| Match Pictures | Matches: 1956 – 1957 | 1956-57 pictures |
Trivia
- The injured list was decreasing: Fallon was fit after missing a game with his broken nose; McPhail was again fit allowing Mochan to return to the left wing; Tully switched to the right ousting John Higgins who, having gone full time was immediately hit with another knee injury. Bobby Collins had the plaster removed from his cracked ankle. There was no further news on Jock Stein or Bobby Evans.
- Ayr Utd were newly promoted to Division 1 and were having a hard time of it with 4 points from 10 games. Ex-Celt Alec Boden captained the side. Celtic's last visit to Somerset Park was in 1939.
- Peacock, Tully and Mochan played on the Wednesday night in a Glasgow representative side against a Sheffield representative side at Shawfield. The result was a 2-2 draw.
- The rumours on Jimmy Walsh's move to Leicester City turned out to be true and he departed with hardly a mention anywhere and no acknowledgement from Celtic Park.
- The second leg of the European Cup tie between Nice and Rangers took place in France. The score was a duplicate of the Ibrox leg at 2-1 making it even at 3-3 on aggregate. Logie, Rangers left half, and Bravo, the Nice centre forward, were both sent off after a mass brawl six minutes from time. In a case of getting-their-retaliation-in-early after the Ibrox leg (which had been brutal) the Nice players had waded in from the start. The replay date and location could not be decided between the clubs. It is alleged that Scot Symon had to have that night's Evening Times football editor Gair Henderson surgically removed after a Galloway-esque 'I salute You, Rangers' routine phoned in from Nice.
- In world news though the fighting had stopped in Suez the negotiations and forces stayed on the ground with the arrival of an international United Nations peace keeping force to control the ceasefire and police the canal zone, in which the French and British forces stayed put, with the Israeli forces still staying in Sinai.
Review
Celtic attacked the Ayr goal constantly during the first ten minutes but they missed all their chances. Ayr too were wasting the chances that came to them with the Celtic defense looking make-shift. On 24 minutes Billy McPhail put the Bhoys ahead when he collected a Fernie shot and slotted away into the top of the net. The Ayr players had stood still anticipating an off-side call which never came. Price had a chance to level it before half time but fluffed his shot. Ayr continued to miss shots when in front of goal. With Fernie moving to the right wing Tully was released to play a roving role and from this came the second goal when he started a move from the Celtic half and, after passing to McPhail and seeing ther latters shot stopped on the line, there was Charlie to tap home. Haughney converted a penalty given for handball and Price finally managed to find goal four minutes later.
Teams
Ayr Utd:
Round; Bell, Thomson; Boden, Gallagher, Haugh; Japp, Paton, Price, Murray, Beattie.
Scorers: Price (77)
Celtic:
Beattie; Haughney, Fallon; Smith, Jack, Peacock; Tully, Ryan, McPhail, Fernie, Mochan.
Scorers: McPhail (24), Tully (68), Haughney (pen 73)
Referee: J Mackie (East Kilbride)
Attendance: 17,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
Evening Times 17/11/56
