| Match Pictures | Matches: 1968 – 1969 | 1968-69 Pictures |
Trivia
- Carnival atmosphere at Parkhead as 37,000 turn out to see Mrs Kelly (wife of the Celtic chairman Robert Kelly) unfurl the League flag.
- Jimmy Johnstone was back from his suspension by the club and John Hughes stomach upset cleared. McBride dropped to the bench. At outside right for St Johnstone was ex-Celt Kenny Aird.
- As the flag is unfurled Cliff Richard's 'Congratulations' is played on the PA system and the fans join in with a hearty rendition for the occasion.
- During the week Celtic made a bid for Tommy Callaghan of Dunfermiline. The ball was in Dunfermiline's court on this one. Tommy had put in a written request for a transfer.
- Hughes, Wallace and Murdoch were still all unfit – Hughes with a stomach upset (he was withdrawn from the international party to play Denmark in midweek), and Murdoch and Wallace with ankle knocks.
- Gemmell and Lennox played for Scotland against Denmark in a World Cup warm up game on the Wednesday night. Billy McNeill was a sub. Scotland won 1-0 with Lennox scoring.
- Manchester Utd drew 1-1 with Estudiantes in Manchester losing the World Club Championship 1-2 on aggregate. Again the match was marred by the tactics of the Argentines and in the end it was George Best that broke getting into a fight with Medina. It threw the whole nature of this competition into doubt given the previous season's Battle of Montevideo for Celtic and Racing Club.
- The Reserves played St Johnstone Reserves winning 1-0. The team was Fallon, McGrain, Gorman, Gallacher, O'Neill, Auld, Davidson, McKellar, Macari, McMahon, Clarke.
The Mexico Olympics erupted with a brawl in the football match between Ghana and Israel with the referee kicked and mauled. And American black athletes gave the famous black power salute in the medal ceremony for the 200m winners.
Review
Celtic won 2-1 to keep themselves at the top of the table with Rangers one point behind.
Billy McNeill made the points safe with a usual McNeill brilliant header in the second half. Bobby Lennox got the opener in the first half from a Jim Craig cross. Hughes had the ball in the net only for it to be disallowed. St Johnstone pulled one back but Celtic always looked to have the measure of this one.
Teams
Celtic:
Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Clark, McNeill, Brogan, Johnstone, Connelly, Chalmers, Lennox, Hughes. Substitute: McBride
Scorers: Lennox (22), McNeill (50)
St Johnstone:
Robertson Miller Coburn Gordon Rooney Rennie Aird Ryden MacDonald Whitelaw Aitken Sub: Argue
Scorer: Coburn (69)
Referee:
Attendance: 37,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
