Fifty two years ago today the Celtic-Rangers derby match produced an incredible scoreline as the teams served up an eight goal thriller in the League Cup Final.
Thankfully Celtic banged in seven of them with Billy McPhail leading the way with a hat-trick.
The Celtic team contains some great names, Charlie Tully, Bobby Evans, Bertie Peacock, Sean Fallon and Neilly Mochan are all still fondly remembered by older supporters but amazingly it was to be the last Celtic trophy win for all of them.
The celebrations must have been special but it was to be a long eight years before Celtic lifted another trophy which perhaps adds to the charm and mystique of the 7-1 match… not to mention the BBC ‘losing’ footage of the match before it resurfaced about 30 years later!
Bertie Auld had played for Celtic in both legs of the quarter-final win over Third Lanark as well as the semi final win over Clyde but wasn’t selected for the final.
Bertie’s story is great enough, signed three times by Celtic, a Fairs Cup Final appearance for Birmingham but nothing would have topped playing in Lisbon and also the 7-1 game… although Bertie is hardly short on talking points.
CELTIC: Dick Beattie, John Donnelly, Sean Fallon, Willie Fernie, Bobby Evans, Bertie Peacock, Charlie Tully, Bobby Collins, Billy McPhail, Sammy Wilson, Neilly Mochan
I was at that game as a 16 year old schoolboy. Celtic triumphs in those days were few, especially against the Rangers. We rarely won a match against them home or away so that day was really special and the joy on the terraces was something to experience. I was standing right at the corner flag from where Neilly Mochan cut in and scored Celtic's second goal from the acutest of angles just before half time. Both Celtic and Rangers had good players but the Rangers team played as a team whereas Celtic were a group of good individuals – but that day in the sun Celtic truly played as a team and Rangers could do nothing to stop them. Hail! Hail!
Did the Rangers fans take it bad?
Was it the 69 Cup Final they tried to get on the park to stop the game?
Some great information on the 7-1 game in the Kerrydale Street Wiki. A great resource for information on Celtic.
Kerrydale Street Wiki
The Rangers fans were stunned for weeks afterwards. Rangers were certs to lift the League Cup and were totally mystified by the result. I heard long time afterwards that Bobby Shearer, the Rangers right back that Mochan skinned to score that great second goal, admitted to Celtic fans that Rangers had no answer to Celtic on the day – in his own words: "they were unbeatable."
The 1969 game was the Scottish Cup final that Celtic also won and decided – unwisely – to do a lap of honour after being presented with the cup. I do not think it was a deliberate act of provocation on Celtic's part, simply an unwise decision made in the heat of the moment. Some Rangers fans broke in and assualted a number of Celtic players,and from the other end Celtic fans came from their end of the ground in order to defend the players. I always thought it was a brave wee man who decided to confront big John Yogie Hughes who was well equipped to look after himself.
Just remembered an amusing story that was doing the rounds after that famous League Cup victory in 1957. It was said that the following Monday morning Charlie Tully, quite by accident, met Niven the Rangers goalie on Buchanan Street – Charlie going one way, Niven the other – just outside Frazer's. Charlie, being a convivial chap, nodded a greeting. Niven, still shell shocked after Saturday, dived straight through Frazers plate glass window in an attempt to catch the imaginary ball.
Great to read some memories of these games from the past, seeing a 7-1 would be great but I suspect the current support would go balistic, rightly so, at 8 trophyless years.
How on earth did the supporters get through that period, how did the board and management survive?
Stein's return was hardly a cunning plan, it seems that Sean Fallon was being groomed as McGrory's replacement ensuring Bob Kelly's veto on team selection which included some bizarre selections, particularly in cup ties and probably led to Pat Crerand's departure in despair to Manchester United.
If there was a plan in place for the return of Stein I don't think that Crerand would have left.
I think it was Steel the physio who suggested to Kelly to bring in Stein in a coaching role with the youngsters. He proved to be so successful as coach that he was snapped by Dunfermline as manager and took them into Europe before moving on to Hibes and hence back to Celtic.
Its said that during his first few weeks as manager Kelly did attempt to intervene in team selection but Stein was cute enough to give him one reason after another why his suggestions would not be practicable – injury, player in question lacked experience, too young etc.. Kelly soon got the message and left team selection totally to Stein.
Yes Paddy Crerand's departure to Man United was a tough one for the fans to take but in those days people were much more accepting and tended to believe their "betters" knew best! The Kelly family who ran Celtic in those days were really a law unto themselves and Celtic was very much their personal domain.