9^th January

The comments in the press over the weekend and on the Monday following the match against Dundee were extremely favourable to the club and the players. This was a typical example –

 Celts Super Formula

‘Meticulous attention to planning as well as teamwork – and individual skill – that’s the formula that looks certain to bring another league championship flag to Parkhead in April.

It was just this careful preparation that sent Dundee home hammered 5-1 by Celtic after 90 minutes of football on Saturday’s skid patch. 37,000 fans got value for their money’.

Continue reading →

Morning of the Match

While most of the guys, like myself, were tucked up in bed in the early morning hours, there some activity at Parkhead.
Referee William Elliott of Barrhead was at the ground first thing and by 8.45am, he had declared the pitch playable. This was announced to the press by Jock Stein, who went on to add that, although they were not expecting any change in the weather, the referee would make another inspection at 1 o’clock, although he added “we think that the second inspection will be no more than a formality”. Continue reading →

31st December 1966.

The atmosphere on the bus coming back from Tannadice on Hogmanay was, to put it bluntly, awful. The 3-2 defeat to Dundee United had been the first loss of the season and naturally, that was a major blow to everyone. Normally, every player was a noisy beggar, especially on that particular day, but on the early evening of that Saturday, the only real noise was coming from the bus radio. Everyone else was sitting in silence. Continue reading →

Pre-match
I was quite heartened by the first team’s draw with Aberdeen as every drop in level of performance by the guys went towards helping my claims for a first team spot. And a draw at that time had to be considered in that vein.

I had also been very pleased with my own performance in the Reserve match at Parkhead. Conditions were far from perfect – the pitch very hard and a little icy – but the rubber boots did the stuff and I put in a good stint at centre-half, not only in defence but taking the opportunity on a few occasions to come forward into midfield.

I had a strange relationship with these types of conditions. Beforehand, I was always slightly apprehensive about keeping my feet, yet once the game started, I usually felt quite comfortable. However, on a wet surface, with hard ice underneath, well, that was a different matter, those conditions better suited to players whose centre of gravity was closer to the ground than mine.

Still, when the teams were being set up at training in the days before the Dundee Utd match, it was patently obvious that, while I was in the squad of 18 players given out to the press, it was still going to be Tam and Pumper in the fullback roles.
And, just to make my week, the reserve match which was due at Parkhead on the Friday, was cancelled due to poor conditions. Now, it may seem that a trip to Dundee with the first team would be preferable to a reserve match in Glasgow but unless I was playing, I was not getting the chance to show my form, so I was well and truly gutted!

There was one man on the roster who had every reason to be much more disappointed than me – and that was Joe McBride. The reports in the press all said that Joe had received a slight leg injury either against Aberdeen or in training but, although no one was aware of the problem at the time, the injury was much more serious than that.

Now, all those years ago, there were no ‘scans’ to help the diagnostic process. X-rays were available but apart from that, it was the experience and knowledge of the medical staff that had to be brought into play to make a decision. Should he be operated on or not?

That is not such a stupid thought as it seems. Unless a surgeon knows precisely where the problem is situated, he is not going to take a chance and open up a knee. There was no keyhole surgery in those days, either, so if the doctors were unsure whether the problem was on the inside or perhaps at the back, then a larger incision would have to be made to discover the cause and a longer period of recuperation would follow.
And while the medical team were assessing the case, Joe was also receiving some advice from people with no medical training, frankly people who should have known better. One of these was that he should stand up on the treatment table – fully clothed and in particular with shoes on– and jump down on to the floor, slamming his feet down as strongly as possible. The theory behind this was that if the knee was slightly out of alignment, this would put it back in situ again.

To be honest, I have no idea whether or not Joe took the advice. I can recall, though, and quite clearly, how depressed he became all during this period as he went from physio to club doctor to specialist without getting an answer to his problem.

Before the match
We all reported to Celtic Park mid-morning and boarded one of the usual Cotter’s buses which then took off for Perth, where we stopped for lunch in a hotel just by the station. Then, as usual, Neilly took us on a short walk to stretch the legs before the bus caught up with us for the remainder of the trip to the city known for the three Js.

