19th November 1966: Dunfermline v Celtic League – Part Two

  Morning of the Match This match was a much-anticipated contest in all the dailies that Saturday morning. One of them published a headline which summed up the Celtic management’s attitude to the clash with the Pars ;- Celtic Respect the Fifers   Celtic had every reason to do that. When Jock Stein took over …

26th November 1966: Celtic v Hearts League – Part Two

  Morning of the Match As you might imagine, the Boss had been none too pleased with the performance of the reserve team the previous evening and made his displeasure clear when a few of us turned up at Celtic Park for the first –team match against Hearts. So, like little boys always do when …

30th November 1966: Nantes v Celtic European Cup – Part One

28th November The match against Hearts received very large coverage in the Monday morning and evening papers, with this headline and comment typical of the reactions ;- Ruthless Celtic ‘Celtic raised their goal-scoring total for the season to 101 McBride was the hero of the terracings but for my money the star of the match …

30th November 1966: Nantes v Celtic European Cup – Part Two

Pre-Match From what I was told later, the boys did lie in bed till around 10am, then had a late breakfast before heading off to town for a little shopping. Meanwhile, around 500 fans on two planes had arrived from Glasgow for the match and by mid-afternoon the centre of Nantes was a busy and …

3rd December 1966: Kilmarnock v Celtic League – Part One

1st December When a Scottish side has travelled to an away match in Europe and come away with a 3-1 victory, it is an excellent result. So, everyone connected with the club was highly delighted and the press was fulsome in its praise on the Monday after the game;- So Cool Celtic Made It Look …

7th December 1966: Celtic v Nantes European Cup – Part Two

Afternoon of the Match These were difficult matches for someone like me, who was trying to get my place back in the first team. As far as I was concerned, the victory over in Nantes had effectively sealed the tie, so unless our guys screwed up badly in the second leg and did not play …

10th December 1966: Celtic v Motherwell League – Part One

8th December Celtic had not only beaten the champions of France the previous evening but also received plaudits from the manager and directors ; Nantes Praise Celtic ‘Les Canaris’ (The Canaries) of Nantes flew back to France today with their European Cup hopes shattered by a Celtic side which showed no mercy at a windswept …