Training The Celtic players reported back for normal training today and everyone seemed to be fit and raring to go. There would have been a ‘buzz’ around the place and everyone would have felt buoyed up by the club’s appearance in the forthcoming League Cup final. Certainly, that was the case in the evening, …
Read more “Wednesday 20th October 1965: League Cup Final Preview #2”
In the papers on the eve of the final, the headlines caught the eye;- Willie Henderson Will Play The good news for Rangers fans was that their right-winger had recovered from his muscle injury and would definitely play in the final. The not so good news was that George McLean was still having pain …
Read more “Friday 22nd October 1965: League Cup Final Preview #4”
Injuries? ‘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 …
Read more “Thursday 21st October 1965: League Cup Final Preview #3”
On the morning of the League Cup Final in 1965, the headline writers had gone to some lengths to catch the attention of their readers ;- 100,000 Old Firm Fans Go on Trial
A crowd of 107,609 – which is still to this day the largest-ever attendance for a League Cup final – crowded into the national stadium on that Saturday afternoon to witness the action. The teams were ;- Celtic; Simpson, Young, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Gallagher, McBride, Lennox, Hughes. Rangers; Ritchie, Johansen, Provan, Wood, …
Read more “23rd October 1965: Celtic v Rangers – League Cup Final”
A Wonderful Time For anyone with Celtic’s interests at heart, the few days after the League Cup final were ones of euphoria. Fans were glad-handing each other in the shops, pubs and streets; older mums and aunties had never been cuddled quite so much; and wee bairns wearing anything green were having toys and sweets …
Read more “27th October 1965 Dundee v Celtic League -Preview”
Dundee 1 Celtic 2 A Game of Two Halves A much hackneyed expression but one which in this case was a perfectly accurate way of describing the action. Under the heading – Merited Win for Celtic at Dundee
Difficult Thoughts Having played the night before, and with the first team having a home match on the Saturday, the most logical thing for me to have done would have been to go along to Parkhead to see the game. However, if I am being perfectly honest, I did not fancy the idea of sitting …
Read more “30th October 1965: Celtic v Stirling Albion – League – Report”
A Trip Round Europe As I mentioned previously, after the match against Stirling, Jock Stein, in his other role as Scotland manager, had headed for Rome to watch Italy play Poland in a World Cup tie. It must have been an uncomfortable Sunday afternoon for the Celtic Boss, as the Italians thrashed the visitors 6-1! …
Happy Enough It might have been only a 1-0 victory for Celtic against Aarhus in Denmark but the whole party seemed happy enough on their return to Parkhead. That everyone had come through the match unscathed was possibly one reason for the management to be pleased and Jock Stein (as I would discover later), not …
Read more “6th November 1965 Celtic v Partick Thistle League – Preview”