5th September 1966
Jock Stein had flown to Switzerland after the match against St Mirren to see our European Cup opponents Zurich play a league match against Biel FC. He returned on the Monday and told reporters at the airport that he had a slight worry.
His concern was that the Scottish League campaign would start the following Saturday (10th September) and that six of his players would be in action on the Wednesday prior to the match for the Scottish League against the League of Ireland. The players involved were Gemmell, Murdoch, McBride, Chalmers, Lennox and Clark, who would captain the side.
This was a day off for everyone except Bertie Auld, who came in to receive treatment for a thigh injury. And Wee Jimmy, who had been taken off on Saturday with a head knock, had been told to rest at home.
6th September 1966
Training as normal and also as usual, the Boss said nothing about Zurich, as his attitude was always to take one game at a time. Next up was Clyde FC in the league and all thoughts would be directed this week in that direction.
The inter-League matches did not always attract big crowds but those in charge at Celtic gave a possible boost to the attendance at this particular Scottish League v League of Ireland game – which was being held at Celtic Park – by announcing that tickets for the all-ticket league match against Rangers at Parkhead on Saturday 17th September would be on sale at tomorrow’s game.
7th September 1966
Scottish League 6 League of Ireland 0
Joe McBride scored a hat-trick, Bobby Lennox got two.
8th September
Normal training day and for all the way through it , there was only one thought in my mind. Would I keep my place in the side for the match on Saturday!
On the plus side, I had played well enough, kept my immediate opponent out of the game for long spells and covered my centre-half. On the debit side, we only won 1-0, the lowest number of goals Celtic had managed in a match all season. I could nothing about the decision so I just got my head down and gave the training my all.
Bobby Murdoch had received an ankle injury in the inter-League match and had come off during the game. As the game had been played at Celtic Park, he was taken immediately to our own treatment room, where Bob Rooney could get working on him straightaway.
9th September
As usual, nothing was said about the team for Saturday and I found out more from the evening papers that I did at the ground. According to them, Wee Jimmy would be out, with Stevie Chalmers taking over the outside-right berth; John Hughes would be back in, partnering Bertie Auld on the left wing; Bobby Murdoch would be fit; and the full-backs would come from Craig, O’Neill and Gemmell.
One headline caught the attention, referring to both of the big Glasgow clubs;
Celtic No Johnstone
Rangers No Henderson
Death of Premier
A white man today assassinated South African Prime Minister Dr Hendrik Verwoerd in the Parliament building in Cape Town.
The 64-year-old leader of the apartheid republic, who was stabbed several times in the head and neck, died shortly afterwards in hospital.
Sorry
Alf Ramsay, manager of England’s World Cup-winning side, has apologized for his reference to ‘animals’ after England’s 1-0 quarter-final victory over Argentina on 23rd July at Wembley.
This was announced by the FA Disciplinary Committee, which stated that Mr Ramsay’s apology had been accepted and that FIFA, the controlling world body, would be informed.
Great Scot
Walter McGowan, Scotland’s fly-weight champion, arrived at Glasgow Airport today to a burst of applause from airport staff and passengers.
McGowan out-pointed Alan Rudkin of Liverpool last night to win the British and European bantam-weight title at the Empire Pool, Wembley