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16th – 23rd May 1968 According to the chats I had with the guys after they returned from the North American tour of 1968, a good time was had by all when on holiday at the beginning of the tour in Florida. After the journey across the Atlantic from Prestwick to New York, there had …
It was an interesting summer. Initially, while the playing party was in North America, I did the occasional training session in Bellahouston Park, just along from my parents’ house. It was quiet and I could get on with my work without any outside interference.
21st July 1968 A Sunday, which meant that I had to run the gauntlet of Celtic fans after Mass. It was getting to the ridiculous stage where even grannies who had never been to a game of football in their lives were asking questions about what was going on at training, what was Jock Stein …
Read more “3rd August 1968: Celtic v Leeds United – Friendly”
5th August 1968 In the days after the defeat by Leeds United at Hampden, the comments in the press were still fairly uncomplimentary about Celtic’s loss while at the same time recognising the quality of the English side. One headline singled out the visiting keeper for a special mention – Celtic KO’d by Super Sprake
7th August 1968 We were all back in for training this morning and did a pretty strong session. Even the guys who had played at Hamilton the previous evening had been told to turn up. Sean Fallon was in charge of affairs as the Boss had travelled down to Leeds who that same evening were …
12th August 1968 On the Monday after the Old Firm match, the press was still going on about the happenings off the pitch rather than those on it. This headline caught the mood – Bigotry at Big Match Sickening and the comments below matched the headline –
15th August 1968 The headlines in the press offered great praise to the boys on the field – Sizzling Celts
18th August 1968 “Old Firm” Bosses Tell Players – Relax! With 6 days to go to the vital League Cup qualifying clash at Parkhead, Celtic and Rangers told their players “Rest and relax – we get down to business again tomorrow. Both managers are certain that they will have a full panel of players …
26th August 1968 Training on the Monday morning was fairly light, as both the first team and the reserves had matches on the Wednesday. I noticed that Ronnie was getting treatment for a leg knock sustained against Rangers but apart from him, everyone else seemed to be OK.
29th August 1968 We were all back in for some training the day after the victories over Morton and Dundee United . It was a fairly normal morning’s work amidst the euphoria that is very prevalent after good results for both the first team and the reserves.