The Teams

Dundee United
Davie, Millar, Briggs, Neilson, Smith, Wing, Dossing, Hainey, Mitchell, Gillespie, Persson. Sub: Berg
Celtic
Simpson, Gemmell, O’Neill, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Chalmers, Lennox, Wallace, Auld, Hughes. Sub: Johnstone

The Play
This was a very competitive encounter in which the play swung from end-to-end, with both teams having their moments. Our guys started well and got the first goal ; –

13 minutes
Tam Gemmell raced up the right wing and crossed hard into the middle. It looked fairly innocuous but goalkeeper Davie dived over it and Bobby Lennox was there to roll it home. 1-0 Celtic

Only 10 minutes later, the Terrors equalized ;-

22 minutes
Dossing came forward, played a one-two with Mitchell then slammed the ball into the corner of the net. 1-1

It did not take long for Celtic to go ahead again.

23 minutes
Davie was again at fault. He only parried away a not-too-powerful shot by Willie Wallace and it hit the inside of the post and rolled home.
2-1 Celtic

And that remained the score at half-time. Both managers would have been pretty happy with the efforts that their sides had put in, although Jerry Kerr would no doubt have glared at his keeper. He would also, though, have been happy with his defence’s very capable use of the offside trap. Now, he just needed his forwards to add to their tally.

From the start of the second half, though, it was Celtic who applied the pressure, firing on all cylinders. Once near goal, though, the final passes were careless, And it was quite noticeable to me, sitting up in the main stand, that when United did attack, our defence looked less than impressive. In fact, they were extremely uncomfortable, with the two fullbacks struggling against their two European opponents, Finn Dossing and Orjan Persson. Halfway through the second half, the home side struck again.

73 minutes
a wonder goal by Gillespie, who latched on the ball and from 25 yards,sent his shot high into the net.
2-2

And before Celtic could re-organise, they struck again.

75 minutes
Mitchell chased a long ball through the middle which the Celtic defence rather left to Ronnie to deal with. Unfortunately, the United striker got there first, waltzed the ball round Ronnie and trundled the ball into the net.
Final Score Dundee United 3 Celtic 2

It had been a great game to watch, full of action and excitement and we were all disappointed at coming out of the clash with a defeat. However, (and I realize that I might be repeating myself here) professional footballers who are not in the first team are always looking for an opportunity to win their place back. Sometimes, this can come because a rival is injured – which did not seem to happen in my case – and sometimes your chance comes when your rivals are made to look not so good.

This was definitely the case when Tam and Pumper were struggling with Dossing and Persson, so although I was genuinely annoyed that we had dropped two points, I was also very aware that as a consequence of the result, my chances of a first-team slot had suddenly improved.

Other Results
Bang went Celtic’s unbeaten record.
Fortunately results elsewhere went in Celtic’s favour –

Table

Great Year
What a great year this has been for Walter McGowan – despite losing his world fly-weight title to Thailand’s Chartchai Chionoi.
He had 6 contests, won 5, won admittance to the Scottish Hall of Fame and won the British and Empire Bantamweight titles.

Surprising Statement
Cardinal Spellman said in Saigon that he stands by his statement that anything less than an Allied victory in Vietnam was ‘inconceivable’.
That statement and others provoked criticism of the cardinal from Soviet commentators and from Communists who accused him of contradicting the words of Pope Paul V1, who appealed in his Christmas message for a ‘miracle of peace’.
Cardinal Spellman was told of the Communist accusations and replied “Whatever I said, I stand by it”.

Close Call
Donald Campbell said that he ‘ducked’ when his jet boat Bluebird hit a bird at 200mph during a trial run on Coniston Water.
Mr Campbell said that a flock of ducks took off in front of him; “I thought one of them was coming through the canopy so I ducked below the level of the windscreen. There was no chance at all to avoid them”.

In the days following the 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at Pittodrie, both the morning and evening papers were full of varied and interesting stories.

26^th December

Johnstone in Training

Jinky – Back in Training!

