17th August 1966: Celtic v Clyde League Cup – Part Two

The Opposition
Clyde had finished 11th in the league table the previous season with a record of

P    W     D    L     F    A.
34  13    4    17    62   64

Seventeen matches is a lot of games to lose in a season and that figure of 64 goals conceded may give a clue to the problem.
So, even before the match, the management and coaching staff would have been quite confident of scoring some goals; the big problem, of course, is keeping the gate shut at the back while you are knocking them in at the other end but in this game, I think everyone would feel quite confident of success.
Anyway, when I went into the dressing room just before the teams went out for the contest and found them getting togged up in the all-green strip, the atmosphere was bubbling over and mentally, I put back for another game or two the date for my recall to the first team.

The Teams
Celtic;  Simpson, Gemmell, O’Neill, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, McBride, Chalmers, Lennox, Auld. Sub – Gallagher
Clyde;  Wright, Glasgow, Mulheron, McHugh, Staite, Anderson, McFarlane, Gilroy, Stewart, Hastings, Fraser. Sub – Soutar

The Attendance:30,000

The Play
While this was a great game for the fans to watch, it was not the type of match to make a laddie waiting for his chance in the first team to scream with joy. In other words, it was a romp! When one is in the position I was in, you want the team to win- but narrowly!
Clyde were just never in it. Celtic played and shot at will, completely controlling the play and the fans were happy to see three goals in the first half and a further three after the break.
They were not so pleased, though, to see some of the Clyde tackling, which, to say the least, was rough, if not illegal. Referee Stewart from Paisley usually took a lenient view of any misdemeanours and did not even admonish any of the Clyde players.
Bobby Lennox opened the scoring in five minutes; Joe McBride made it two from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark; and got another one minute before the interval.
After the break, the same two guys got numbers four and five, Bobby in 60 minutes and Joe in 63, before Stevie Chalmers got the sixth in 83 minutes after nice play between Johnstone and McBride.
Celtic 6 Clyde 0

Other match in the Group
St Mirren 0 Hearts 0

The Table
After two matches, the sectional table looked like this ;-

Team P W D L F A GAv Pts
1 Celtic 2 2 0 0 8 0 8.00 4
2 Clyde 2 1 0 1 1 6 0.17 2
3 Hearts 2 0 1 1 0 2 0.00 1
4 St Mirren 2 0 1 1 3 4 0.75 1

Tragedy
Rescue teams toiled in ruined towns in Eastern Turkey today after an earthquake in which many people are feared dead.
Reports so far received gave a figure of 80 dead and at least 100 injured in 6 towns but the Governor of Mus Province, where the quake had its epicentre ,said he feared a death toll of up to 2000.

Noisy Fans
About 2,500 teenagers in Cleveland, Ohio, stormed on to a baseball pitch where the Beatles were performing last night.
The show, the 3rd of the group’s 14-city tour, was halted for half-an-hour as fans broke through police lines during the group’s 4th song.
Nearly 2000 National Guard troops were called out to restore order.

New Bridge
More than 10,000 people gathered in the sunshine at Dundee today to watch Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother opening the new £6.5 million Tay Road Bridge.
The bridge is the longest in Britain and the 7th longest in the world.