| Match Pictures | Matches: 1971 – 1972 | 1971-1972 Pictures |
Trivia
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The draw took place on 1st October in Belgrade and had Celtic to play the first leg at home. Sliema Wanderers’ President George Bonello Dupuis was constantly in contact with Celtic to have the legs reversed but Celtic were against the idea of playing the first leg in Malta.Sliema later rejected Celtic's request to have the second leg played on Tuesday instead of Wednesday 3rd November. Celtic had requested to play a day before as the following Saturday they had a crucial league match against Aberdeen butt Sliema replied that the Saturday before they had their own vital league match against Valletta.
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Sliema Wanderers advanced to the Champions’ Cup Second Round stage after having eliminated Icelandic Champions Akranes 4-0 on aggregate with both legs played at the Gżira Stadium. Following the qualification, during the TV programme Sports Panorama, Sliema President Dr George Bonello Dupuis had said that his preferred Round Two opponents were Celtic – Inter – Arsenal in that order.
- John Hughes and Willie Wallace were surprisingly sold to Crystal Palace for a combined fee of £50,000 the day before this game.Hughes had last been involved with the first team as the unused substitute against BK1903 Copenhagen at Celtic Park and had been playing Reserve football. He actually put in a transfer request and came to an agreement that he could go for cash or part-cash/part swap. In the end Crystal Palace came in with an offer for both players and both moved on. They joined a growing band of Scots at Crystal Palace.
- Celtic's first ever game against Maltese opposition. Billy McNeill was injured and not risked in a European tie.
- The Maltese party flew in on the Monday and following the first leg match in Glasgow went for a four-day holiday in London.
- Stand was all ticket. Bobby Murdoch was captain in the absence of the injured Billy McNeill.
- Game is so one sided that the Jungle take to cheering the Sliema players whenever they won the ball. Sliema 'delighted' by 5-0 defeat ! They lined up in a 1-10-0 formation.
- Sliema bring 38 fans to Parkhead.
- It was reported that Evan Williams only had four kick outs in the 90 minutes.
- Sliema had an injury crisis before the tie. John Bonett and Lawrence Borg missed the match as they did not recover from knocks sustained in the league match and Jimmy Briffa and Edward Aquilina were not 100% fit. The situation had been so desperate for Sliema that Celtic had sent their own masseur Bob Rooney on a full time basis with them to help their players recovery.
- Newspapers reported that the Ibrox disaster fund had reached it's traget of £360,000 with the money now to be divided between the widows, children and parents of the deceased as well as those who were seriously injured.
Review
Celtic could have won by double figures as Sliema fought to keep down the goals tally.
Spiteri gave Celts a fright from the kick off when he fired in a cross which Connelly was happy to divert for a corner.
Gemmell opened the scoring with a typical strong shot before Hood scored twice, the second after his penalty had been saved by Pearson but Hood scored from the rebound.
In the second half Celtic fans were laughing at the amount of missed chances as Sliema were penned back and Brogan was given a huge roar of approval after he scored a rare goal.
The Celtic fans gave their opponents a fine ovation at the end as the Sliema players happily swapped jerseys with their Celtic counterparts.
Teams
Celtic:
Williams, Hay, Gemmell, Murdoch (Davidson 67), Connelly, Brogan, Johnstone, Dalglish, Macari, Callaghan, Hood,(Lennox 67). Substitutes: Fallon, Craig
Scorers: Gemmell (4), Hood 2 (11 26), Brogan (62), Macari (79)
Sliema:
Pearson, Spiteri, J Aquilina, Serge, Micallef, Briffa, Vella (Coruona), Darmanin, Cocks, E Aquilina, Falzon.
Scorers:
Referee: E Hjartarson (Iceland)
Attendance: 29,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
Evening Times 21st October 1971