Jimmy Johnstone trained alone at Parkhead today – and that adds up to some first-class Boxing Day news for the already happy Celtic supporters!

On Saturday, Johnstone was suffering from such a heavy cold that he was left behind in Glasgow while Jock Stein and his unbeaten team made the long journey to Aberdeen to come back with another league point from the 1-1 draw.

Nowadays, it is dangerous to be ill or injured at Celtic Park because competition for places in the side is so fierce that a casualty could be out of action for weeks- even after recovery. Continue reading →

It was Boxing Day, in the year 1970. In the country of the elves, everyone was resting, trying to recover from their efforts over Christmas Day and the days before.

All over the land, elves were sleeping, lying on their beds or slumped in chairs, just glad that the heavy work was over for another year.

One of their number, though, Frankie Elf, while tired, was also a very worried man. He was a most handsome elf, his blonde hair and brown eyes contrasting sharply with his green outfit but even at his young age, there were faint lines of worry across his forehead and he kept fidgeting with some utensils left over from the Christmas dinner.

Frankie, you see, was the only elf who was a Celtic fan and he was very conscious that his team had gone through a very difficult year. Granted, they had won the League but in the Cup Final, they lost to Aberdeen and even worse, failed miserably to beat Feyenoord in the biggest competition of them all. No wonder the Aberdeen and Dutch Elves had such a good time at Christmas!

Then, only a couple of months ago, in the first big competition of the new season, his team had lost to Rangers, giving their blue elves a day to remember. So, if we take all those failures into account, it was no surprise that Frankie felt worried. Recent events in the league in the new season were not helping either; after a good start, the side had hit some sticky moments and they only had one game left to get ready before they met Rangers in the league again at New Year.

All these thoughts were going through his mind but just as he pushed them away, felt his eyes finally closing and sleep approaching, he heard a soft voice say the three magic words “Ho! Ho! Ho!”. It was Santa Claus!

Frankie leapt to his feet but Santa motioned to him to sit down and gazed at his face.

“Frankie, you are looking a bit stressed. What’s wrong?”

“It’s my football team, Santa. We’re going through a sticky spell”.

“Oh! right” nodded Santa, who did not watch much football “have they got a match today?”

“They do, Santa, and that’s what worries me”.

“But you’ve got some good players, surely?”

“We do, Santa. McNeill is great at centre-half; wee Johnstone on the wing is a bag of tricks and their tall guy at right-back –Craig – not only is an excellent player but is a really intelligent guy too and good looking too!”

“But you’re still worried?”

“Yes, I am…I’m sorry to bother you with my concerns”.

“Don’t worry about it Frankie. You’ve worked hard for us over Christmas so let me see what I can do for your team”.

“Thanks, Santa”. Frankie really was grateful. He knew what Santa would do. In his pockets, he had several containers of magic dust, which he would sprinkle over the team in the dressing-room and that would help them perform to the best of their ability. It would almost guarantee a win.

He lay back down again and tried to sleep…but it was impossible, he was still wound up. He turned on his radio and tried to tune in to one of the Scottish stations. Eventually, he got a signal and listened in but what he heard made him rush out of the house and down the road to Santa’s residence. He did not even knock but raced in, tripping over something lying on the floor, then re-gaining his balance before noticing Santa sitting at a table.

“Santa, you’ll never guess what’s happened!” he almost yelled.

It was fortunate for Frankie that Santa was very fond of him because at that particular moment, the big man was sitting with a glass of mulled wine in front of him and half a mince pie crowded into this mouth. So, Frankie had to wait a few moments before the Santa could make any sort of reply.

“What! Where! Who!” he managed to gasp out, bits of mince pie also making their way on to the table.

“He’s gone and dropped Johnstone and McNeill”.

“Who has?”

“The Boss has…I mean the manager of Celtic has. Now, we’ll never win”

Santa decided that he would have to calm him down.

“Right, I get it….is Craig still playing?”

“Yes, he is”.

