2^nd December 1968

The whole squad had the day off today and the papers had to try and concentrate on other matters, one of which involved me. I had been included in the squad for the World Cup qualifying match against Cyprus in Nicosia. Continue reading →

28^th November 1968

No Rest Celtic Prepare for Hibs

Everyone in for training this morning and as you might imagine, the atmosphere in the camp was excellent. It was quite a tough session too, as the Boss was a great believer in getting any stiffness from the game and the flight straight after the match out of the system as quickly as possible. And he was pleased that there were no injuries from the Red Star game, although Ronnie was apparently not quite ready to play again. Continue reading →

24^th November 1968

There had been a family do the previous evening and I spent most of it with the males of the species, all of whom wanted to ask questions about the goings-on at Celtic Park, like how did I get on with such-and-such a player, what was Jock Stein really like and did we ever manage to get the ball off wee Jimmy in the bounce games? Continue reading →

18^th November 1968

The guys who had played against Raith Rovers on the Saturday were given the day off. The Reserve team full-timers were in because the Reserve side had a match on the Wednesday, a Reserve League cup tie against Falkirk at Brockville.

Tommy Gemmell was unsuccessful with his appeal against a caution in the match versus Hearts at Tynecastle and while the papers that Monday were not exactly fulsome in their praise of the players’ performance against Raith Rovers….. Continue reading →

14^th November 1968

The previous evening had been a good one for Scottish football, with the four clubs involved in European competition all having good results. The main headlines went to European Cup representatives Celtic, especially the showing of wee Jimmy –

Johnstone the Tornado

It’s Ace Destroyer Jimmy!

Belgrade Fans Want to See Wee Jimmy

Continue reading →

10^th November 1968

After a very light training session at Celtic Park on the Sunday morning – more of a wind-down in reality – we all boarded the bus for the trip to Seamill, our usual haunt before a big game. I should perhaps clarify the use of that word ‘all’. Ronnie Simpson had been left behind at Parkhead in the hands of physio Bob Rooney, as the keeper had not quite recovered from the leg knock he picked up in Scotland’s World Cup qualifying match against Austria the previous week. Continue reading →

4^th November

All the guys – except those who were in the international squad – had the day off, which gave me the chance to be in the dental practice full-time and catch up with some paperwork.

The papers were more concerned with match coming up against Austria on the Wednesday and the weather seemed to be causing some problems down the Ayrshire coast – Continue reading →

28^th October

The whole squad was given the day off from training, although, as was the norm, anything with an injury of any sort did report. However, from what I heard from the guys in the days following, no one turned up that day and the Boss was apparently quoted in the press as “expecting everyone to be fit for the match against Dundee at Celtic Park on Saturday”. Continue reading →

20^th October 1968

All the players and management headed for Seamill and on the way down to Ayrshire, we discussed what was in the papers that morning. Continue reading →

14^th October 1968

Most of the Celtic players got the day off. There were a few with the Scotland squad preparing for the international with Denmark and others – Murdoch and Wallace – still recovering from ankle injuries. I came in that morning to work on my sharpness and was just in time to hear that John Hughes had reported that morning with an ‘upset tummy’ (as it was described in the press later) and he pulled out of the Scotland squad.

The press was very complimentary that morning about our win over Hearts –

Celts For Team Spirit

‘The principal reason for Celtic’s success was their musketeering spirit – the one-for-all understanding that lifts a team out of the common ruck and out of trouble’.

15^th October 1968

Apart from the guys with the Scotland camp, the rest of us came in, although John Hughes, Willie Wallace and Bobby Murdoch did not take part in the session. In the evening papers, the Boss was quoted as saying –

“It will be later in the week before we have a clearer picture on whether they will be available for Saturday’s fixture against St Johnstone.

He also made a comment about the Tommy Callaghan situation. Celtic had apparently made a bid for the Dunfermline wing-half or inside-forward and that day Jock Stein said –

“we have made our bid. The next move is up to Dunfermline”.

