Death

Mr Hazza Majali, the 44-year-old Prime Minister of Jordan, was killed and 9 others died today when a bomb blasted the Premier’s office in the Amman Foreign Ministry Building.

Cairo Radio said that 50 people were injured in the explosion, that troops were in the streets of Amman and that a curfew was in force.

The Knot is Tied

A crowd of around 50 people gathered at Wishaw Registry Office for the wedding of 23-year-old Chic Calderwood, British and Empire light-heavyweight Champion and Miss Sybil Lockie (21).

After the 20 minute ceremony, Chic and his bride posed for photographs. The wedding party was then driven to the Crown Hotel in Wishaw, where a reception was held for relatives and friends.

Another Wedding!

Lana Turner (39), the film actress and a sportsman Fred May (43) have taken out a marriage licence at Santa Ana, California but they refuse to give out any details of their wedding plans. This would be Miss Turner’s sixth marriage.

2^nd September 1966

The win over Clyde in the penultimate match of the league cup sectional games had put Celtic into the quarter-final stages of the League Cup. That inevitably meant that training on the following days – while still strenuous – was conducted in a pleasant atmosphere, not always the case on a training ground.

The fact that Celtic had qualified for the quarter-finals was also encouraging for me and my efforts to get back in the first team. Surely the Boss would take advantage of the fact that the match against St Mirren had suddenly become a non-event – as regards qualification for the later stages – and he might take the opportunity to give some of the players on the fringe of things a chance to show what they could do.

That was what I was hoping for, at any rate, and my chances went up a notch when I was not included in the team for the Reserve League Cup tie against St Mirren that afternoon at Barrowfield.

The Celtic team was John Fallon, Ian Young, Frank McCarron, Sammy Henderson, John Cushley, David Hay, John Taggart, George Connelly, Jimmy Quinn, Tony Taylor and John Hughes. Celtic won comfortably 4-0, the goals coming from Tony, Ian, Jimmy and John Taggart.

Just before I left the park that morning, I was told to report for the match against St Mirren the following day. And that was the only time the match was mentioned to me. Frustrating…or what!

3^rd September

On the morning of the match, I got up early to find out if the papers knew more than I did. Two matches got a mention. The first was ours, with this headline –

Hughes in Reserve Team

Well, we all knew that, as he had played in the reserve side the previous evening. But the next piece of news was more interesting, as least as far as I was concerned ;-

‘Celtic list 13 for Love Street…the 11 who played at Shawfield, plus Jim Craig and Charlie Gallagher’.

There was also some news from the other side of the divide. Rangers needed to beat Kilmarnock that day at Rugby Park to qualify from their section and the fact that they had not been too consistent brought out this headline;-

No Rangers Panic

 And there was a clarification about some possible opponents for Celtic. The Brazilian club Santos have accepted a challenge to play Celtic at Parkhead only if they are provided with a 3-game tour of Great Britain. This was reported in the papers under the headline –

Santos Tell Celtic – We Want £50,000

A Warning

The Prime Minister faced the Trade Union Council and its members at Blackpool today – and warned them of the risks of another 1931-style depression, with unemployment running between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000.

Harold Wilson arrived all smiles and handshakes with old union friends. But his speech was deliberately tough.

Star In Green and Brown

A small group of people who gathered outside the Open Arms Hotel at Dirleton today got a glimpse of the French film star Brigitte Bardot.

She is filming location shots for the film ‘Two Weeks in September’.

Miss Bardot, dressed in a green Shetland jumper and brown corduroy trousers, posed for photographers in the hotel garden, where a table had been laid for a breakfast of porridge, marmalade, rolls and coffee.

Whither art thou!

Albion Rovers director Tom Fagan is searching for 3 men – but, for a change, they are not football players.

He is on the lookout for relatives of three of the original 4 committee members of the now-defunct Albion Rovers United Brake Club, formed over 40 years ago.

One of the original silver badges issued to founders at that time – there were 4 in total – came into Mr Fagan’s possession recently. Now he is trying to find out where the other three are.

31^st August

On the morning of the match, the papers announced what I had found out the previous day;

Craig Listed in 14 for Clyde Game
Right-back Jim Craig has not played in Celtic’s first team since the match with Motherwell at Fir Park on 7^th May but is named is among the 14 listed by Jock Stein for tonight’s visit to Shawfield.
The 14 listed are the eleven who beat Hearts plus Craig, Charlie Gallagher and Bobby Lennox.

To be perfectly honest, I had no high hopes of playing. The defence had done little wrong so far and being a realist, I thought my only chance of an involvement was a spot on the bench.

So, when I turned up at Parkhead in the late afternoon for the short trip to Shawfield, I decided to enjoy the moment, taking in the chat with the boys, the atmosphere on the bus, the welcome from the hundreds of Celtic fans milling around outside the ground even an hour and a half before the official kick-off time and the bigger welcome when we all walked out on to the pitch to check conditions and the state of the pitch.

As I had thought, though, when we were all gathered in the dressing-room for the team to be read out, I did not make the team. Indeed, I did not even make the bench, John Hughes getting the nod for that spot

The Teams

Celtic: – Simpson, Gemmell, O’Neill, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, McBride, Chalmers, Lennox, Auld.  Sub – Hughes

Clyde: – McCulloch, Glasgow, Mulhearn, McHugh, Fraser, Staite, McFarlane, Gilroy, Knox, Anderson, Hastings.  Sub – Soutar

The Play

In the press the day after the match, the headlines summed up the game very succinctly ;

Unconvincing Victory By Celtic
‘Celtic were none too convincing in their victory at Shawfield. Until five minutes from time they led by only a penalty goal!’

16 minutes:
Bobby Lennox deceived the Clyde defence by crossing low and hard. Clyde keeper McCulloch fumbled and Joe McBride scored. 1-0 Celtic

35 minutes:
Gilroy ran though the Celtic defence to equalize. 1-1

36 minutes:
A penalty kick was awarded when Bobby Lennox was brought down. Joe made no mistake from the spot.  2-1 Celtic

86 minutes:
Tam Gemmell eases the worries of the Celtic support with a good drive. 3-1 Celtic.

The Table

With this result, Celtic qualified for the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

Other results ;-

Aberdeen 2  Dundee  0                     Dunfermline  3  Partick Thistle 2

Dundee Utd 5  St Johnstone  1         Hearts  5  St Mirren  1

Falkirk  0 Motherwell  2                   Kilmarnock  3  Hibs  0

Morton  3  Third Lanark  2               Queen’s Park  0  Dumbarton  3

Rangers  1   Stirling Albion  1

No!

The Reverend Theocritus Goubule, from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, a Methodist minister, has been refused a passport to read for his Master’s degree in Theology at Edinburgh University.

Fit Again

Floyd Paterson, the former world heavyweight champion, has been passed medically fit for his fight over 10 rounds against the British champion Henry Cooper at Wembley on 20^th September.

Patterson, who was severely hampered by a damaged back in his world title fight with Cassius Clay last November has been examined by medical officers of the New York State Commission who found him in excellent physical condition, with no tenderness, no muscle spasm and no lower back problems.

Help from the West?

Glasgow has made a move to provide assistance to Edinburgh in the staging of the Commonwealth Games in 1970.

Councillor Tom Fulton is to ask Mr John Johnstone, the Lord Provost, if he will initiate discussions with Edinburgh’s Lord Provost and Edinburgh Corporation with a view to examining ways and means where Glasgow might assist her sister city in making the games an outstanding success and a credit to Scotland.