Injuries?
George McLean won’t make final – Courtesy Daily Record
‘No problems’ seemed to be the news coming out of Parkhead that day and in his chats to the press, Jock Stein seemed to be quite happy with this squad’s progress, although his comments were fairly brief.
On the other hand, one star from Ibrox had a headline all to himself in the papers ;-
McLean is Losing Battle for Fitness
‘Despite a slight improvement in his ankle injury, George McLean has still not been able to kick a ball in training’.
‘Big Dandy’ was a fine player and would be much missed by his team if he didn’t make it. He was also one noisy personality but I doubted if that aspect of his character would be on display. Ankle injuries are a pest at the best of times; to pick up one just before a major final would have been really depressing.
The Old Man
Ronnie Simpson – Courtesy Daily Record
George McLean – wont make the final – Courtesy Daily Record
George McLean – wont make the final – Courtesy Daily Record
Ronnie Simpson was our oldest player by some considerable distance and he became the focus of attention for the press around that time, with two separate headlines fronting stories about his career ;-
Celt Who was ‘Write-Off’
Simpson Aims to End 20-Year Wait
Now, it is truly amazing what a twist the press can bring to what is quite a normal story. The ‘write-off’ part refers to the moment in Ronnie’s career when he left Newcastle ( at the age of 30) and returned home to Scotland, having signed for Hibs, one of Scotland’s top sides.
And the ’20-year Wait’ refers to the fact, having signed for Queen’s Park in 1945, then Third Lanark in 1950, Newcastle United in 1951, Hibs in 1960 and Celtic in 1964, Ronnie had never collected a Cup Winner’s medal of any type in Scotland, even though he had picked up 2 FA Cup winner’s gongs with Newcastle in 1952 and 1955.
Anyway, reading between the lines, Ronnie was apparently really looking forward to the big match on Saturday.
Matches Results
Italy 7 Honved (Hungary) 2
England 2 Austria 3
Away from football, there was one wonderful story, naturally about the workings of Glasgow;-
Council Boobs over Gers’ Club
‘Ibrox fans have been searching for ground to build a super club for 2,000 members. The R.C. church authorities have also been looking for a site on which to build a new chapel, St Leo the Great.
Both found suitable sites – right OPPOSITE each other in quiet residential Beech Avenue, near Ibrox stadium.
That was one of the reasons a corporation sub-committee recommended yesterday by 9 votes to 2 to refuse permission for the supporters club’s proposals.