| Match Pictures | Matches: 1973 – 1974 | 1973-1974 Pictures |
Trivia
- With no injuries to the side Jock Stein played the same eleven that had played the last two league games – three games on the trot.
- A 2:00 pm kick off and an all-ticket game with a 75,000 ground limit.
- Celtic wore black armbands in tribute to Jimmy McStay who died on January 3rd.
- Celtic now 7 points clear of Hibs and 9 ahead of Rangers.
- On the same day Celtic were defeated 2-0 by Rangers in a Reserve League match at Ibrox. The Celtic team was Williams, J. Davidson, Quinn, McNamara, McDonald, Welsh, Wilson, Ritchie, V. Davidson, O’Hara, Callaghan. Subs McCool and McAleer.
Review
Celtic won more comfortably than the score suggests.
Stein could afford to leave Connelly and Johnstone on the bench such was the resources available to him and their replacements Hood and McCluskey were tremendous. Dalglish was exceptional as Celtic’s most creative player and when the going got rough Murray and Hay won the physical battles.
Celtic fans were annoyed that they missed several fine late chances to put a shine on the score with Deans being the biggest culprit.
Teams
Celtic:–
Hunter, McGrain, Brogan, McCluskey, McNeill, Hay, Hood, Murray, Deans, Dalglish, Lennox. Substitutes: Connelly, Johnstone.
Scorers: Lennox (27)
Rangers:
McCloy, Jardine, Mathieson, Greig, Johnstone, Houston, Young, Forsyth, Parlane, MacDonald, Scott (Hamilton). Substitute: Smith
Referee: J R P Gordon (Newport-on-Tay)
Attendance: 55,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
Evening Times 7th January 1974
Glasgow Herald 7th January 1974
RANGERS’ SPIRIT BOWS TO CELTIC’S SOPHISTICATION*
Celtic wore black armbands in tribute to Jimmy McStay who died on January 3rd.
GLASGOW HERALD REPORT BY IAN ARCHER
Quietly, as if they always feared the worst, Rangers’ fans took the punishment like men. Hardly a word of encouragement, scarcely a hymn of defiance arose from the royal blue end of Parkhead.
Their team came and were vanquished by Celtic. The scoreline looks marginal, but it lies, there was one side playing football, the composed intelligent and graceful Scottish game. The other was huffing and puffing but had no chance of blowing down Jock Stein’s castle.
Here were Celtic, close passing under pressure, finding two and three men available in support of every ball carrier and waiting patiently for the Ibrox defence to commit itself foolishly in a flurry of anxiety.
And here were Rangers, a desperate side, running away from the man in possession, heaving long and hopeful balls upfield, a team of remarkable stamina and spirit, but a collection of players without corporate understanding , lacking that sophistication bred by eight successive titles and a ninth to come.
I leave it to the tacticians to analyse Rangers’ problems and there will be many ready to do so, for there is no more fashionable sport than kicking a stricken giant when he is down. Many will be the instant remedies but I cannot bring myself to criticise Jock Wallace whose only problem is that he works too hard.
There is only one long term worth making after a bad defeat – and that concerns the quality of the Ibrox playing staff which old timers tell me bears no comparison to its predecessors.
There is no reason why Rangers cannot find players like Dalglish, Hay, McGrain and McCluskey. There is good cause to believe that over the next few years Celtic will continue to discover multitudes of young talent annually to defend their perennial title of Champions.Most boys now want to play for them as they are Scotland’s premier team. Celtic will be only too pleased to accquire them and when they go in search of them they look for ability alone. They have no need to ask that polite discreet question about which school a lad is attending, the pertinent question whether that decides whether he is suitable material for Rangers or not.
Given that Celtic’s scouting system is so thorough, given too that English clubs are spending so much time and money on dragging schoolboys south, Rangers’ future problems could be severe.
With success breeding success, Celtic will increasingly find it easier to draw volunteers to Parkhead and Rangers more difficult to persuade boys that Ibrox is a suitable place of apprenticeship. And so, with money hard to find for the transfer market, it is not difficult to assess which of Glasgow’s clubs stands most chance of accquiring the next ten Championships. One hesitates to give advice, but the submission must be that Rangers no longer forego the chance of Scotland’s brightest prospects merely because of an accident of birth.
So back to the better players, Pat McCluskey in particular, a warrior at centre back, Steve Murray and Davie Hay, the guiding midfield lights and Kenny Dalglish, the class attacker. Throughout this match they kept tight control and the goal, which started as far back as McNeill and Brogan, continued through Murray and Hood, and was finally trundled over the line by Lennox, underlined their ablity to play accurately all over the field.
Rangers, to their credit, were a better team than the one beaten at Hampden Park in the League Cup for their heart and lungs were made to count for a full ninety minutes. But they made few chances. Greig, that great competitor, sent Hunter tumbling to stop one shot low at the post and not even MacDonald’s insistence kept them in the game as possible winners.
Celtic, the longer the match lasted, were content to draw them recklessly forward and then hit on the break. Lennox and Deans should have scored the late goals that would have better reflected the difference in class. If another Championship was not quite won by Celtic then surely another title was lost by Rangers.
CELTIC – Hunter, McGrain, Brogan, McCluskey, McNeill, Hay, Hood, Murray, Deans, Dalglish, Lennox.
RANGERS – McCloy Jardine Mathieson Greig Johnstone Houston Young Forsyth Parlane MacDonald Scott (Hamilton) Sub – Smith
Attendance – 55,000