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10th October The inside of Celtic Park was like a war zone this morning, with various players making their way to and from the treatment room while the un-injured ones squeezed past to get to training. I personally noticed McNeill, Murdoch, McBride and Hughes definitely going in, with some others not feeling too good either …
14th October 1968 Most of the Celtic players got the day off. There were a few with the Scotland squad preparing for the international with Denmark and others – Murdoch and Wallace – still recovering from ankle injuries. I came in that morning to work on my sharpness and was just in time to hear …
Read more “19th October 1968: Celtic v St Johnstone – League”
20th October 1968 All the players and management headed for Seamill and on the way down to Ayrshire, we discussed what was in the papers that morning.
28th October The whole squad was given the day off from training, although, as was the norm, anything with an injury of any sort did report. However, from what I heard from the guys in the days following, no one turned up that day and the Boss was apparently quoted in the press as “expecting …
4th November All the guys – except those who were in the international squad – had the day off, which gave me the chance to be in the dental practice full-time and catch up with some paperwork. The papers were more concerned with match coming up against Austria on the Wednesday and the weather seemed …
10th November 1968 After a very light training session at Celtic Park on the Sunday morning – more of a wind-down in reality – we all boarded the bus for the trip to Seamill, our usual haunt before a big game. I should perhaps clarify the use of that word ‘all’. Ronnie Simpson had been …
Read more “13th November 1968: Celtic v Red Star Belgrade – European Cup 2nd Round First Leg”
14th November 1968 The previous evening had been a good one for Scottish football, with the four clubs involved in European competition all having good results. The main headlines went to European Cup representatives Celtic, especially the showing of wee Jimmy – Johnstone the Tornado It’s Ace Destroyer Jimmy! Belgrade Fans Want to See Wee …
Read more “16th November 1968: Celtic v Raith Rovers – League”
18th November 1968 The guys who had played against Raith Rovers on the Saturday were given the day off. The Reserve team full-timers were in because the Reserve side had a match on the Wednesday, a Reserve League cup tie against Falkirk at Brockville. Tommy Gemmell was unsuccessful with his appeal against a caution in …
Read more “23rd November 1968: Partick Thistle v Celtic – League”
24th November 1968 There had been a family do the previous evening and I spent most of it with the males of the species, all of whom wanted to ask questions about the goings-on at Celtic Park, like how did I get on with such-and-such a player, what was Jock Stein really like and did …
Read more “27th November 1968: Red Star Belgrade v Celtic – European Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg”
28th November 1968 No Rest Celtic Prepare for Hibs Everyone in for training this morning and as you might imagine, the atmosphere in the camp was excellent. It was quite a tough session too, as the Boss was a great believer in getting any stiffness from the game and the flight straight after the match …