Coming Home

Losing to Liverpool was a shattering blow. It did not matter whether one team or another was the better side, we were out! Certainly, the referee’s choice to deny Bobby Lennox a goal due to a debatable offside decision by a linesman was heartbreaking for every Celtic fan. From where I was sitting, it certainly looked onside but I must also admit that I was not in line with the ball.

Nowadays, when that particular incident is mentioned, people tend to say that it wouldn’t happen today. Unfortunately, that is not true. It still does occur today. The problem is that a referee naturally has difficulty in keeping up with play all the time and there are occasions when he has to rely on the eyesight, position and reactions of his linesmen. And human nature dictates that they cannot get their decisions right all the time.

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The Morning of the Match

Considering the importance of the match, it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere in the hotel on the morning of the match. After breakfast, we were told to go back to our rooms for a while, as a few pressmen and also some fans had arrived in the building. It was not as though we did not to meet all these guys; it was more that the Boss had still not announced the team and he did want people asking us about it. So, back to the rooms we went, like Primary 7!

Later on, just before lunch, we came down again to the foyer, appropriately dressed in our training gear and were taken by bus to a small grassy area – somewhere in Southport – for a loosening up session. Then it was a return to the hotel, a light lunch and back to the bedrooms for an afternoon siesta – with still no mention of the team for that night. Continue reading →

Pressure

I was under a bit of pressure at that time. Celtic might have about to travel south to play Liverpool in the return leg of the European Cup Winners’ Cup and you might think that such a scenario would have been enough pressure for anyone to cope with. Unfortunately, I was under the cosh from a different direction – the Dean of the Dental Hospital – who I assume had been receiving complaints from the heads of other departments that I was missing classes and more importantly, letting patients down by having to cancel their appointments at short notice. I was very apologetic but it was unavoidable; the dates of matches were made up earlier in the season but as the campaign un-folded, as a result of games being postponed, a good run in Europe etc, it was not always possible to be precise as to when the match might be played. So, I just had to over-use that very helpful word – sorry! – and did my best to get back on track with my work schedule.

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What the Papers Were Saying

‘The championship contenders, Celtic and Rangers, are both away today, both on tough assignments.

Celtic go to Easter Road for the second game in their vital 10-day spell which could bring them the league, the Scottish Cup and entry into the cup-winners’ tournament.

Today, its Hibs. On Tuesday, comes the second leg of the Liverpool tie. And, on Saturday, the cup final against the other half of the Old Firm.

Will there be any reaction after Thursday’s efforts in the first leg against Liverpool? Will big John Hughes return to the Parkhead side?

These are the questions to be answered at Easter Road. Hughes is fit and will be considered. There are no fresh casualties.

It looks odds-on for John to return and play at Liverpool, too.

As for reaction, this hasn’t bothered Celtic previously this season. Every game they play now carries stress and strain’.

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Anfield awaits

Reaction After Liverpool Match

Even after a period of reflection, press reaction was that Celtic had been the better team on the night but there was also worry that a one-goal lead might not be enough to see the Bhoys through.

Funnily enough, that had been the feeling of the guys sitting with me up in the Main Stand. Some of them had never had the chance to play for the first team but they were all Celtic fans at heart and wanted success for the club. However, the general feeling was that if Liverpool played for the whole of the return match in the way they had shown in flashes at Parkhead, then they might get the goals necessary. It wasn’t a gloom and doom forecast but it was a realistic appraisal of the situation. Continue reading →

The Odds

On the day of the match, the odds being offered at the bookies were 4-6 Celtic, 5-2 Liverpool.

The Teams

What the papers had said was probably correct. Celtic had no injury worries but the Boss had decided to leave out John Hughes; while for Liverpool Roger Hunt was out, having failed to recover from an ankle injury. The teams on the night were ;-

Celtic – Simpson, Young Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, McBride, Chalmers, Lennox, Auld.

Liverpool – Lawrence, Lawler, Byrne, Milne, Yeats, Stevenson, Callaghan, Chisnall, St John, Smith, Thompson.

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Exciting Days

These were great times for everyone connected with Celtic, only the second time the club had got to the semi-final stage of a European competition. It was a particularly good time for the players and management, who were at the sharp edge of the venture. Obviously, though, the players actually involved in the first team were feeling the best of all, revelling in the press coverage of the forthcoming match and excited at being involved. Which, of course, did not involve me!

And I could not even get a match in the reserve team game the night before the big one, when Celtic went through to Brockville to play Falkirk in a league match. The team that night was Martin, Halpin, O’Neill, Henderson, McCarron, Brogan, Connelly, Cattenach, H Quinn, Sweeney, Taylor; the result was a 6-1 for Celtic; and the scorers were Henry Quinn (2), Jim Brogan (2, both pens), John Halpin and Davie Cattenach.

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More Punishment Expected?

Only four days after they had lost to Celtic at home, St Mirren made the trip up to Glasgow to meet the green-and-whites again, in another league match at Parkhead. After comfortably winning the Love Street encounter only four days previously, the Boss decided to tinker with the side, bringing in Davie Catttenach for Bobby Murdoch and Charlie Gallagher for Bobby Lennox.

So the side which ran out at Celtic Park that afternoon was Simpson, Young, Gemmell, Cattenach, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, McBride, Chalmers, Gallagher, Auld.

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Training

As we had played on the Tuesday and had another match on the Saturday, training on the Thursday evening was fairly relaxed. Indeed, it was almost enjoyable, not much sweat and very little problems with the ankle.

Sean Fallon had suddenly become my best pal. Don’t forget, I did not know at this time that I was automatically suspended from the next tie in the Cup Winner’s Cup, due the following week. I just though I was out –period! But Sean was quick to be at my side a lot, trying to boost my damaged ego and telling me that it would only be a matter of time before I was back in the first team again. I do know if I altogether believed him but I recognised his sincerity and was grateful for it.

Anyway, when the team list for the reserve-side against St Mirren was pinned up on the board at the end of training, I found that, once again, I was doing my Pele act up front. Now, wouldn’t that have made a fine pairing – Pele and Cairney!

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Playing….but not in the First Team!

While the guys listed on the first team sheet were having a wee rest in bed or getting ready for their pre-match meal before the St Mirren game, I was getting stripped and ready to play for the Second team in a Combined Reserve League match against Jordanhill College at their ground.

Jordanhill lies in the west of Glasgow and the college situated there produced primary school teachers and also male Physical Education teachers (the ladies trained in Edinburgh). As you can imagine, their fitness of the guys in their side was never in doubt and they certainly gave us a good work-out that afternoon.

Our team was; Kennedy, Craig, Halpin, Henderson, McCarron, Hay, ‘Junior’, McGowan, H Quinn, Sweeney and Hughes; we won 3-0, with the goals coming from ‘Junior’, Henry Quinn and Frank McCarron.

It was ‘Big Yogi’s’ first match back after picking up a knee injury in the Inter-League game against England nearly three weeks previously and he looked in good form. One unsettling feature, though, was that the rain poured down the whole match, leaving the pitch wet and muddy. As the West End of Glasgow was not that far from Paisley, one could safely assume that the Love Street pitch was also receiving a battering that afternoon.

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