16^th October 1968

The Scottish team for the match against Denmark in Copenhagen was announced. It was;

Herriot (Birmingham), Gemmell ( Celtic), McCreadie ( Chelsea), Bremner (Leeds), Greig and McKinnon ( both Rangers), McLean (Kilmarnock), McCalliog (Sheffield Wed.), Stein (Hibs), Hope (West Bromwich Albion) and Lennox (Celtic).

It was also a day of some nostalgia for our team, as down at Old Trafford, Manchester United were getting ready to face Estudiantes in the home leg of the World Club Championship, with United one-down from the first leg.

17^th October 1968

Yogi was back in training and both Wispy and Chopper were doing some light running. And Jinky was about due to come back after his suspension. The international guys would not return till the morrow. I would have imagined that they would have been quite disappointed with the 0-1 loss and they would not have been too pleased either with the headline in one paper –

World Cup?  Not on This Form!

And there was not much joy down in England either after Manchester United only manged to draw 1-1 with the South American champions, giving Estudiantes the victory 2-1 on aggregate.

18^th October 1968

Everybody, including the injured and the suspended, were back in for a light session and a chance for all of us to catch up on the gossip. When I say that everyone took part, I must also point out that there was not much energy exerted by a few of the still doubtful ones. Afterwards, the Boss merely announced a squad to report for the match against St Johnstone, although one of the papers that night tried to make a point with a headline and a comment –

Johnstone May Be Left Out

‘After his suspension, Jimmy Johnstone may not be in the right frame of mind to make a comeback’.

We would soon know!

The Day of the Match 19^th October 1968

We reported as usual for around 1.30pm, by which time the Reserve squad had already left for Muirton Park in Perth for their match. There was a good crowd gathering at Celtic Park for this match against the Saints, not only because they always tried to play some good football but also because the League Championship flag, which we won for season 1967-68, was going to be unfurled before the match.

The Teams

Celtic

Simpson
Craig, Gemmell
Clark, McNeill, Brogan
Johnstone, Connelly, Chalmers, Lennox, Hughes.
Sub: McBride

St Johnstone

Robertson
Miller, Coburn
Gordon, Rooney, Rennie
Aird, Ryden, MacDonald, Whitelaw, Aitken.
Sub: Argue

The Play

It was a difficult day for our physio Bob Rooney, whose son Benny was at centre-half for the visitors; and on the right wing for them was Kenny Aird, who had been released by Celtic only a few months before I joined them in 1965. Players that have gone through that disappointment tend to try very hard against the club that released them and Kenny would be no different that afternoon.

Before the match started, Mrs Kelly, the wife of Celtic Chairman Bob Kelly, unfurled the League flag and the crowd gave pelters to a rendition of Cliff Richard’s ‘Congratulations’.

From the start, it was a case of Celtic with most of the pressure but the Saints putting in some useful breakaways. We made some chances which we did not take and the crowd had to wait till nearly halfway through the first period before a goal arrived –

22 minutes
I received a pass from Jinky, moved forward and then hammered the ball low and hard right across goal, where Bobby Lennox prodded it home. 1-0 Celtic

Shortly before the interval, we did get the ball in the net again through Yogi but this one was dis-allowed.

The Boss was happy enough at half-time and he would also have been pleased with the way we raised our game again after the break, getting a second fairly quickly –

50 minutes
I came forward and swung a cross into the middle, where Cesar rose above everyone else to nod the ball home.  2-0 Celtic

From then on, the play was much as the first half, Celtic in control, Saints making the occasional break, in one of which they scored through left-back Coburn. But at the whistle, we still had the

Final Score  Celtic  2  St Johnstone  1

Other Results

Table

Reserves

At Muirton Park, the Celtic Reserves won 1-0, the team being Fallon, McGrain, Gorman, Gallagher, O’Neill, Auld, Davidson, McKellar, Macari, McMahon and Clarke.

That evening, in one of the Glasgow papers, I got the headlines all to myself –

Craig  Sets Them Up For The Celts