“Well, then, that’s good news. Now, listen, Frankie, just you go back and have a rest on your bed. There is nothing more we can do. I have sprinkled quite a bit of the magic dust in all the crucial areas and that should help”

“Oh! thanks, Santa. I’m sorry for bringing all my troubles to you”.

“No problem, Frankie, I’m sure things will turn out fine….so back to your couch”.

And with that final exhortation, he firmly pushed Frankie out of the room and as the little elf made his way back to his own place, Santa turned back to the table where there was wine left in the bottle and another tray of mince pies was a-waiting.

Three hours later, Frankie’s house was a bedlam of noise. Celtic had come up trumps, winning 3-0, so Frankie had invited a few pals to share his celebrations and this they were doing with great gusto, the music on, plenty of drinks available and oceans of food left over from Christmas Day.

At the height of the revelry, no one noticed that a figure dressed in red was looking through the window, happy to see that his hard-working elves were enjoying themselves. He picked out Frankie Elf in particular and could see that he was having a really good time. But then a thought came into his mind and he frowned. Did Frankie realize that in only 6 days time his Celtic team would be meeting the team called Rangers which had recently beaten them in the League Cup final?

In actual fact, Frankie was well aware of that and as he lay in his bed after everyone had gone, he returned to thinking about that particular match. Well, can’t do much about it lying here, he thought and turned on his side. As he did so, his knee banged against something. Switching on the bedside lamp, he noticed that he had thrown his tunic on the bed when he undressed and whatever he banged against, it must be in one of the pockets.

Carefully, he went through them and from the right hand one, he pulled out a container. What the blazes was that? Then, it dawned on him. On the day he had rushed into Santa’s house, he had tripped over something. This must have been what it was and he had instinctively picked it up and put it in his pocket. Frankie wrinkled his forehead in puzzlement…..then all the pieces came together and the realisation almost took his breath away. In this container was Santa’s magic dust. I must get it back to him.

Then some more thoughts crossed his mind. Magic dust…Santa never mentioned it so he obviously has not missed it….Celtic are playing Rangers in 6 days time….this dust could make all the difference….should I use it?…..or should I give it back to Santa?….he will never know will he?……and even if he did know, he obviously hasn’t missed it….and if I don’t give it back, how could anyone ever find out? It was a real dilemma but suddenly Frankie Elf stood up to his full height, tidied his hair by running his hands through it and straightened his jacket and trousers.  He had made the decision. Bring on the Rangers!

Morning of the Match

I might have been imagining things but I felt that there had been a fair bit of caution regarding this match in the days leading up to it. The team had come through a good spell – in the last few weeks victories over Dunfermline, Nantes (twice), Hearts, Motherwell, Partick Thistle plus a draw at Kilmarnock – so there should have been no reason to think that Aberdeen would be any different or harder, yet I felt that there was just a smidgeon of respect for the Dons, particularly up there.

In addition, the change in the weather perhaps brought that regard into focus. It had been cold all week and frost had been forecast, which effects footing, a circumstance all footballers hate. Having difficulty keeping your feet is the pits! Continue reading →

19^th December

There was a very interesting piece in one of the dailies, under the heading –

 Flaw in Celtic Perfection

‘Cautious Celtic supporters are beginning to show slight signs of worry, despite the fact that no team in Britain – or in Europe – has been able to beat the Jock Stein boys this season.

On Saturday the fans had a field day watching the forwards, and Bobby Murdoch, smash in six goals against Partick Thistle but the discerning ones on the Parkhead terracing did not like the manner in which the two goals were lost….

…..it is generally agreed that the six rearguard men sent out by Mr Stein week after week are the best on the Celtic books and individually they are as good as they come in Scotland today. So, it is difficult to make changes’.

Continue reading →

The Morning of the Match

Most of the reserve squad turned up to see the first team in action, quite happy, as I was too, about our performance the previous evening, when we had beaten Partick Thistle by two goals to one, a Davie Cattenach penalty and a Lou Macari effort making the difference. Continue reading →

12^th December

Willie Wallace’s performance in his first match for Celtic received top billing in the papers in the days that followed, although obviously the Boss was not too convinced about his levels of fitness. Continue reading →