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 bustling place. There had been heavy rain in and around the city for a few days but on the day of the match it was overcast but dry. Typical Glasgow conditions, in fact.

The Opponents
Nantes had been going through a difficult time, failing to win any of their previous four matches. However, they were still able to field four French internationalists in defenders Budzinski and Robin, midfielder Suadeau and striker Simon.

Teams

Nantes:
Castel, Le Chenadec, Budzinski, Robin, De Michele, Kovacevic, Suadeau,
Blanchet, Simon, Magny, Michel.

Celtic:
Simpson, Gemmell, O’Neill, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Chalmers,
McBride, Lennox, Auld   Sub: Gallagher

The Play
As I was not there, I have relied on the newspaper reports to give a précis of the play.
It would appear to be a game of two contrasting periods ( I do not wish to employ the ‘halves’ word!). For the first period, on a heavy pitch, both sides went hell-for-leather at each other and there were chances missed at both ends, although the keepers were in fine form.
Nantes took the lead and there was an element of lack of concentration in the visitors defence;
17 minutes
as Tam Gemmell came forward into the opposition half, he was dispossessed, the ball was knocked forward, Billy McNeill and De Michele went for it but it broke to Magny who scored from close range. 1-0 Nantes

The Nantes lead was short-lived.
24 minutes
Joe McBride got possession and just tried a shot, a pretty fierce one which beat keeper Castel all ends up. 1-1

Just before the break, Ronnie was called into action twice with important saves but the interval was reached with the score still level.

Right from the start of the second half, though, the Nantes players seemed to wilt somewhat and Celtic looked the more dominant side, controlling the play and making the chances. They soon got a reward;
50 minutes
Bobby Murdoch chipped a fine pass through the Nantes defence and Bobby Lennox raced on to it to give Celtic the lead. 2-1 Celtic

67 minutes
By now Celtic were in complete control, getting a third in 67 minutes, when Steve Chalmers scored. And from then to the finish, Celtic continued to be the dominant side but failed to add to their tally.

Final Score Nantes 1 Celtic 3

It seemed from the press that Celtic’s top player on the night depended on whether one was a local supporter or a reporter. The guys who wrote the reports thought that Bertie Auld was the man who made the difference for Celtic; while the Nantes fans loved the mazy runs and dazzling skills of Jimmy Johnstone, whom they dubbed ‘The Flying Flea’.

Other Results
In the European Cup, Real Madrid beat TSV Munich of West Germany 3-1 at the Bernabeu to got through 3-2 on aggregate; while in the European Cup Winners’ Cup, Leipzig of East Germany beat Standard Liege of Belgium in a first round first leg tie and Slavia Boha of Bulgaria beat Racing Club Strasbourg 2-1 in a first round second leg tie to go through by that score

Pals
Best-selling author Truman Capote gave a masked ball for 540 ‘people I like’ at a leading New York hotel.
Among those attending were Frank Sinatra and his wife Mia, and Lynda Bird Johnson, elder daughter of the President.

First
Dunfermline’s first-ever traffic wardens were on duty this week in the town’s one-way traffic system. They can impose a fine of £2 but motorists can elect to go through the normal channels of the Burgh Police Court.

Top Stars
Cary Grant and Julie Andrews have once again been chosen as the top box-office attractions among film-stars..
It is the 5th consecutive year that Grant has reigned as the top male box-office attraction and the 2nd year for Andrews.
Elizabeth Taylor took 2nd place in the female poll and her husband Richard Burton was voted 2nd among the men.